THE GREEN PARADOX

Environmental policy must be turned on its head: instead of mulling over for the thousandth time about which technical measures can be applied to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we should turn to the core question of how to induce the resource owners to leave more carbon underground, as that is the sole possible way to solve the climate problem. The simple but usually overlooked fact is: other than the useful but limited afforestation efforts, there are only two ways to curb the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and, with it, slow down global warming. We either temporarily refrain from extracting carbon from the ground, or we stuff it back into the ground after having extracted its energy. All the technical endeavours to develop alternative technologies and all economic incentive systems to curb the greenhouse effect must subordinate themselves to this fundamental fact. [PUB ABSTRACT]