Posted by BEN BEAUMONT – Robert Shapiro, chair and cofounder of the U.S. Climate Task Force, gave one of the best summaries we’ve heard at the Clinton School of the environmental, economic and political issues involved in the global debate on climate change.
Worldwide energy demand increased 25 percent in the last decade and is expected to rise another 35 percent in the next 10 years as countries such as India, China and Brazil continue to develop and use more energy, Shapiro said. This growth in demand, along with the low cost of carbon-emitting coal power, will make the challenge of reducing emissions even more difficult as time goes on, he said.
Shapiro said creating higher prices for carbon-based energy is the only real solution to global climate change. While many politicians favor a cap-and-trade system of buying and selling carbon permits, Shapiro said a set carbon tax that could be recycled back to households would be more economically feasible. Video of the lecture will be posted soon at http://www.clintonschoolspeakers.com/.
An economic advisor to former President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Shapiro is an associate editor of U.S. News & World Report and economic columnist for Slate. He has been a fellow at Harvard University, the Brookings Institution and the National Bureau of Economic Research. His firm Sonecon, LLC, advises U.S. and foreign businesses, governments and non-profit organizations on market conditions and economic policy.
Robert Shapiro speaks at the Clinton School.