No Fault Found In CO₂ Cost Estimates

Congressional auditors are recommending no changes to the way the Obama Administration developed cost estimates for the future impacts of carbon dioxide emissions. The federal government’s central estimate of those costs is $35 per metric ton of CO₂ as of 2013. An interagency group made the calculations after a federal appeals court in 2008 ordered the Department of Transportation to estimate the value of the net damages and benefits from increased CO₂ emissions. EPA uses these numbers, called the social cost of carbon, to estimate the climate benefits of its rules. Four Republicans in the Senate and House who have strongly disputed the estimates asked the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to look into the Administration’s calculations. In a report released last week, GAO finds that the interagency group relied on published literature and three well-known academic models that have been used in peer-reviewed papers. The interagency group disclosed limitations of the estimates and identified areas for further research to improve the calculations.