I don't love the 30-day deadline for an interim social cost of carbon, as I mentioned to Abby Smith in this good piece she wrote on the topic 🧵 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/biden-increase-government-carbon-cost
Biden orders 'social cost' overhaul in bid to reduce climate pollution

President Biden is directing his team to retool the values the government uses to assess the costs and benefits of combating climate change in a move that could ultimately help his administration...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/biden-increase-government-carbon-cost
My fear is that this timeline will give the smart people working for Biden-Harris little choice but do something quick-and-dirty-and-problematic...
For example, they might take the old Obama SCCs -- and at these point we all know the endless problems with these --and pick one or two parameter to tweak that makes the SCC much higher (i.e. The Reverse Trump)...
Doing that undermines the process, because it would appear that models were being used to justify rather than estimate an SCC. And it would provide an implicit endorsement to all of the problematic elements of the old SCCs, which continue to be used in harmful ways...
Plenty of actions from this admin require this degree of urgency. But the SCC? This is # that gets incorporated into regulatory impact analyses. Will any RIA be ready in a few weeks?
The SCC is also not used by the federal government to set any policies or regulations directly. Will the Biden-Harris team take different actions based on an interim SCC estimate? I doubt it, and I’d sure hope not.
Of course the SCC should be updated from the silly Trump #s as rapidly as possible. But, remember, NAS published its recommendations for updating the SCC 4 years ago! Super smart people took the baton immediately. We're not starting from scratch https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24651/valuing-climate-damages-updating-estimation-of-the-social-cost-of
Valuing Climate Damages: Updating Estimation of the Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide

Download a PDF of "Valuing Climate Damages" by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for free.

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24651/valuing-climate-damages-updating-estimation-of-the-social-cost-of
Even better IMO would be if the Biden-Harris folks took a step back and asked whether a continuation of the old Obama approach was most consistent with their values and goals on climate.
That's what the UK did in 2009, when it shifted to using the SCC only indirectly, in helping the country set its climate goals (see helpful figure below).. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carbon-valuation-in-uk-policy-appraisal-a-revised-approach
That's what the UK did in 2009, when it shifted to using the SCC only indirectly, in helping the country set its climate goals (see helpful figure below).. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carbon-valuation-in-uk-policy-appraisal-a-revised-approach
That's what the UK did in 2009, when it shifted to using the SCC only indirectly, in helping the country set its climate goals (see helpful figure below).. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carbon-valuation-in-uk-policy-appraisal-a-revised-approach
You can follow @noahqk.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:
Those who think consciousness raising & movement building are disconnected, or even a distraction from electoral politics have not paid attention to the history of social change.In this thread, we
Read more
The 2020s will be known as the Remote Work decadeA few predictions of what is likely to emerge[ a thread ] Third Space: Office and Working from Home will
Read more
1/29: Have you ever had a concept explained to you that helps frame complex issues you’ve been wrestling with and opens your eyes to new possibilities? A concept that I
Read more
By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.