Metric analysis

GOP climate metric wrongly demonized for its threat to big oil can be implemented again

March 17, 2022March 24, 2022 Lakeisha W. Loiselle Comments Off

Credit: Getty Images

The “social cost of carbon” reflects the scientific and economic analysis of the monetary cost of climate change per ton emitted and is a key measure for establishing more environmentally friendly policies.

March 17, 2022 2:36 p.m. PDT

by April Siese, Kos daily staff

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The Biden administration can finally resume using a key metric to determine environmental regulations, thanks to a stay issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. An injunction was granted by a Louisiana judge in February that prevented the Biden administration from using the “social cost of carbon” to influence its policy decisions on climate change. It was Louisiana and other heavily polluted states like West Virginia and Texas that sued the federal government over the regulations, which the plaintiffs say would hurt states seeking to continue profiting from fossil fuels. at the expense of the planet. The nine-page order issued by the judges Leslie Southwick, James E. Graves Jr. and Gregg Costa state that “government defendants [Biden et al.] are likely to succeed on the merits because the plaintiff states do not have standing…because it is, at this stage, merely hypothetical. States have claimed they would be somehow harmed if they had to adhere to stricter guidelines that ensure the United States at least has a fighting chance in the fight against climate change. . The justices rightfully sided with the Biden administration.The social cost of carbon is one of the most comprehensive ways to calculate the financial cost of climate change – specifically, the price of a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions – taking into account scientific analysis and economic which includes issues such as sea level rise and how much it will cost to deal with such a serious consequence of the warming of our planet. As the notes of the Columbia Climate School, it’s just one of many tools that the United States and the rest of the planet must implement to properly address climate change. This includes investments in renewable energy and emerging technologies, according to Center for Global Energy Policy Peter Marsters. Many advocacy groups welcomed the order issued this week, including Environmental Defense Fund Attorney General Vickie Patton, who criticized the Feb. 11 injunction by Trump-appointed judge James D. Cain Jr, which she said was “deeply flawed, against the law, and would have put people’s lives and health at risk.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who led the case against the government, has yet to release a statement on his office’s latest loss, but over the course of this week he has continued to push the false narrative that the social cost of carbon is not just a job. killer but a threat to American energy independence. Landry spat his bullshit on OAN and fox business-two right-wing networks keen to promote his oil-loving dreck. It pushes for the resumption of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, going as far as suing president Biden last year above and parrots endless talking points from the oil and gas industry, including the false claim that fossil fuels somehow lift communities out of poverty. This last point, which he argued during his appearance at the OAN, was not only systematically refuted but showed that it actually worsened existing inequalities. According to a published article in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists from 2018 on oil and extreme rural poverty”,on the contrary, fast-growing countries are less effective in converting growth into poverty reduction. These results suggest that oil booms increase regional inequalities.Earthjustice Senior Advocate Hana Vizcarra denounced Landry’s remarks as a “misdirection” of what the social cost of carbon really is. “The social cost of carbon is just one more tool drawing on developments from the scientific and business communities to help agencies… It’s information that’s integrated into their analyses,” Vizcarra said. “It doesn’t dictate the outcome of any of these things, it just helps to synthesize the best scientific and economic information.” As for the Fifth Circuit’s stay, “it’s really just a black-letter law ruling.”Vizcarra applauded the court for rebutting the more hyperbolic claims of Louisiana, et al., and made it difficult for the states to move forward with their original arguments. Landry could consider a bench hearing that would send the case to the full Fifth Circuit instead of a panel of judges. If the court were to rule the same as its recent order, “I don’t see where it’s going with that,” Vizcarra admitted.

Lakeisha W. Loiselle

https://metricsucks.com

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