Some 400 climate experts signed a letter Monday in support of a US government proposal to more than triple the social cost of carbon, a key metric for quantifying the harm caused by CO2 emissions in particular.
Currently, the cost of an additional tonne of CO2 released into the atmosphere is estimated by the US government at $51. A proposal by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides for an increase to 190 US dollars.
“We look forward to these more robust estimates being finalized promptly so that they can inform federal decision-making,” the experts said in their letter, noting that these costs were certainly underestimated.
The societal cost of carbon makes it possible to better guide policy choices in the fight against climate change by allowing the benefits of certain actions (power plant standards, etc.) to be compared with the costs incurred. Climate experts agree that it is important to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
It takes into account the damage to property (e.g. to houses and infrastructure due to more frequent floods or fires, etc.), the health of the population, but also economic losses, particularly in the agricultural sector, or the changes caused to the energy system.
Under the Trump administration, that cost had been reduced to single digits before being reassessed by Joe Biden’s administration, who set it at $51 while acknowledging it was likely an underestimate.
The EPA released a preliminary report late last year that includes the $190 revision. Also, the social cost of methane is being reassessed.
That report was the subject of a public comment period that ended Monday. The timing of a potential future launch remains uncertain.
The letter was sent by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) on Monday.
Among the signatories are in particular the scientists Michael Mann (Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania), Andrea Dutton (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Don Wuebbles (University of Illinois), but also economists (Linda Bilmes, Eric Maskin, Gary). yohe)…
In September 2022, experts published a study in the journal nature estimating the societal price of carbon at $185.