Abstract: I have written extensively about various aspects of climate change and energy policy over a number of years, and in 2011 Phoebe Clapham at Yale University Press approached me and suggested that I bring my ideas together in an accessible book.In trying to achieve this, I have eschewed the academic practice of peppering the text with innumerable references, and (I hope) present my arguments in an approachable, non-academic format, whilst backing them up with endnotes.I have also avoided the temptation to provide reams of empirical evidence, partly in order to make the book tractable, but more importantly because climate and energy policy is not about precise predictions and forecasts of the costs of each and every technological option.Indeed, the model-driven approach is, as will be explained, one of the reasons why we have ended up in the present mess.The very complexity of the now enormous literature on climate change in the fields of science and economics has become a barrier to a wider understanding amongst those who are being asked to pay the bills.I am very grateful to Phoebe, not only for suggesting this book, but for pushing me to complete it in a short time.She provided extensive comments on the drafts, and has been extremely supportive in every way.Many people mistakenly believe that their ideas are original, when they are in fact derived from the work of others.In mid-career, I had the good xv