The Social Cost of Carbon

In an interview with Public Radio International’s Living On Earth, Nicholas Institute faculty fellow Billy Pizer discussed recommended changes in the social cost of carbon—the subject of a recent report he co-authored—and why social cost evaluations are crucial to tackling carbon pollution. Pizer noted that such evaluations have been used in more than 100 government cost-benefit analyses, most notably for the Clean Power Plan. Asked about energy department transition leader Thomas Pyle’s suggestion that the incoming Trump administration might consider lowering the social cost value or getting rid of it completely, Pizer said, “I think it would be problematic. I mean, generally when we do cost-benefit analysis, the goal of government policy should be to try to improve welfare for the American people and for people around the world, and there needs to be a way to do that mechanically, and the social cost of carbon is the way that you do that. It's not a Republican or Democratic idea. It's an economic idea.”