Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of

leadership in the long emergency S 101
which those decisions will be implemented range from freemarket
approaches to use of the police power of the state to mandate
changes. Some propose raising taxes on energy, while others
advocate placing a cap on carbon emissions and allowing emitters
to buy and sell permits. How we decide and what we decide will
greatly affect our prospects in the long emergency. And whatever
the specifi c policy tools selected they must be fl exible enough to
be made more stringent as evidence warrants.
Broadly, we must choose between energy policies that emphasize
effi ciency, renewable energy, and better design that eliminates
much of the need for energy in the fi rst place (Kutscher,
2007; Makhijani, 2007) and “hard,” expensive, and large-scale
options such as continued use of coal with carbon sequestration
and nuclear power. The choices and their relative consequences
must be made crystal clear to the public despite the well-funded
efforts by the coal industry to promote the fi ction of “clean coal”
and equally well-funded efforts by ardent revivalists to resuscitate
nuclear power. We will have neither the time nor the money to
undo expensive mistakes later. Accordingly, the president must set
the framework for a rational public dialogue about energy policy
in which all options are compared on a level playing fi eld that
includes criteria such as:
1. Carbon eliminated per dollar spent;
2. Energy return on investment;
3. The speed with which technology can be deployed;
4. Near-term technical feasibility; and
5. Resilience in the face of malfeasance, acts of God, and
human error.
And good policy will not simply switch problems but will solve
them while protecting public safety and health.
The president has the power to defi ne the larger political
topography on which climate policy is debated. It is possible to
craft policies that join conservatives and liberals in ways that are