social cost of carbon


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The Social Cost of Carbon Gets an Interim Update from the Biden Administration

, Policy Director and Lead Economist, Climate & Energy

March 2, 2021 9:28 AM EDT

Last Friday, the Biden administration announced an interim update to the social cost of heat-trapping emissions, key metrics for measuring the economic costs of climate impacts from a unit increase in these emissions.

This update to the social cost of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide comes as a result of an Executive Order from President Biden, and essentially restores the values to what they were prior to the Trump administration, adjusting for inflation. A more thorough process will follow to update these values by January 2022 to reflect the latest science and economics. Read more >

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The Social Cost of Carbon Underscores an Obvious Fact: Climate Change is Costly

, Policy Director and Lead Economist, Climate & Energy

February 28, 2017 9:42 AM EDT

This morning the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is holding a hearing on the social cost of carbon (SCC). Past experience indicates that the majority members on this committee are not big fans of science or facts. Hopefully, some of the witnesses at the hearing will get some real economic facts on the table. The most important one: climate change is costly and our policies need to reflect that reality. Read more >

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The Social Cost of Carbon: Counting the Costs of Climate Change and the Benefits of Cutting Carbon Pollution

, , Policy Director and Lead Economist, Climate & Energy

February 26, 2014 11:50 AM EDT

Last November the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) solicited comments on the administration’s social cost of carbon (SCC) calculations. Today, as the extended comment period closes, the Union of Concerned Scientists filed joint comments with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Institute for Policy Integrity (Policy Integrity), and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in support of the SCC. The current SCC value is an important start for measuring the benefits of cutting carbon pollution. At $37 per metric ton of CO2 in 2015 (2007 dollars, using a 3% discount rate), it is also almost certainly an underestimate of the costs of climate change and can be improved in the future. Read more >

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The Social Cost of Carbon: Setting the Record Straight Ahead of Today’s House Hearing

, Policy Director and Lead Economist, Climate & Energy

July 18, 2013 10:21 AM EDT

The Obama administration has recently updated the official U.S. social cost of carbon (SCC), which attempts to estimate the costs of damage from carbon pollution. It’s one important way to show the value of cutting our global warming emissions. We’ll need to keep improving the SCC estimate to ensure it reflects the latest science and economics. We also have to ensure a more transparent process for updating and using this critical number going forward. But today’s House hearing on the SCC is simply a sideshow aimed at undermining climate action, not likely to focus on issues of substance. Read more >

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