Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt
© 2014 Taylor & Francis. This article examines how to account for the welfare effects of carbon dioxide emissions, using the historical experiences of Britain and the USA from the onset of the industrial revolution to the present. While a single country might isolate itself from the detrimental...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41283 |
| _version_ | 1848756101558829056 |
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| author | Kunnas, J. McLaughlin, E. Hanley, N. Greasley, D. Oxley, Leslie Warde, P. |
| author_facet | Kunnas, J. McLaughlin, E. Hanley, N. Greasley, D. Oxley, Leslie Warde, P. |
| author_sort | Kunnas, J. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2014 Taylor & Francis. This article examines how to account for the welfare effects of carbon dioxide emissions, using the historical experiences of Britain and the USA from the onset of the industrial revolution to the present. While a single country might isolate itself from the detrimental effects of global warming in the short run, in the long all countries are unable to free ride. Thus, we support the use of a single global price for carbon dioxide emissions. The calculated price should decrease as we move back in time to take into account that carbon dioxide is a stock pollutant, and that one unit added to the present large stock is likely to cause more damage than a unit emitted under the lower concentration levels in the past. We incorporate the annual costs of British and US carbon emissions into genuine savings, and calculate the accumulated costs of their carbon dioxide emissions. Enlarging the scope and calculating the cumulative cost of carbon dioxide from the four largest emitters gives new insights into the question of who is responsible for climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:06:51Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-41283 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:06:51Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-412832017-09-13T14:11:35Z Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt Kunnas, J. McLaughlin, E. Hanley, N. Greasley, D. Oxley, Leslie Warde, P. © 2014 Taylor & Francis. This article examines how to account for the welfare effects of carbon dioxide emissions, using the historical experiences of Britain and the USA from the onset of the industrial revolution to the present. While a single country might isolate itself from the detrimental effects of global warming in the short run, in the long all countries are unable to free ride. Thus, we support the use of a single global price for carbon dioxide emissions. The calculated price should decrease as we move back in time to take into account that carbon dioxide is a stock pollutant, and that one unit added to the present large stock is likely to cause more damage than a unit emitted under the lower concentration levels in the past. We incorporate the annual costs of British and US carbon emissions into genuine savings, and calculate the accumulated costs of their carbon dioxide emissions. Enlarging the scope and calculating the cumulative cost of carbon dioxide from the four largest emitters gives new insights into the question of who is responsible for climate change. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41283 10.1080/03585522.2014.896284 restricted |
| spellingShingle | Kunnas, J. McLaughlin, E. Hanley, N. Greasley, D. Oxley, Leslie Warde, P. Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| title | Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| title_full | Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| title_fullStr | Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| title_short | Counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| title_sort | counting carbon: historic emissions from fossil fuels, long-run measures of sustainable development and carbon debt |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41283 |