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The Trump administration is undervaluing the costs of climate change to boost its deregulatory efforts, according to a report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. When conducting cost-benefit analyses of major energy policies and projects, agencies are now using an estimate for the "social cost of carbon" that is seven times lower than that used during the Obama administration, essentially turning a blind eye to the damages caused by burning fossil fuels.
The move allows agencies to justify policy rollbacks by saying drilling, mining, and utility companies will benefit economically more from polluting than the costs increased pollution will impose. "It’s just a straight chain. You plug in the rigged social cost of carbon that allows EPA to say the costs to polluters is greater than the cost of climate change, and then that's the only way they can make it look like their agenda of rolling back climate change regulations makes sense," said Amit Narang of Public Citizen.
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Congress coming together to pass this act would address two fundamental crises the world faces at once — catastrophic climate change and the loss of biodiversity. It’s really about delivering natural climate solutions. … We have to look at how we’re managing land. What the LWCF piece of the act does is address the problem of losing too much of nature to pavement and pollution.”
