Lunchtime Must-Read: Jason Furman and John Podesta: We Can’t Wait: The Cost of Delaying Action to Stem Climate Change

Jason Furman and John Podesta: We Can’t Wait: The Cost of Delaying Action to Stem Climate Change: “Some are still claiming uncertainty…

…about the underlying science of climate change, saying it would be better to wait for more data, analysis and time to act…. We do face significant uncertainty…. That uncertainty, however, is an argument for doing more and doing it sooner…. Acting now to put in place policies that reduce carbon emissions is like taking out an insurance policy…. The costs of achieving a fixed climate change goal would be 40 percent larger if we waited a decade to take action. And those costs could grow exponentially with a longer wait…. Delay means losing years of research in effective carbon-reducing technologies, along with bigger investments in older, carbon-intensive technologies, meaning that we would have to adopt more stringent and therefore more costly measures in the future to make up for lost time…. Rather than waiting to address these challenges in the future, taking action today will also save us substantial sums. The United States cannot solve climate change alone. But we are well-positioned to lead the way–and the sooner we act, the sooner the world will join us.