The Other Side of Environmental Issues
Over at Marginal Revolution, they’re pointing out that the net effect of global warming to the U.S. economy will likely be positive. This is, of course, based on a study that assumes that the warming takes place at a measured pace and ignores both certain “nonmarket” effects and second-tier effects of disruptions to the rest of the world. More importantly, this calculated net benefit is based only on a calculation of the effects on the United States (the biggest losers are poor, tropical nations), leaving open significant ethical questions. However, the study is a thorough one, and it does do a good job of shooting down the argument that some sort of massive crash project to address global warming is necessary.
After a few posts railing against anti-nuclear activists, it’s probably worth pointing out that bad things have happened in the past as a result of the (irresponsible) use of nuclear power. Then again, the use of pebble bed reactors could reduce the likelihood of another Chernobyl.