Climate economics
by David Atkins (“thereisnospoon”)
Record weather problems, record economic consequences:
The weather this year has not only been lousy, it has been as destructive in terms of economic loss as any on record.
Normally, three or four weather disasters a year in the United States will cause at least $1 billion in damages each. This year, there were nine such disasters. They included the huge snow dump in late January and early February on the Midwest and Northeast, the rash of tornadoes this spring across the Midwest and the more recent flooding of the Missouri and Souris Rivers. The disasters were responsible for at least 589 deaths, including 160 in May when tornadoes ripped through Joplin, Mo.
Meanwhile, Republicans nationwide have moved to reject climate science entirely:
The political discussion about global warming has lurched dramatically in four years — even as the scientific consensus has changed little. McCain’s 2007 description remains the scientific consensus: Human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is pumping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and warming the planet.
But that scientific conclusion has become a lively point of debate in the GOP presidential campaign. Joining Perry on the skeptical side, for example, is Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who suggested Wednesday that “manufactured science” underpins what a questioner called the “man-made climate-change myth.”
Good thing those Republicans are looking out for our economic well-being.
The key question is when the economic overlords decide to try to put their pet Tea Party monster back in the box in the interest of their own economic advantage.
But it may already be too late for that.