Government Auditors Say 'Social Cost of Carbon' Is by the Book

Government auditors have taken a close look at a disputed calculation used by federal regulators to assess the long-term costs of carbon pollution.  Their verdict:  it was all done by the book.

The hotly contested economic calculation, known as the "social cost of carbon" or SCC, sailed through a review by the Governmental Accountability Office, whose audits often feature scathing criticisms of the bureaucracy.

The GAO's report was purely descriptive—dissecting, step by step, the process that bureaucrats used to develop and update the SCC over the years.  "Evaluating the quality of the approach is outside the scope of this review," the GAO demurred.

The review was requested by several of Congress' most outspoken critics of the administration's methods, who have called the SCC's development "a black box."

Government Auditors Say 'Social Cost of Carbon' Is by the Book