ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
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.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on X