The Uses and Misuses of Technology Development as a Component of Climate Policy

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.