Senate Bill Would Help Appropriately Account for the Cost of Climate Pollution

(Washington, D.C. – June 5, 2019) 13 U.S. Senators have introduced a bill that will help ensure that the U.S. uses a robust and transparent process based in sound science and economics to account for the costs of climate pollution.

The bill, the Pollution Transparency Act, is sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado. It addresses the social cost of carbon, which measures the cost of damages caused by climate change.

“Americans across the country are already suffering because of climate change – in terms of health and safety, but also financially. These costs are real and we need to be taking them into account,” said Susanne Brooks, EDF’s Senior Director of Climate Policy and Analysis. “This bill will help ensure that we’re making decisions that are based on the best available science and economics.”

A group of high-level experts from across the federal government developed rigorous estimates for the cost of carbon pollution, through a transparent process based on peer-reviewed science and economics.

In 2017, President Trump issued an executive order withdrawing those estimates as government policy, and directing federal agencies to pick their own estimates instead.

The Pollution Transparency Act would require agencies to incorporate the costs of climate change in their decision-making process and re-establish the interagency process to update the estimates as needed.