A Price on Carbon is No Panacea

Environmentalists hate coal. The recent This Is Reality campaign also seeks to point out that Clean Coal technology doesn’t exist yet. And they have a point.

Environmentalists, on the other hand, love carbon pricing, which they say will boost renewable energy by deterring people from using fossil fuels like coal. Joy and fluffy bunnies all round!

Inconveniently, along comes a study from MIT that suggests that carbon pricing will boost clean coal and have virtually no effect on renewables. Oops.

The alternative (which is likely if clean coal continues to be technologically frustrating) is that nuclear power becomes the dominant energy source, another thing environmentalists hate.

Which all suggests that if environmentalists want carbon-free, nuclear-free power for America, they should stop hiding behind carbon pricing mechanisms and come out for mandates. Then we can have a proper debate about America’s future energy needs and costs.