FERC Cannot Avoid The Social Cost Of Carbon By Arguing That It Is Not Universally Accepted

On August 3, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that FERC could not avoid use of the social cost of carbon in assessing the impacts of natural gas projects by arguing that "there is no universally accepted methodology."  Given the growing recognition of the significant role FERC is going to have in combatting climate change, it's an important decision. 

FERC acknowledged that construction and operation of the projects under review would "contribute incrementally to future climate change impacts."  However, because of the perceived absence of a "universally accepted methodology", FERC took the position that "it is not currently possible to determine localized or regional impacts from [greenhouse gas] emissions from the Project."