Very interesting post by Paul Krugman in the New York Times yesterday.
He confesses he was wrong and that we Treehuggers were right: decarbonizing our economy is now well within reach and the reason is the unbelievable price drop of solar power. Prices have been cut by 3/4 just since 2008. The negative impact of going green by the required investments: 0,06% an unmeasurable small amount.
The only thing standing in the way is the power of the vested interests that will go all the way defending the value of their tar pits and shale plays. So let’s get some proper taxes on CO2 and pollution in place and bankrupt the suckers.
Feels really good actually to be able to say “told you so!”
Update : A quick reply on Forbes about why Krugman fumbles here. The reasoning : exactly because PV is becoming so cheap so fast we don’t need to take action, market will handle fossil transition it by itself.
I strongly disagree : we don’t have a decade to spare to wait until PV will be cheaper than coal in all circumstances. The planet is screaming for relief. We need to shut down the coal plants ASAP and move away from wasteful production techniques and start rebuilding carbon sinks (A.K.A. forrests).
“ASAP” meaning well before the plants are written of financially and technically, putting the burden of loss on the shareholders.
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