'Social Cost of Carbon' Too Low, Report Says

The U.S. government uses $37 as its estimate of how much a ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere costs, including decreased agricultural productivity, damage from rising sea levels and harm to human health related to climate change.  The Obama administration updated that figure, known as the "social cost of carbon," in November.

But a report released Thursday argues that $37 is far too low.  It doesn't include costs of other major climate impacts, such as increased respiratory illness from higher pollen or ozone, or the spread of insect-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, or the toll that ocean acidification will take on fisheries. 

The report comes from the environmental groups Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund, and the Institute for Policy Integrity, based at New York University's School of Law.  Policy Integrity economic fellow Peter Howard authored the report, posted on the group's website, Cost of Carbon.

'Social Cost of Carbon' Too Low, Report Says