Increased
fuel efficiency, however, is not free.... Any truly cost-effective
increase in fuel efficiency would already have been made.
—Former
Council of Economic Advisers Chairman N. Gregory Mankiw, 2007
N.
Gregory Mankiw is the mirror image of Amory
Lovins, the protagonist of the preceding chapter. Lovins knows that
every energy measure we could possibly need will save more than it
costs. Mankiw knows that all such measures will cost more than they
save. Mankiw served as George W. Bush’s Chairman of the Council
of Economic Advisers from 2003 until 2005 and is well respected
within the economics profession.
The Mankiw-Lovins bipolarity highlights an important split in
energy-policy circles. ...
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