Green paradox

The Green Paradox is the short title of a book published in 2008 by the German economist Hans -Werner Sinn. Sense describes in his thesis that a foreseeable stricter environmental policy as an announced expropriation of the owners of fossil fuels am working. Indirectly would have resource production and consumption - and consequently the emissions of harmful gases - accelerated and not, as intended, is reduced. 2012 published a fully updated and revised paperback edition and the first international edition.

Argument

The grounds of the green paradox begins by noting that each carbon atom that is fetched and burned in the form of gas, coal or oil out of the ground, eventually reaching the atmosphere. Highly efficient combustion processes that ensure that no portion of the extracted carbon to carbon black, reinforcing the importance of this relationship. About a quarter of the ejected into the atmosphere carbon remains almost there forever and contributes to the greenhouse effect, which is responsible for global warming.

Apart from afforestation and similar measures can only be reduced in two ways, according to sense the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere: either less carbon is taken out of the earth, or the carbon is inserted after the energy back into it.

The efforts of the environmental policy set from alternative, CO2-free energy sources and improving energy efficiency. According therefore meaning they deal exclusively with the demand side of the carbon market and neglecting the offer. Despite considerable efforts to reduce the demand but it is not yet come to a lowering of the world ejected amounts of CO2. The emission of CO2 is increasing rather unabated.

According sense reason for this is the fact that an environmental policy by announcing a gradual tightening of their actions over the coming decades an increasing pressure on prices exerted: The prices are in the present and in the future compared to the level that they had otherwise were pressed, but in the future even more than in the present. This lowers the value of the growth rate of deposits of fossil fuels and meets the owners of these deposits with concern. The owners respond by accelerating their promotion to increasingly convert their assets into financial capital, which promises higher returns.

This is the Green Paradox: A announced environmental policy, which over time is always " greener", acts like an announced expropriation and causes the owner of fossil fuels to exploit their stocks faster, thereby accelerating climate change.

Countries that do not participate in the demand constraints, would have a double advantage. You could not only burn the carbon, the "green" of the saves countries ( leakage effect), but additionally the amount of carbon, the new to the market came through the announced and expected price reduction due to the gradual greening policies (green paradox).

As stressed meaning, it is a prerequisite for the green paradox that the resource is scarce in the sense that the price will always be higher than the unit cost of extraction and exploration. As new technology would be a perfect substitute for electricity in the best case, but not for fossil fuels, this condition is fulfilled for meaning. The prices of coal and oil are now many times higher than the sum of extraction and exploration costs, and they will remain so. Although the transition to severe achievable stocks will increase the extraction costs steadily, but the scarcity of natural resources also increase their prices. As long as the minerals retain a value itself, it can never happen that prices no longer cover the cost of extraction. Marginal green demand policies are therefore unable to reduce resource degradation in that they reduce prices below the cost.

Feasible solutions

An effective climate policy must necessarily take the neglected supply side of the carbon market in addition to the demand side in the view. A possible solution to achieve this goal is for meaning in the imposition of a withholding tax on the capital gains that achieve resource owners of financial assets. Such control takes away the pleasure of conveying the mineral resources. Another solution consists in the introduction of a gapless global emissions trading scheme, which effectively limited the global consumption of fossil fuels and thus enforces the desired reduction in carbon production.

Similarly mounted Publications

Sense theories have sometimes been compared with the similar findings supported, but different conclusions by the Swiss author Marcel Hänggi, which is in contrast to sense assigned to the left-wing camp. In France, Christian Gerondeau became known in 2009 with a similarly mounted book publication. Thus, the accessible oil and coal would completely independent of consumption limitation of incidental definitely consumed because in about the EU waiver case reinforced accessed other countries such as China and India on the remaining resources.

Development

" The Green Paradox " builds on earlier investigations sense to offer responses from owners of natural resources on the announced price changes.

Sense had presented his ideas to the green paradox in advance in detail in a number of scientific articles, his Thünen Lecture 2007, during the annual meeting of the Association for Social Policy, his Presidential Address at the World Conference of the International Institute of Public Finance in Warwick in 2007 and in two working papers.

Review and scientific discussion

Hans -Werner sense book The Green Paradox - A Plea for a no illusions climate policy reached in the FAZ - heading The best business books of 2008 to fourth place. Sense the book was a "clear analysis of environmental problems and environmental policy ," the FAZ. The TAZ writes that sense economic discussion is more complex than what about the nuclear power lobby otherwise offer. " What Should The green energy policymakers now only once counter ". The NZZ recommends this book to every citizen to read. It enables " how few publications a separate and independent judgment " and thus stand in " the best tradition of the Enlightenment." While Dirk Maxeiner attested in Germany radio that anyone who has read Hans -Werner sense book, not necessarily a perspective richer, but is poorer by a few illusions with certainty criticized John Kaiser that sense too often love half-truths and " populist propaganda " pursuing. The Süddeutsche Zeitung writes, meaning decompose with well- chosen words any approaches to solve climate problems. However, his proposals were hardly practicable, for the current energy problems they would offer no perspective. The Business Week judges sense analysis of the environmental policy is excellent and meet the spirit of the debate. However, on the search for alternatives, he also bump into limits. The Germany radio criticized the book for the fact "constructed paradox" and commented sense solution of a global agreement with the words: "With dramatic words and by false arguments Hans -Werner Sinn have a proper result - only with almost 20 years late. " Marcel Hänggi says in the WOZ that sense meet the nail on the head and you should read it without false fears.