Abstract
Existing climate policy goals require dramatic and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving such reductions within the desired time frame is a tremendous challenge, particularly through conventional regulatory approaches. The conventional approach to environmental problems is to treat such problems as “market failures” that can be corrected by government intervention, such as through regulation. Such approaches are constrained by various sources of government failure that are exacerbated by the scale and scope of the problem. The knowledge problem, administrative transaction costs, and limits on regulatory throughput capacity all hamper the use of traditional regulatory tools to address the problem of climate change. An alternative approach to environmental problems views such problems not as “market failures” but as a failure to have markets in relevant contexts. This approach counsels looking for ways to extend market institutions to cover environmental resources and encourage decentralized, spontaneous responses to price signals as a means of encouraging environmentally desirable behavior. Such approaches have been successful at helping to address many environmental concerns and at encouraging net dematerialization in advanced market economies. These experiences offer lessons for how to more effectively encourage decarbonization and address climate change. Among other things, they suggest a greater emphasis on the conditions that foster innovation and a greater reliance on fiscal tools than on regulatory interventions.
This Essay was prepared for the 2024 Iowa Law Review Symposium, “The Economic Implications of Climate Change.”
Keywords
climate change, greenhouse gases, decarbonization, dematerialization, climate mitigation
Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
Iowa Law Review (forthcoming)
Repository Citation
Adler, Jonathan, "Climate Liberalism and Decarbonization" (2025). Faculty Publications. 2328.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/2328
