social cost of carbon
The IRAās Implicit Cost of Carbon
Hereās a simple way to think about a hard problem.
The social cost of carbon is important in many regulatory decisions made by the executive branch. It basically measures the benefit of cutting one ton of carbon emissions. Figuring out the cost of carbon based on an analysis of climate impacts is very tricky. However, thereās another way to think about the problem: We might …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Social Cost of George W. Bush
Bush promised climate action but reversed himself. The result: billions of dollars in global harm.
When Bush ran for President in 2000, he endorsed mandatory limits on CO2 emissions. Ā Within three months of taking office, he reversed himself to the dismay of some members of his own administration.Ā The upshot was that the US resisted any effort to address climate change and embraced a ādrill baby drillā energy policy. You …
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CONTINUE READINGWhose Interests Count? And How Much?
Whether to consider harms to foreign countries and future generations is controversial. So is how much weight to give harm to the poor.
Should regulators take into account harm to people in other countries? What about harm to future generations? Should we give special attention when the disadvantaged are harmed? These questions are central to climate policy and some other important environmental issues. Iāll use cost-benefit analysis as a framework for discussing these issues. You probably donāt need …
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CONTINUE READINGTaking the Courtās Temperature on Global Warming
A case on the shadow docket may shed light on the Courtās direction.
Court watchers and environmentalists are waiting with bated breath for the Supreme Court to rule on West Virginia v. EPA, the Courtās most important climate change case in a generation. The issue in that case is what, if anything, EPA can do to regulate carbon emissions from power plants and factories. Yesterday, conservative states asked …
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CONTINUE READINGFuture Shock
The latest IPCC report contains crucial new information about how soon and how bad climate impacts will be.
When the IPCC released its latest climate science report a few weeks ago, many commentators observed that the report should heighten our sense of urgency about climate action. Most of that discussion was at a very general level. Itās worth taking a closer look at some key findings and their policy implications. Here, I want …
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CONTINUE READINGCalculating the Ā Extinction Cost of Carbon
Or, how many megatons do we need to cut to prevent one extinction?
Economists often talk about the social cost of carbon, which basically translates the harm done by a ton of CO2 into dollars. The dollar metric is less useful as applied to ecological impacts like species extinctions than impacts of humans. Ā It may be better to skip the dollar conversion, and just ask how much a …
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CONTINUE READINGRecalculating the Cost of Climate Change
The Biden Administration has already started to revisit this important issue.
āThe social cost of carbonā isnāt exactly a household phrase. Itās an estimate of the harm caused by emitting a ton of CO2 over the many decades it remains in the atmosphere.Ā Thatās an important factor in calculating the costs and benefits of climate regulations. For an arcane concept, it has certainly caused a lot …
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CONTINUE READINGResuscitating Obama’s Environmental Legacy
Trump has had a single-minded focus on eliminating any traces of Obama’s presidency. But it’s not too late to turn the tide.
We’ve now had nearly four years of Trump’s all-out war on environmental protection. Trump has single-mindedly triedĀ to wipe out every trace of Obama’s legacy.Ā It’s time to see whatās left of Obamaās achievements. And what could a new President do to revive his legacy? In a Legal Planet post a week before the last …
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CONTINUE READINGAn Easy, No-Fuss, Climate Fix for that Big First Day in Office
No, not rejoining the Paris Agreement, though thatās a good idea too. Something else.
This is kind of like one of those recipe things you see: putting a gourmet meal on the table in five minutes.Ā But itās more like: the one ingredient that will make all your recipes come out better.Ā More seriously, what Iām about to propose is very conventional, easily integrated into agency procedures, and a …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Rise of Benefit-Blind AnalysisĀ
The Trump Administration cares about regulatory costs. Regulatory benefits? Not so much.
Since Ronald Reaganās time, there has been a consensus among conservatives that cost-benefit analysis (CBA) should be the gold standard for regulation. Ā That approach has given them common ground with moderates such as Cass Sunstein, many economists (whether liberal or conservative), and at least a fewĀ Ā scholars more environmentally inclined. Ā Cost-benefit analysis has had its …
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