As a student of economics, one perspective I take on climate change is the cost/benefit analysis of investing in renewable energy technology. It's pretty clear that we are facing very drastic economic costs even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse gasses today; the realized costs will be far greater. Several great studies on impacts of climate change show us that the US faces huge adaptation costs to a changing climate, and other counties face even worse situations. Often left out of the discussion about policy changes in the US are the effects they have on the global market--when the US shifts technology standards, entire economies start shifting their investments because they know it will be profitable down the road, and it also saves entire economies from large adaptation costs.

The benefits of shifting technologies are large but far in the future, which means we need to help our policymakers understand the long-term economics, and not just their 2-, 4-, or 6-year terms.