Greening the Global Economy
- 2h 8m
- Robert Pollin
- The MIT Press
- 2015
In order to control climate change, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that greenhouse gas emissions will need to fall by about forty percent by 2030.
Achieving the target goals will be highly challenging. Yet in Greening the Global Economy, economist Robert Pollin shows that they are attainable through steady, large-scale investments -- totaling about 1.5 percent of global GDP on an annual basis -- in both energy efficiency and clean renewable energy sources. Not only that: Pollin argues that with the right investments, these efforts will expand employment and drive economic growth.
Drawing on years of research, Pollin explores all aspects of the problem: how much energy will be needed in a range of industrialized and developing economies; what efficiency targets should be; and what kinds of industrial policy will maximize investment and support private and public partnerships in green growth so that a clean energy transformation can unfold without broad subsidies.
All too frequently, inaction on climate change is blamed on its potential harm to the economy. Pollin shows greening the economy is not only possible but necessary: global economic growth depends on it.
About the Author
Robert Pollin is Professor of Economics and Codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has served as a consultant on energy and the economy for a wide range of organizations and institutions, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Program (UNIDO), and numerous non-governmental organizations. He is author of Back to Full Employment (MIT Press), also in the Boston Review series, and Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Austerity.
In this Book
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Greening the Global Economy
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Introduction—The Global Green Energy Challenge
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Prospects for Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power
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Prospects for Energy Efficiency
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Prospects for Clean Renewable Energy
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How to Hit the CO2 Emissions Reduction Target:
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Expanding Job Opportunities through Clean Energy Investments
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A Policy Agenda That Can Work
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Risk, Ethics, and the Politics of Climate Stabilization
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Estimating Global Costs for Expanding Clean Renewable Energy Productive Capacity
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Model for Estimating Global CO2 Reductions through 20-Year Clean Energy Investment Program
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Notes
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References
