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Articles on Climate economics

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Economists have searched for the mythical balance between the cost of climate action, and the future cost of doing nothing. Joop Hoek/Shutterstock.com

We can’t know the future cost of climate change. Let’s focus on the cost of avoiding it instead

For decades, economists have pondered the ‘social cost of carbon’ - the price worth paying to avoid the future costs of greenhouse emissions. But a new analysis suggests this quest is impossibly complex.
Australian voters rejected carbon taxation. But some US conservatives are now embracing it. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Tax and dividend: how conservatives can grow to love carbon pricing

Taxing carbon has always been a tricky political sell for conservatives. But a group of establishment US Republicans is touting the idea of a carbon “tax and dividend” as a way to break the deadlock.
The lawsuit accuses the US government of knowing about the harmful effects of greenhouse emissions for 50 years, but failing to stop them rising. EPA/Justin Lane/AAP

Teens sue Obama over climate, asking why future generations’ rights are not respected

The US government is being sued by teenagers who say it hasn’t done enough to protect future generations from climate change. The case raises the crucial question of how we weigh up society’s future rights.

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