Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I spoke before the Fourth of July recess about two financial risks that are coming our way thanks to not getting anything done on climate change. One, of course, is the risk to coastal properties--not something the Presiding Officer has to worry too much about given his home State but something that Rhode Island, the Ocean State, has to care a lot about and that the distinguished Senator from Florida and his constituents have to care a lot about. There is a point where rising sea levels intrude on the saleability, the mortgageability, and the insurability of houses. None other than Freddie Mac, the huge Federal housing corporation, is predicting that there will be a coastal property meltdown. The other risk is that of a carbon bubble. There is a lot of talk in the economic literature about a carbon bubble. One recent financial study reports that ``the potential effects of a carbon bubble on financial stability have been recently discussed in the academic literature and are increasingly on the agenda of [bank] regulators and supervisors.'' Indeed, in an official statement, the Bank of England has warned that ``investments in fossil fuels and related technologies . . . may take a huge hit.'' That huge hit is the other side of a carbon bubble: It pops, and you have a crash. So let's look at the prospects for not just a carbon bubble but a carbon crash. There are several elements in the runup to a crash.…”