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ARTICLE · 09 AUGUST 2011

Social Cost Of Carbon

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How much should we spend reducing carbon emissions? What will the cost be if we don’t?

CanadaEnvironment
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How much should we spend reducing carbon emissions? What will the cost be if we don't?

US federal lawmakers are required to consider the "social cost of carbon" when issuing significant rules, as part of their overall cost/benefit analysis. But how do they calculate it? The World Resources Institute and the Environmental Law Institute have issued a fascinating policy brief on the hidden assumptions and value judgments that drive the official numbers, currently a range whose "central value" is $21/ton. More Than Meets the Eye: The Social Cost of Carbon in US Climate Policy, in Plain English, shows that the beguiling concreteness of these numbers is a masquerade for choices made by a few unaccountable economists about issues such as:

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