Lies, damned lies and then there is data

T

he Daily Telegraph yesterday published a set of Big Scary Numbers around ambitious action on climate change, leading to lower economic growth, lower wage growth and the winding down of the coal industry.

In response the federal environment minister Greg Hunt stated that “What Labor refuses to learn is that you can tackle climate change without a carbon tax. You can tackle climate change without a [A]$633 billion hit to the economy.”

Where do such numbers — and associated apocalyptic scenarios — come from, what do they mean, and is ambitious action a recipe for a significant hit to the economy and our living standards?

Read The Conversation story - “How to make sense of big, scary climate costs”.