Climate change – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

Climate Change Is Getting Worse. Why Don’t We See More Action?

There is a popular belief that technological innovation will solve climate change without fundamental shifts in society and politics. For example, the World Economic Forum claims “we must invent our way out of climate change.” Solving climate change, the thinking goes, means investing in innovation. Technocratic policies, such as the carbon tax, also assume a direct path between problem and solution. The idea of a carbon tax assumes that if emissions are priced correctly, firms and consumers will automatically reduce carbon use and invest in cleaner alternatives. The “solution” lies in engineering policies to calibrate the tax rate, coverage, and enforcement mechanisms. ….[READ]