WSJ and Lomborg Show How Useless the “Inflation Reduction Act” is to Tackle Climate – Do You Get It?

Originally published on Climate realism today.

On the 8th of August^order just one day after the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” contains a set Climate-related spending and tax creditsThe editorial board of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a scathing editorial titled “Climate Windmill – Schumer-Manchin will have little effect on world temperature“ suggests that the bill’s provisions would have virtually no effect on the climate.

The WSJ used analysis with the help of IPCC climate models and Dr Bjorn Lomborg to come up with a number, and the number is very small. They wrote:

Nearly all the Democrats, the press, the lobbyists – are winning with the Senate passing the Schumer-Manchin tax, climate and drug price control bill. The Climate Corridor is particularly suspenseful, claiming a historic victory that will lower temperatures, prevent sea-level rise and save the planet.

Or, maybe not. Our collaborator Bjorn Lomborg reviewed the Rhodium Group’s estimate of CO2 emissions reductions from Schumer-Manchin’s policies. He then included them in a United Nations climate model to measure the impact on global temperatures by 2100. He found the bill would reduce the estimated increase in global temperature by the end of the century by about 0.028 degrees Fahrenheit in the optimistic case. In the pessimistic case, the temperature difference would be 0.0009 degrees Fahrenheit.

So, as seen in the image below provided by Lomborg, we get a temperature drop of 0.028 to 0.0009°F by 2100 with about $400 billion in climate spending included in the bill.

At that rate, simple math (see Excel worksheet below) suggests the amount needed to reach much desired 1.5°C (2.7°F) temperature drop using a best-case reduction of 0.028°F would be $38,571,428,571,428 or about $39 trillion. The worst case temperature drop to 0.0009°F would cost a staggering $1,200,000,000,000,000,000 or ONE QUADRILLION TWO HILLION DOLLARS.

To put that number into perspective, according to the World Bank, the world economy in 2020 in US dollars is about 84.7 trillion dollars. Assuming it actually works, to have a meaningful impact on climate, the world would have to spend about half of the global economy annually on best-case scenario. If you think inflation is bad now, just wait for those numbers.

The worst-case scenario is beyond the reach of world wealth.

President Biden have this to say:

Now, let me be clear: This bill will be the most important legislation in history to address the climate crisis and improve our energy security immediately. And it will give us a tool to meet the climate goals we’ve set – to which we’ve agreed – by cutting emissions and accelerating clean energy.

Meanwhile, New York Times economist Paul Krugman suggests Democrats “save civilization” with climate provisions in spending bill.

There are no words to describe this difference between believing you’re a climate superhero and the climate reality, especially when you’re a Nobel Prize winning economist. Kudo to the WSJ and Lomborg for pointing out the climate madness of the “Inflation Reduction Act”.

(Thanks to Charles Rotter for checking the math in the Excel file -Anthony)