by Michael A. Livermore
This week, the
Environmental Protection Agency will do more than set new fuel efficiency
standards for cars. It will put a price on carbon.
Within this historic
climate change regulation is a powerful new way of thinking about greenhouse gas
emissions: as costs that will borne by society. Burning oil in cars imposes a
steep price tag, from dirtier air now, to more expensive flood insurance in a
decade, to potential climate catastrophe for our grandchildren.
The federal
government has taken note of these hidden costs and is now using them to weigh
the benefits of curbing our emissions. It’s a smart move: regulations might not
seem worth doing if we pretend these price tags said “free.” But when the real
costs of business as usual are recognized, the need to rein-in emissions is
obvious.
EPA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
are a big, green deal in and of themselves. These standards embody common sense
greenhouse gas reductions and, as we can tell from Detroit’s recent meltdown,
should have been done a long time ago. The new standards will save consumers
billions at the pump, wean us off OPEC’s pipelines and drive technology
innovations here in America.
And of course it
will help to slow down our contributions to the greenhouse gases that are
warming our planet. Using the new carbon price, EPA estimates that the rule will
save $16.4 billion in climate costs down the line.
While Members of
Congress work towards a legislative path for a larger carbon pricing plan, EPA’s
recognition of the costs of carbon emissions is a strong and important move. For
almost a century our nation has ignored the ways greenhouse gases have adversely
affected our long-term bottom line. We focus only on the price of a gallon at
the pump and close our eyes to the price of we are imposing both on ourselves
and our children.
So kudos to EPA
Administrator Lisa Jackson for killing two carbon emitting birds with one stone.
With these new and improved CAFE standards, we save money with more miles per
gallon and take an important step toward a saner energy
economy.
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