A Cut in Fossil Fuels: An Economic Solution towards Climate Change to Prevent an Economic Crisis

Introduction

According to Gina McCarthy, an Environmental Protection Agency Administrator,” If Greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced. We can have 57,000 fewer deaths from poor air quality. We see 21,000 fewer deaths from extreme temperatures. We're talking about $110 billion in avoided damages from lost labor, from extreme heat as well.” Gina McCarthy also states,”The report looks at risks not only to public health and the economy, but also to agriculture and water.” Michael E. Mann of Meteorology, Pennsylvania State, University Park Clarifies that “Greenhouse Gases” are,” Any gas that has the property of absorbing infrared radiation (net heat energy) emitted from Earth’s surface and reradiating it back to Earth’s surface, thus contributing to the greenhouse effect.” I am Studying Climate Change and possible solutions in order to prevent an Economic Crisis from occuring in the U.S.. The Possible Solutions I’ve found are Shutting down Power Plants, Restoring Farmlands, and Tax on Carbon emissions.

PowerPlants

According to Julie Gorte, a senior vice president for sustainable investing at Impax Asset Management, “ S.E.C. should force companies to disclose the location of their physical assets, such as factories and other facilities. That way, investors can gauge the risks facing those facilities from wildfires, hurricanes or flooding, and push companies to address them.” A study by Heath Tarbert the Republican Chairman of the C.F.T.C. acknowledged,” The report also detailed what the regulators called “transition risk” the financial harm that could befall the fossil fuel industry if the government enacted aggressive policies to curb carbon dioxide pollution.” In a Study by Mary Anne Hitt of the Sierra Club,” Sixty percent of the coal-fueled power plants are now retired, or announced to retire." Long X a Fossil Fuel researcher states,”Coal Consumption is playing a leading role in carbon emissions.” Julie Gorte and Heath Tarbert both agree that either a Policy or Company could Close down Carbon based factories. Mary Anne is connected to both Mrs. Gorte and Mr. Tarbert because she insists that 60 percent of coal powered plants are “retired” which is the intention of both Mrs. Gorte and Mr. Tarbert. They all connect to Long’s study because if Power Plants are mainly coal fueled, shutting down power plants will reduce carbon emissions. However even though most Climate Scientists agree with closures on Power Plants, Some disagree by saying there is no reliable source available. This is supported by Mustafa Santiago Ali who is with the National Wildlife Federation. Shutting down Power Plants will decrease carbon emissions because the burning of fossil fuels is reduced. 

Restoring Farmlands

According to Bernardo B.N. Strassburg, an author and an environmental scientist,”Returning a strategic 30 percent of the world’s farmlands to nature. Is one of the most cost effective ways of combating climate change.” In a Study by Alexander Popp, an author of the study, which was published in Environmental Research letters,” Without protection and restoration efforts, some targets for greenhouse gas emissions would be very difficult or nearly impossible to achieve.” A study done by Mike Waddington, a peat researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario,” Despite covering a small area, they really pack a carbon punch when it comes to carbon storage in ecosystems.” Both Alexander Popp and Bernardo Strassburg agree that restoring farmlands are vital towards Carbon emissions. Similar to both Mr. Popp and Dr. Strassburg, Dr. Waddington also insists that these farmlands should be restored. However even though most Researchers agree restoring farmlands is vital towards reducing carbon emissions, Few disagree however about the political will and the money to pay farmers to restore so much land. Restoring Farmlands are vital in reducing carbon emissions because they store carbon and biodiversity loss.    

Tax On Carbon emissions

Henry Jacoby, an economist at MITs business school states,”Taxing fossil fuels in proportion to the amount of carbon they release would make coal, oil and natural gas more expensive.” According to John Reilly, a colleague of Henry Jacoby,”Besides reducing carbon emissions, a carbon tax brings in a bunch of money, it's a tax after all. You can reduce, say, income tax to balance out the new taxes people are paying for carbon emissions.” Betty Simkins, a report author and professor of finance at Oklahoma State University Stillwater states,”If carbon risk is priced, this will add cost to the oil and gas industry.” Henry Jacoby and John Reilly are connected because they both believe that the tax will work against carbon producers. Betty, Mr. Jacoby and Mr Reilly are connected because they all believe a tax will put a strain on carbon producers. Most Economists and Climate Scientists agree with this tax, however there are some that disagree with this policy as this could affect some people more than others. This is because coal miners work in strip mines to mine the natural resource and people who ride the commute daily will also be affected.  

Conclusion

Although there is a widespread agreement that something must be done to reduce our carbon emissions, there is no single widely accepted solution to this problem. While the Solutions on this situation may be varied, in reality they are not that far apart. Most Climate Scientists agree that these solutions are possible, but the disagreement arrives when deciding which of these solutions has a greater impact on carbon emissions. For Example Alexander Popp, an author of the study which was published in Environmental Research letters, believes that restoring farmlands are vital and without them, it would be impossible to combat climate change. While Henry Jacoby, an Economist at MITs Business school believes that taxing carbon emissions is an important solution because it reduces carbon emissions and increases the Economy. I believe however that the Tax Solution outweighs the other solutions because it reduces carbon emission production, Increases Economy, and can bankrupt Power Plants. Restoring Farmlands could also be a great solution because they store carbon from being released in the atmosphere, however this will take more time and money than the Tax solution.