Are We Serious Yet?

In his new book, A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies
, Economist William Nordhaus cuts through admirable heaps of impenetrable econometrics and boils down a yes no test for assessing progress towards reversing climate change -

Whether someone is serious about tackling the global-warming problem can be readily gauged by listening to what he or she says about the carbon price. Suppose you hear a public figure who speaks eloquently of the perils of global warming and proposes that the nation should... [long list of good ideas redacted for brevity] but nowhere does the proposal raise the price of carbon. You should conclude that the proposal is not really serious and does not recognize the central economic message about how to slow climate change.

This has the lustrous quality of a simple truth. It may not be true in the end (and Freeman Dyson has his doubts) but what a simple guide these few sentences are.

It will be a challenge to get people to bring this litmus test to the polling booth.