Dana Nuccitelli at The Guardian:
The Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University (NYU) School of Law recently published a report summarizing a survey of economists with climate expertise. The report was a follow-up and expansion of a similar survey conducted in 2009 by the same institute. The key finding: there’s a strong consensus among climate economics experts that we should put a price on carbon pollution to curb the expensive costs of climate change.
The survey participants included economists who have published papers related to climate change “in a highly ranked, peer-reviewed economics or environmental economics journal since 1994.” Overall, 365 participants completed the survey, which established the consensus of expert climate economists on a number of important questions.
In the 2009 version of the survey, the respondents were asked under what conditions the United States should commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 57% answered that the US should cut its emissions no matter what actions other countries take, while another 38% said that American emissions cuts would be warranted if many or all other countries commit to reducing theirs (as just happened in the Paris international negotiations).
In the 2015 survey, the number of expert economists saying that the US should cut its emissions no matter what rose to 77%. A further 18% said that if other countries agree to cut their emissions, the US should follow suit. In other words, there is a 95% consensus among expert climate economists that the US should follow through with its pledges to cut carbon pollution in the wake of the Paris international climate negotiations, and more than three out of four agreed that the US should take action to curb global warming no matter what. ...
78% of the survey participants said that it’s likely (36%) or extremely likely (42%) that climate change will have a long-term negative impact on the growth rate of the global economy. That’s an important point, because most current integrated economic-climate assessment models assume that economic growth will continue regardless of climate change impacts. ...
The survey also asked the experts about the most economically efficient method of reducing carbon pollution. 81% said a market-based system (carbon tax or cap and trade system) would be most efficient, while 13% answered that coordinated performance standards and programs that prioritize cleaner fuels and energy efficiency would be most efficient. ...
The Guardian contrasts the opinion of Republican Presidential candidate Marco Rubio and economists who have published in top journals on climate change ("95% of economics experts disagree with Rubio’s claims that cutting carbon pollution will hurt the economy.") but I'm not going to do that here because I'm not sure why they are singling out Rubio.
Hat tip: Tim (who claims that he is stuck in an interview room at the ASSA meetings)
