Al Gore and the End of Climate Policy - WSJIn the meantime, though, thanks to Rockefeller, Mr. Gore and others, we ended up with policy option C—
spend X trillion to have no effect on climate. Our obsessive focus on green energy subsidies pleases many constituents but
incentivizes more energy consumption overall. After all, the human appetite for energy is limitless if the price is right. Meanwhile, unused and even denigrated by the left is the
only tool that was ever likely to reduce meaningfully the path of emissions, a carbon tax.
Oh well. Climate policy is
effectively over and that’s probably fine. The energy machine will certainly incorporate new technologies, including renewables; there won’t be a major shift in emissions from the path they would have taken anyway.
Mr. Gore will continue his angry prophet act. Politics will continue to fuel a sacred pork scramble. The climate press will balance on its noses whatever memes are tossed its way. And humanity will adapt to the climate it gets, which the best current guess says will probably be another 1 to 2 degrees Celsius warmer over the next century.