Report: Government Way Off on Cost of Carbon

The predicted economic impacts of climate change play a key role in directing policy responses to a warming planet. Of particular importance is a figure called the social cost of carbon (SCC), which gives a dollar amount to each ton of carbon emissions—and a figure derived by the Obama administration of $21 per ton of carbon is drawing sharp criticism from economists. A peer-reviewed report pub­­lished by the Economists for Equity and Environment (E3) network in July estimated that the SCC could be as high as $894 dollars per ton.

“The government has been making decisions based on the flawed calculation that carbon dioxide emissions cost just $21 per ton,” said Elizabeth A. Stanton, Ph.D., economist and coauthor of E3’s report, in a press release. “In fact, the real cost may end up being 40 times that amount.”