Global Warming: The State of the Debate

Conference

December 12, 2003 11:00 AM to 6:15 PM EST

1st floor/Wintergarden

Featuring John Christy, Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director, Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville; William Cline, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics and the Center for Global Development; Robert Mendelsohn, Edwin Weyerhaeuser Davis Professor of Forest Policy and Professor of Economics, Yale University; and Thomas C. Schelling, Distinguished University Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland.

Global climate change continues to be a flashpoint in American politics. Although the Kyoto Protocol may be a dead letter at the moment, various initiatives to curb domestic green‐house gas emissions regularly pop up at both the state and federal level. Democratic pres‐idential candidates, meanwhile, uniformly promise to revive the Kyoto agreement in their prospective administrations.

The public debate, however, has been disparaged by both proponents and opponents of the Kyoto agreement as superficial and uninformed. This day‐long Cato conference is intended to help remedy that by fairly summarizing what is known about the science and economics surrounding greenhouse gas concentrations and abatement. Moreover, it tackles squarely what is perhaps the most relevant policy issue at the moment—the potential costs and benefits involved in dealing with scientific uncertainty.

Registration is now closed for the “Global Warming:The State of the Debate” conference.

10:00–12:00 p.m.	Panel 1: The State of the Science Robert Balling Director of the Office of Climatology, Arizona State University John Christy Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director, Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville Michael Schlesinger Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Illinois Patrick J. Michaels Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
12:00–1:00 p.m.	Lunch—Wintergarden
1:00–3:00 p.m.	Panel 2: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Costs & Benefits Gary Yohe John E. Andrus Professor of Economics, Wesleyan University William Cline Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics and the Center for Global Development Robert Mendelsohn Edwin Weyerhaeuser Davis Professor of Forest Policy and Professor of Economics, Yale University Paul Portney President and Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
3:00–3:15 p.m.	Break
3:15–5:15 p.m.	Panel 3: How Should We Handle Uncertainty? Robert Lempert Senior Scientist, Rand Corporation Indur Goklany Office of Policy Analysis, U.S. Department of the Interior Peter Van Doren Editor, Regulation Thomas C. Schelling Distinguished University Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland
5:15–6:15 p.m.	Reception—Wintergarden