The Climate Fix?
What should the government subsidise? Renewables, R&D, or neither?

Tuesday, 16th November 2010 17.30-19.30
(17.30 Presentation and discussion, 18.40 Reception)
Venue: Legatum Institute, London

An evening with

Roger Pielke Jr.
Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder and author of The Climate Fix:
What Scientists and Politicians Won't Tell You About Global Warming

Discussant:

Benny Peiser
Director, Global Warming Policy Foundation

How is climate change policy going to evolve after the failure of Kyoto and after the scandals at the University of East Anglia? In his new book, The Climate Fix: What Scientists and Politicians Won't Tell You About Global Warming, (Basic Books, 2010), Professor Pielke Jr. argues that climate change policies have to take into account political, economic and social realities of our era. This means that policymakers are deeply mistaken if they believe that they can successfully implement policies that would compromise long-term economic growth and development. Indeed, the popular backlash against subsidies for renewable technologies in places like California or Germany shows that very few people are willing to undergo massive economic costs today in exchange for very uncertain benefits in the future. Given this observation, what should climate change policies look like? Should governments focus on subsidising R&D, in the hope that it will yield a new breakthrough technology, enabling an economically efficient decarbonisation? Is there a case for such a massive government involvement in the R&D sector? Why shouldn’t we leave the process of discovery of carbon-free energy technologies to private initiative?

Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. is a Professor in the Environmental Studies Program and a Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Roger's research focuses on the intersection of science and technology and decision making. A recipient of the Eduard Brückner Prize for outstanding achievement in interdisciplinary climate research, Roger was a Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Roger is a Senior Fellow of the Breakthrough Institute. Besides The Climate Fix, he is also author, co-author or co-editor of seven books, including The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Dr. Benny Peiser is the Director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, an all-party and non-party think tank and educational charity. He is the founder and editor (since 1997) of CCNet, the world's leading climate policy network. Benny is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Buckingham. His research focuses on the effects of environmental change and catastrophic events on contemporary thought and societal evolution. A 10km-wide asteroid, Minor Planet (7107) Peiser, was named in his honour by the International Astronomical Union.

For further information please contact Iona Debarge at: Iona.Debarge@legatum.com

See "The Climate Fix" 2010 Book Tour