Climate Change

For decades, the fossil fuel industry ran a wildly successful and well-funded campaign to muddy the waters when it came to climate change. It denied the science, created false equivalencies and dumped billions upon billions of dollars into projects designed to protect profits. Then, a few years ago, this lie was exposed just as the impacts of climate change began to be felt widely around the world.

Extreme weather fuelled by climate breakdown is exposing the vulnerability of key infrastructure in British Columbia and is reviving questions among environmentalists and residents about building the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline.

Yves here. In addition to the important reasons given below for shutting economists out of the debate on climate change, an additional one is even Nicholas Stern fell for trying to look at climate change in net present value terms. As anyone how has built financial models will tell you, pretty much anything that happens more than 30 years out is ascribed no value because just about any positive interest rate will result in very long term impacts being discounted to zero.