Joel Schwartz

Introduction

The state of North Carolina is headed toward imposing major new regulations and taxes on the consumption and production of energy. These restrictions include higher gasoline taxes; restrictions on the use of coal, oil and natural gas in electricity generation and mandatory use of wind and solar power; new land-use regulations that would restrict people's lifestyle choices and use of their property; tax penalties for roomier and more powerful cars; and the diversion of state funds from road construction to mass transit. All of this is being considered in the name of fighting global warming.

But how much have human activities affected the Earth's climate up to now? How much will human activities change the climate in the future? What fraction of human-caused climate change is the result of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, and how much is from other factors, such as turning wilderness into cities and farmland? How harmful will climate change be, and what should policymakers in Raleigh, N.C., or Washington, D.C., do about it?

Climate change has dominated public attention during the last few years as environmentalists, along with many climate scientists, journalists and public figures, most notably Al Gore, have driven climate change to the top of the world's political agenda. The result has been a steady stream of scary headlines about hurricanes, floods, crop failures, and other disasters of biblical proportions that humankind's greenhouse gas emissions will ostensibly bring down upon us during the 21st century. . . .

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Joel Schwartz is a visiting fellow at AEI.