Alberty and VanDeveer (1996) have compared the political economics of the Montreal Protocol to that of international attempts at controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, are emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal. While North America and Western Europe have been responsible for approximately 60 percent of the human-caused increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, developing countries such as India and China that will be developing their coal resources are expected to surpass the emissions levels of rich countries in the first third of the twenty-first century. These countries interpret attempts at controlling their coal-based economic development as another example of rich countries trying to keep poor countries from raising incomes and attaining international power. Relative to the Montreal Protocol, is the international effort to control greenhouse gases more Stiglerian or Olsonian in nature? Why might the political economic outcomes be different from that of CFCs?
Alberty and VanDeveer (1996) have compared the political economics of the Montreal Protocol to that of international attempts at controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, are emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal. While North America and Western Europe have been responsible for approximately 60 percent of the human-caused increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, developing countries such as India and China that will be developing their coal resources are expected to surpass the emissions levels of rich countries in the first third of the twenty-first century. These countries interpret attempts at controlling their coal-based economic development as another example of rich countries trying to keep poor countries from raising incomes and attaining international power. Relative to the Montreal Protocol, is the international effort to control greenhouse gases more Stiglerian or Olsonian in nature? Why might the political economic outcomes be different from that of CFCs?
