Here is a fascinating suggestion — from an economist, yet — on how to reconcile the debate between those who believe Global Warming is real and man-made, versus those who don’t:

“To end this political stalemate, Dr. McKitrick proposes calling each side’s bluff. He suggests imposing financial penalties on carbon emissions that would be set according to the temperature in the earth’s atmosphere. The penalties could start off small enough to be politically palatable to skeptical voters.

If the skeptics are right and the earth isn’t warming, then the penalties for burning carbon would stay small or maybe even disappear. But if the climate modelers and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are correct about the atmosphere heating up, then the penalties would quickly, and automatically, rise.”

All those in favor say “Aye.”

All those opposed, hack in Dr. McKitrick’s email account . . .

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Source:
Trusting Nature as the Climate Referee ^[1]
JOHN TIERNEY
NYT, December 14, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/science/15tier.html