A newly released Congressional Research Service report analyzed seven studies on the projected cost of a House-passed climate bill. The report's authors concluded it's nearly impossible to predict the true cost of the legislation. The report found that the key driver in determining the cost to the economy will be the development of new energy technologies, such as carbon capture and advanced wind and solar generation.
Energy and environmental policy experts Larry Parker and Brent Yacobucci authored the report. They wrote that it is difficult to project costs up to the year 2030, much less beyond. The already tenuous assumption that current regulatory standards will remain constant becomes more unrealistic as time goes forward, and other unforeseen events loom as critical issues which cannot be modeled.
Debate over the cost of climate change legislation has flared anew as the Senate prepares to release its bill. The perceived cost of a climate bill, which could transform the U.S. economy by setting a price on fossil fuel emissions, is viewed as a crucial political tool in helping pass or kill the legislation.
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