Carbon dioxide emissions like those from coal-fired power plants should be taxed to spur energy innovation. Credit Luke Sharrett for The New York Times
Denial and obfuscation about climate change have been well documented strategies of those who would promote current enrichment and consumption over future well being. And even non-deniers have been hard-pressed to do anything substantial to counter the deniers. It tough economic times, anything goes, it seems. We need more heroic behavior from influential business leaders.
Henry M. Paulson, chairman of the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago, former secretary of the Treasury of the United States, former chairman of Goldman Sachs, and notably a long-time member of good standing and service to the political party stacked with politicians and business leaders who deny the reality of climate change, has this to (heroically dare to) say in the Opinion section of this week’s Sunday New York Times:
The Coming Climate Crash
Lessons for Climate Change in the 2008 Recession
THERE is a time for weighing evidence and a time for acting. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my work in finance, government and conservation, it is to act before problems become too big to manage.
For too many years, we failed to rein in the excesses building up in the nation’s financial markets. When the credit bubble burst in 2008, the damage was devastating. Millions suffered. Many still do. Continue reading
