Ted Nordhaus
Ted Nordhaus (born 1966) is an American author and the director of research at The Breakthrough Institute. He has co-edited and written a number of books, including "Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility" (2007) and "An Ecomodernist Manifesto" (2015) with collaborator Michael Shellenberger. The two were described by "Slate" as "ecomodernists," while the authors have described themselves as the "bad boys" of environmentalism. Like Shellenberger, Nordhaus generally advocates for increased use of natural resources through an embrace of modernization, technological development, and increasing U.S. capital accumulation, usually through a combination of  nuclear power and urbanization. Many of his positions have been debated by environmental scientists and academics. Breakthrough Institute. Nordhaus is director of research at the Breakthrough Institute, which he co-founded with Michael Shellenberger in 2003. Nordhaus and Shellenberger have written a number of articles at Breakthrough, with subjects ranging from positive treatment of nuclear energy and shale gas to critiques of the planetary boundaries hypothesis. The Breakthrough Institute has argued that climate policy should be focused on higher levels of public funding on technology innovation to "make clean energy cheap", and has been critical of climate policies such as  cap and trade and carbon pricing. The institute advocates higher levels of public spending on technology innovation, which they argue will lead to higher environmental quality, economic growth, and quality of life. Writing and reception. Section::::"The Death of Environmentalism: Global Warming in a Post-Environmental World". In 2004 Nordhaus and Shellenberger co-authored "The Death of Environmentalism: Global Warming Politics in a Post-Environmental World." The paper argued that environmentalism is incapable of dealing with climate change and should "die" so that a new politics can be born. Former Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope called the essay "unclear, unfair  and divisive." He said it contained multiple factual errors and misinterpretations. However, former Sierra Club President Adam Werbach praised the authors' arguments. Former Greenpeace Executive Director John Passacantando said in 2005, referring to both Nordhaus and Shellenberger, "These guys laid out some fascinating data, but they put it in this over-the-top language and did it in this in-your-face way." Michel Gelobter and other environmental experts and academics wrote "The Soul of Environmentalism: Rediscovering transformational politics in the 21st century" in response, criticizing "Death" for demanding increased technological innovation rather than addressing the systemic concerns of people  of color. Section::::"Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility". In 2007 Nordhaus and Shellenberger published "Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility". The book is an argument for what its authors describe as a positive, "post-environmental" politics that abandons the environmentalist focus on nature protection for a new focus on technological innovation to create a new economy. They were named "Time" magazine Heroes of the Environment (2008) after writing the book. "The Wall Street Journal" wrote that, "If heeded, Nordhaus and Shellenberger's call for an optimistic outlook -- embracing  economic dynamism and creative potential -- will surely do more for the environment than any U.N. report or Nobel Prize." However, academics Julie Sze and Michael Ziser argued that "Break Through" continued the trend Gelobter pointed out related the authors' commitment to technological innovation and capital accumulation instead of focusing on systemic inequalities that create environmental injustices. Specifically Sze and Ziser argue that Nordhaus and Shellenberger's "evident relish in their notoriety as the 'sexy' cosmopolitan 'bad boys' of environmentalism (their own words) introduces some doubt about their sincerity and reliability." The authors asserted that "Break Through" fails "to incorporate the  aims of environmental justice while actively trading on suspect political tropes," such as blaming China and other Nations as large-scale polluters so that the United States may begin and continue Nationalistic technology-based research-and-development environmentalism, while continuing to emit more greenhouse gases than most other nations. In turn, Shellenberger and Nordhaus seek to move away from proven Environmental Justice tactics, "calling for a moratorium" on "community organizing." Such technology-based "approaches like those of Nordhaus and Shellenberger miss entirely" the "structural environmental injustice" that natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina make visible. Ultimately, the authors of "Break Through  believe that community-based environmental justice poses a threat to the smooth operation of a highly capitalized, global-scale Environmentalism." Section::::"An Ecomodernist Manifesto". In April 2015, Nordhaus joined with a group of scholars in issuing "An Ecomodernist Manifesto". It proposed dropping the goal of “sustainable development” and replacing it with a strategy to shrink humanity’s footprint by using natural resources more intensively through technological innovation. The authors argue that economic development is necessary to preserve the environment. "An Ecomodernist Manifesto" was met with critiques similar to Gelobter's evaluation of "Death" and Sze and Ziser's analysis of "Break  Through". Environmental historian Jeremy Caradonna and environmental economist Richard B. Norgaard led a group of scholars in a review which argued that Ecomodernism "violates everything we know about ecosystems, energy, population, and natural resources," and "Far from being an ecological statement of principles, the "Manifesto" merely rehashes the naïve belief that technology will save us and that human ingenuity can never fail." Further, "The "Manifesto" suffers from factual errors and misleading statements." Environmental and Art historian T.J. Demos agreed with Caradonna, and wrote in 2017 that the "Manifesto" "is really nothing more than a bad utopian fantasy," that functions to  support oil and gas industry and as "an apology for nuclear energy." Demos continued that "What is additionally striking about the Ecomodernist document, beyond its factual weaknesses and ecological falsehoods, is that there is no mention of social justice or democratic politics," and "no acknowledgement of the fact that big technologies like nuclear reinforce centralized power, the military-industrial complex, and the inequalities of corporate globalization." Personal life. Nordhaus is the son of Robert Nordhaus, former General Counsel of the United States Department of Energy, and the brother of Hannah Nordhaus, environmental journalist and author of "The Beekeeper's Lament