Is this the sort of conversation that goes on inside an insane asylum? These people have absolutely no idea what they are doing. How much did the 310 ppm Dust Bowl cost? How much did the 1864 Brisbane flood cost?
How Much Does Global Warming Cost?
A new report suggests that the social cost of carbon — the economic damage done by one ton of carbon dioxide emissions — could be drastically higher than government agencies have estimated.
By Dan WatsonMost people understand that global warming is happening, but it is hard to get a firmer sense of exactly what effects it is going to have on the future of the world. Governments have started to approach climate change as a situation to evaluate using cost-benefit analysis: How much should we spend to fix the problem? How much will it cost us if we don’t?
As Judith Schwartz detailed in February (“The Social Cost of Carbon”), the U.S. government began regulating carbon dioxide emissions via the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement of the Clean Air Act. The U.S. calculated the social cost of carbon — the economic damage done by 1 ton of carbon dioxide emissions — through an Interagency Working Group made up of many different cabinet departments and agencies. They estimated the economic damage per ton of CO2 to be just $21, or only about 21 cents per gallon of gasoline.
That price was quite similar to the AUS$23 per metric ton Australia is assessing its 500 top carbon emitters beginning July 1, 2012, according to an announcement Prime Minister Julia Gillard made earlier this month. (That AUS$23 is roughly US$24.50 at current exchange rates.)
