ABSTRACT
Public debates over energy policy are increasingly dominated by the specter of climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), greenhouse gas emissions increased at a faster rate from 2000 to 2010 than over the three preceding decades, reaching the highest levels recorded in human history. In order to avoid irreversible climate disruption, greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2050 must be 40 to 70 percent lower than they were in 2010, and must decline to zero by the end of the century (IPCC 2014). Unless drastic measures are taken to curb our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, severe disruption of the planet’s climate is inevitable.
