Senator John Hoeven discusses the Keystone pipeline, energy policy, the Middle East, and politics, noting that our country moves forward with investments that make our energy secure and environmentally sound.

What do we owe posterity? We hear a lot about the federal debt that we baby boomers will be leaving our kids and grandkids. But we hear much less from Congress and those running for president about the climate legacy we are leaving our grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.

Is climate change the ultimate Black Swan? Martin Weitzman of Harvard University and co-author of Climate Shock talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the risks of climate change. Weitzman argues that climate change is a fat-tailed phenomenon--there is a non-trivial risk of a catastrophe. Though Weitzman concedes that our knowledge of the climate is quite incomplete, he suggests that it is prudent to take serious measures, including possibly geo-engineering, to reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In their proposal “How Taxing Organic Products Could Solve California’s Water Shortage,” published last week on National Review Online, Anderson and Miller state the need for a revenue–neutral tax on all organic products (which would diminish their demand), while outlining how organic agriculture is less efficient and more wasteful than conventional and genetically engineered agriculture.