The national debate about climate policy is off the rails again.

We should be talking about positioning Australia economically for the low-carbon future, making use of our huge opportunities to produce low-cost clean energy, and mobilising investment. We should be having a serious conversation about what are the best policies needed for that. And we should understand the implications of Australia’s climate policy for our long-term competitiveness and international standing.

Instead it’s the carbon wars once more. A confected furore over the presumed cumulative economic cost dominates the headlines, provoked by a single short report with some scary-looking numbers. The paper by Brian Fisher is a private black-box modelling exercise of no particular standing that uses outdated assumptions.

Read the full article, written by Professor Frank Jotzo, Crawford School of Public Policy, on the Guardian website.