Word: scc
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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...Turns out, this last question is a matter of great debate. Typically the province of economists wielding formulas too esoteric for most of us to follow, the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) is currently under discussion by the EPA and other regulatory agencies. The figure they choose has huge implications for our ability to make inroads against climate change. The Social Cost of Carbon represents the estimate of damages from one more ton of CO2 added to the atmosphere. (One ton of CO2 is what the average family car emits every two-and-a-half months.) The SCC is important...
...reduce CO2 in the atmosphere," says Frank Ackerman, PhD, an economist specializing in climate change at the Stockholm Environment Institute's center at Tufts University. "If, say, we value CO2 damages at $20 a ton, then $15 per ton is considered an acceptable cost to ameliorate it. If the SCC is $2, spending $15 seems out of line." The other key statistical variable is the "discount rate," which establishes how to account for future costs and benefits in today's currency. A high discount rate implies that what happens years from now should have less bearing on decisions made today...
...study looked at damages at different SCC and discount rates. "Using the mid-range EPA figure, the cumulative global cost between now and the middle of the century will exceed $7 trillion," says Goodstein. "This means that every working adult will have to pay half of a year's salary just to cover the damage of the breakdown of the Arctic air conditioner." The higher figure used in the survey, based on the U.K.'s 2007 Stern report, yields significantly greater damage estimates...
Frank Ackerman says that the EPA is basing its SCC calculations on models that minimize the economic risks of climate change. He notes that one model includes the assumption that for the first few decades, climate change will bring economic benefits to the world as a whole...