John, Tim - HELP!

All of us at CT don’t even know how to begin to respond to this:

Seriously, Dr. Stavins, just because you haven’t figured out how to walk and chew gum at the same time, doesn’t mean nobody else can.

I’m hoping that Environmental Econ can help clarify Stavins’ point in a simple (and funny) manner. I can think of few people who have done more to advance environmental regulation than Rob Stavins, and find the whole post infuriating.

I’d just like to quickly point out that one of the related posts at the bottom of an article deriding environmental economists is titled “RFF Must Read – The Stern Report Got it Right”. Things to note:

• Apparently economists suck, except when they agree with climate progress
• Stavins is a university fellow at RFF
• Apparently RFF is “center-right”. WTF?

UPDATE: John weighs in.

And, another by the way, walking and chewing gum at the same time are much easier dual activities than cooking dinner in the shower. My guess is that Rob CAN, in fact, walk and chew gum at the same time. Stimulating a macroeconomy and cleaning the environment are both difficult things to do by themselves. Trying to do both at once is like, well, trying to cook dinner in the shower.

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