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The Economics of 350: Costs and Benefits of Climate Stabilization
Stopping global warming and protecting the earth’s climate is a daunting
challenge. To prevent a climate crisis we have to move quickly to
transform the ways in which we create and use energy, develop petroleum-
free transportation, and much more. These changes will not be free; there
is already resistance to paying for the first steps along this road. Some
think that reaching for more ambitious mitigation targets, and quicker
reductions in emissions, would mean economic disaster. Some economists
have become known for advocating only slow and modest responses to climate
change, lest the costs of mitigation become too large.
This report demonstrates that the 'go slow' recommendations are
unjustified. A number of economic analyses, informed by recent scientific
findings and using reasonable assumptions, suggest that more ambitious
targets and quicker action make good economic sense. The warnings about
climate change are growing steadily more ominous — but it has not, as a
consequence, become impossibly expensive to save the planet. We can still
afford a sustainable future.
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