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Policy Analysis

A Review of The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty and Economics for a Warming World by William Nordhaus

By Robert Repetto, Robert Repetto on March 18, 2014

In The Climate Casino, William Nordhaus covers the entire range of climate issues: the science, impacts and damages, mitigation possibilities, domestic and international policy options, and politics.

The book's main messages are that humans are almost certainly causing climate changes unprecedented during the emergence of civilization, mainly by burning fossil fuels, and that the resultant warming is a major threat to societies and the natural world. The only genuine solution is to reduce emissions by changing the practices of billions of people, businesses and governments around the world through market mechanisms, specifically by creating an economic penalty or "price" for carbon emissions.

Robert Repetto's review of Nordhaus's ends with a strong recommendation for the even-handed exploration of the issues surrounding climate change.