Comments Supporting the Widespread Usage and Recommending Updates to the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (Docket No. OMB-2021- 0006-0001)
Earlier this year, the Biden administration reestablished the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases. Its first move was to discard the Trump administration’s flawed social cost values, which significantly understated the per-ton climate damages of greenhouse gas emissions. The Working Group published interim values, based on Obama-era estimates, and is now working to revise those values by January 2022 to incorporate the latest science and economics.
In addition to our own comment letter and reports, Policy Integrity collaborated with nine partner organizations to submit joint comments that, among other recommendations, encourage the Working Group to:
-endorse the broad application of the social cost of greenhouse gas values in all relevant decisions and processes;
-bolster the justifications for focusing on global damage estimates; and
-apply lower discount rates below the current range
