US judge strikes down Biden climate damage cost estimate

The Associated Press ^ | February 11, 2022 | By MATTHEW BROWN, MATTHEW DALY and KEVIN McGILL

[Oldeconomybuyer]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to put greater emphasis on the potential damage from greenhouse gas emissions when creating rules for polluting industries.

U.S. District Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana sided with Republican attorneys general who said the administration’s raising the cost estimate of carbon dioxide emissions threatened to drive up energy costs while decreasing state revenues from energy production. The judge issued an injunction that bars the administration from using the higher cost estimate, which puts a dollar value on damages caused by every additional ton of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

President Joe Biden on his first day in office restored the climate cost estimate to about $51 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions after the Trump administration had reduced the figure to about $7 per ton. Trump’s estimate included only damages felt in the U.S. versus the global damages captured under the higher estimate.

The Biden administration’s revival of a higher figure initially set under the Obama administration would be used to make future rules for oil and gas drilling, automobiles, and other industries. Using a higher cost estimate would help justify reductions in planet-warming emissions by making the benefits more likely to outweigh the expenses of complying with new rules.

[throwthebumsout]

"A federal judge in Missouri last year had sided with the administration in a similar challenge from another group of Republican states. In that case, the judge said the Republicans lacked standing to bring their lawsuit because they had yet to suffer any harm under Biden’s order."

This whole judicial concept where you have to wait until you suffer harm before you have standing just boggles my mind.

[Sacajaweau]

Ahhh...

This Judge figured it out. If you tell me the damage will be X....all you have to do is tell me the solution is to do things that will cost less than X.

[jimmygrace]

Wow, a judge objected to people pulling numbers out of their a$$!

[rb22982]

This whole judicial concept where you have to wait until you suffer harm before you have standing just boggles my mind.

Agreed

[Montana_Sam]

First order of business is get the pseudo-scientists out of the serious-science game. It doesn’t matter what humans do to atmospheric CO2 levels, it won’t change the climate one bit.
There are serious problems in the world.
Climate change doesn’t make the “List of Top 1 Trillion Problems on Planet Earth”.