The climate left attacks Nobel laureate William D. Nordhaus

• Published in: American Enterprise Institute Research Papers
• Main Author: Zycher, Benjamin
• Format: Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Washington American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research 29.07.2020
• Subjects: Discount rates; Environmental policy; Nobel prizes

Key Points * William D. Nordhaus, having received the 2018 Nobel Prize in economics largely in recognition of his integrated assessment model of the science and economics of climate policies, now is under attack from the environmental left, almost certainly because that model does not support the policy preferences of the climate alarmists. * The alarmists’ assertions about prospective climate phenomena are driven by climate models that have predicted the past and present poorly, under a set of assumptions that are deeply dubious. Those assertions are inconsistent with the evidence, and the alarmists’ policy prescriptions have been based in part on the application of low (or zero) discount rates, on the grounds that such discount rates are appropriate as a tool with which to incorporate the interests of future generations. That premise is incorrect. * The proponents of the climate “crisis” attack on fossil fuels are driven by an imperative almost entirely ideological. That rather than any reliance on “science” explains why a dedicated scholar like Nordhaus finds himself under attack.