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Articles on social cost of carbon

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The U.S. government is the single largest buyer of services and goods, like vehicles. That has an impact on the economy. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Climate change is about to play a big role in government purchases – with vast implications for the US economy

The Biden administration directed agencies to consider the cost of greenhouse gas emissions in their future purchasing and budget decisions. An example shows just how much is at stake.
Economists have searched for the mythical balance between the cost of climate action, and the future cost of doing nothing. Joop Hoek/Shutterstock.com

We can’t know the future cost of climate change. Let’s focus on the cost of avoiding it instead

For decades, economists have pondered the ‘social cost of carbon’ - the price worth paying to avoid the future costs of greenhouse emissions. But a new analysis suggests this quest is impossibly complex.
Tighter emissions standards create costs for truck manufacturers yet provide health benefits for society. How should they be weighed? Lesterman

Why a minor change to how EPA makes rules could radically reduce environmental protection

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has proposed steps that would reduce economic benefits to society from new regulations. An economist who worked for Presidents Clinton and Obama calls this a strategy to justify deregulation.
Coal train in Missouri. Assigning a social cost to carbon emissions puts a price on activities that generate them, such as burning fossil fuels. Scott Granneman/Flickr

Curbing climate change has a dollar value — here’s how and why we measure it

To weigh the economic impact of climate change policies, we need to estimate the social cost of carbon. An economist explains how it’s done and why the Trump administration shouldn’t end the practice.
Hurricane Sandy pummeled cities along the east coast in 2012, causing billions of dollars of damage. Shutterstock

The economic cost of climate change: time for new math

Climate change is as much an economic problem as an environmental one. The effects of climate change, such as damage from more severe weather or health problems from higher temperatures, will impose a…

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