James Hansen should stick to climate research

His economics is pathetic. Paul Krugman has the complete takedown. I'll just point out two howling bad arguments:

Because cap and trade is enforced through the selling and trading of permits, it actually perpetuates the pollution it is supposed to eliminate. If every polluter’s emissions fell below the incrementally lowered cap, then the price of pollution credits would collapse and the economic rationale to keep reducing pollution would disappear.

In other words, if we solve the problem, there's no incentive to keep trying to solve the problem. Ee gads.

Still need more convincing? Consider the perverse effect cap and trade has on altruistic actions. Say you decide to buy a small, high-efficiency car. That reduces your emissions, but not your country’s. Instead it allows somebody else to buy a bigger S.U.V. — because the total emissions are set by the cap.

Oif. Suppose there's a $2 a gallon tax on gasoline. Suppose I give up my SUV for altruistic reasons. What happens in the market for gasoline? The price falls, and someone else takes advantage of the lower price by driving more. How is Hansen's proposal any better than cap and trade?

The bottom line is that cap and trade is the best we're going to do. Anyone who cares about global warming ought to get behind it and work to iron out the imperfections rather than holding out for the "perfect" solution.