Climate 411

Best Economic Analyses: Economy Can Thrive as We Cap Carbon

When you want to find out which cars are best, you look to honest experts who do their homework – like Consumer Reports or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

At EDF, we do the same thing when it comes to analyzing how the economy will fare under a carbon cap:  we look at what the neutral, nonpartisan economists are saying.

In the world of economic forecasts, the honest brokers include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Information Administration, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Congressional Budget Office.

In a just-released publication, EDF’s economics team looks at what these nonpartisan experts are saying about the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454, or ACES).  As you recall, that bill would put a gradually declining cap on emissions of heat-trapping gases.

Here’s what we found:  according to unbiased economic experts, if we adopt ACES, the US economy will reach $25 trillion in the spring of 2030 – just a couple of months after it would do so with no cap.  In other words, we don’t have to compromise between a strong economy and a better environment.  We can have both.

To help you see how tiny the impact of a cap on economic growth will be, check out this chart:

gdp_bars

The new EDF paper builds on our analysis last year of nonpartisan studies of earlier climate bills.  The new studies square up perfectly with last year’s:  fighting climate change is easily affordable.

So what about those wild numbers you hear tossed around – that if we cap carbon, the economy will crater and families will go broke paying ginormous utility bills?   Those numbers aren’t from these neutral, nonpartisan studies; they’re from “studies” by groups who want to kill climate legislation.

We’ve rebutted the crazy numbers elsewhere.  But this brief is about real economic studies done by serious, neutral experts.

The new paper also compares the tiny costs of protecting ourselves against potentially catastrophic global warming with the much larger amounts we spend to protect ourselves in other ways – like police and fire protection, life insurance, and national defense.  This chart tells the story:

dollar_penny

There are a lot more goodies in our economists’ new report — check it out.  And if you want the graduate-level course, you can learn still more about climate economics at http://www.edf.org/climatecosts.

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Report from Bangkok: Looking for the U.S. to Act

EDF’s Gus Silva-Chavez is blogging from the global climate negotiations in Bangkok. Yesterday, he sent a big thank-you to Senators Boxer and Kerry for getting work started on the Senate version of the climate bill:

Whatever else you can say about the draft bill that Senators Boxer and Kerry introduced in the Senate yesterday, it was welcome news to country negotiators and NGOs at the climate talks in Bangkok.

For several weeks the main question everyone has been asking me is “What’s the next U.S. move and when will it happen?” Now I can give them an answer – Senators introduced draft climate and energy legislation. Today.  Continue »

This echoes the call for U.S. leadership from the governor’s summit in California. The scientific urgency, public opinion and global path are all in place — now it’s up to the Senate.

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Message from Governors’ Summit: U.S. Must Act

This post is by Wade Crowfoot, EDF’s West Coast Political director.

Loud, bipartisan clamoring for a federal climate bill resonated here in Los Angeles as Governor Schwarzenegger and governors from around the world gathered to talk climate.

“The time for debate is over,” proclaimed Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, one of several U.S. governors calling for immediate federal action on climate.

The impressive three-day gathering, dubbed the “Governor’s Climate Summit 2…On the Road to Copenhagen,” features leaders from around the globe. Governors and leading thinkers from 70 countries on six continents are represented. New international partnerships are being announced what seems like each hour, from an African ‘Green Deal’ to Mexico reforestation projects.

Everything on day one of the summit has pointed to the importance of getting the federal bill passed so American leaders can head to Copenhagen in just two months time with a mantle of leadership.  It’s a powerful message, considering the thousands of attendees and dozens of mainstream corporate supporters helping to amplify this message on the need for American leadership.

Just nine months after his first international summit on climate action, Republican Governor Schwarzenegger highlighted the first day of this sequel gathering with a rousing speech about the green revolution’s impact on the California economy:

Since 2005, green jobs have grown ten times faster than the rest of California’s job market.

He explained how California’s policy on tailpipe emissions, a low carbon fuel standard, and cap and trade have generated sustained job growth in an otherwise gloomy economic climate.

Schwarzenegger was joined today by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who announced a landmark EPA rule requiring large facilities (those emitting over 25,000 tons of CO2 per year) incorporate new pollution reduction technologies.  “The journey toward a cleaner, healthier future is underway” said Jackson. Her comments made it clear that while the Obama Administration is working hard to pass the climate bill, the EPA is not waiting on Congressional leadership to tackle greenhouse gas pollution.

As Senators Boxer and Kerry introduced their climate bill in the U.S. Senate, the message from around the world is clear: The time to act is now.

Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Read 2 Responses

Nike Leaves Board of U.S. Chamber — But Keeps Membership?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues to rack up bad press because of its knee-jerk opposition to climate change legislation. (If you want the whole sordid history, read our earlier post.)

The latest news: Nike announced Wednesday that it is resigning its position on the Chamber’s board.

It’s not dropping its membership in the Chamber altogether — at least, not yet. But Nike’s statement suggests a long and happy future together may not be in the cards.

The statement begins with:

Nike believes US businesses must advocate for aggressive climate change legislation …

It continues ..

…we fundamentally disagree with the US Chamber of Commerce…

and it ends rather ominously:

Moving forward we will continue to evaluate our membership

Nike’s statement does make clear that, for now, they believe they’ll be better advocates for climate change legislation by working within the Chamber. But if the Chamber continues to push its extreme and inflexible views, Nike could become the fourth big company to walk away from the group — following in the fleeing footsteps of Exelon, Pacific Gas & Electric, and PNM Resources.

A fifth company, Johnson&Johnson, also supports climate change legislation and has publicly expressed its displeasure with the Chamber’s stance the issue. The company hasn’t taken any steps away from the Chamber… yet.

The New York Times has more on the story of Nike’s resignation.

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Pageantry at the Capitol: Senate Climate Bill Released

kerry-boxer-bill-intro

I took this photo today at the Capitol, where twelve senators, two national security figures, and scores of supporters gathered for the announcement of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

We’re excited that work in the Senate is beginning in earnest, and look forward to working with the Senators and staff to pass a smart, tough bill.

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Kerry-Boxer Draft Marks Beginning of Senate Climate Change Negotiations

Environmental Defense Fund today welcomed the release of draft legislation that gives the Senate its vehicle for enacting a comprehensive bill to cap U.S. global warming pollution.

“This draft is an important starting point for Senators to negotiate effective climate legislation that can win 60 votes,” said Environmental Defense Fund Legislative Director Elizabeth Thompson.

The discussion draft released today by Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry would put a mandatory cap on U.S. global warming pollution and give the private sector the flexibility to pursue the most affordable emissions reduction opportunities.

The draft calls for reducing U.S. emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels in 2020, slightly more than the reductions called for in the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill is silent on how emissions permits would be allocated, leaving room for negotiations as the bill moves forward in the Senate.

“We look forward to working with Chairmen Boxer and Kerry and their colleagues to pass a bill that’s environmentally effective and economically smart,” Thompson said.

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