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:
