September 4, 2007 by Tom Armstrong.

Spreading economic freedom from Cato.

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September 4, 2007 by Tom Armstrong.

This article in today’s WSJ demonstrates that fluctuating prices alter consumption patterns. It begins:

A consensus that the world should pursue vastly bigger cuts in fossil-fuel emissions is likely to emerge from a flurry of global-warming diplomacy in coming weeks.

Negotiators touted that view at a climate conference last week in Austria, and they are likely to echo it at other gatherings this autumn. But that merely tees up the real debate: Who will pay for the cuts?

As the diplomats wrangle, evidence is mounting that a force beyond governments’ control may be doing more than regulations to slow emissions growth: high energy prices. The latest sign came in a report last week from Environmental Defense, a New York environmental advocacy group. It said high gasoline prices caused palpable changes in consumption in the U.S. in 2005, the most recent year the report studied. Average carbon-dioxide emissions from new U.S. vehicles fell 3% that year, “a decline not seen in nearly two decades,” the report said. Growth slowed significantly in both total driving in the U.S., and in total carbon-dioxide emissions from all vehicles on the road.

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