In response to Ezra’s climate pessimism, Jim Manzi claims that “the American approach to the interrelated issues of energy and climate has been, in terms of results rather than rhetoric, the most successful in the world”:
America has created a technology-led energy revolution, which has successfully: reduced emissions more than any other major country in the world since 2006; achieved a permanently lower absolute emissions level than the benchmark year of 2005;
increased economic growth and jobs; and improved the balance of trade. North America is now projected to achieve effective energy independence by 2030.
None of this was anticipated by national or international authorities as recently as 2008. I described this process in detail, and set it in the context of deep American attitudes and capabilities, in the current National Affairs. But in summary, it was enabled by policies very different than carbon rationing advocates would want to impose: a foundation of freer markets and stronger property rights than other major economies; the new-economy innovation paradigm of entrepreneurial start-ups with independent financing and competitive-cooperative relationships with industry leaders; and support by direct government technology investments. We should be reinforcing each of these strengths, not despairing over our imagined helplessness.
Or to take a more modest position: the revolution in energy since 2008 should teach us that this is a dynamic area and that prognostications of certain doom are often overly bleak. But it’s good to see a conservative of doubt like Jim acknowledging the usefulness of government technology investments.
The Dish 