4.22.2008 8:54 AM

Would You Spend 1 Penny to Save the Climate?

A Carbon Cap Would Not Harm the Economy: Report

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Photo: Peter Spiro / Istock

By Dan Shapley

If you would be willing to spend less than one penny on the environment for every dollar you spend, you can get behind the idea of capping carbon emissions to slow global warming.

At least, that's according to a new Environmental Defense Fund analysis of "leading economic models" considering the economic impact of a regulatory cap on carbon dioxide pollution, such as those that are being considered in the Senate and by the major presidential candidates.

The actual cost to the average American would actually be three pennies for every $10 spent, according to the analysis (that's just $116 on a brand new H3 Hummer, sticker price $38,800).

The math is likely to work out even ore favorably, despite the steep costs for electric power plants, factories, vehicle makers and even farmers. Why? The cost of doing nothing is not free. More damage from extreme weather, increased hospitalizations from disease outbreaks and other results of unmitigated global warming were not incorporated into the analysis.

“Put another way, our gross domestic product is projected to reach $26 trillion in January 2030. If we capped greenhouse gases, according to these studies, the economy would hit that same mark by April,” said Nathaniel Keohane, director of economic policy and analysis at Environmental Defense Fund.

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