ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the problem of global climate change from an economic perspective and highlights an ecological economic approach to climate change policy and action based on a renewed environmental ethic. An ecological economics approach acknowledges that the global atmosphere is a form of critical natural capital for which there is virtually no substitute and which must be maintained in a natural state that supports humanity for the long term. Global climate change is happening and growing evidence indicates that humans are contributing significantly to global climate change by releasing extensive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. International standards to limit global and national greenhouse gas emissions must be established to hinder personal actions of individuals, regions, and nations that will result in a tragedy of the atmospheric commons. Neoclassical and ecological economists vary greatly on issues of distribution and the scale of the economy and its relation to the issue of effective policy approaches to global climate change.
