The uses and misuses of technology development as a component of climate policy

Abstract

The current misplaced focus on short-term climate policies is a product both of domestic political exigencies and badly flawed technical analyses. A prime example of the latter is a recent U.S. Department of Energy study, prepared by five national laboratories. The 5-Labs study assumes —- incorrectly —- that technical solutions are readily at hand. Worse, advocates of short-term emissions targets under the Framework Convention on Climate Change are using this study to justify the subsidy of existing energy technologies —- diverting resources from the effective long-term technology response that will be needed if the climate picture darkens.