Study: Pollution costs underestimated
HEIDELBERG, N.Y., Sep 17, 2012 -- UPI
Using a faulty analytical model has led the U.S. federal
government to significantly underestimate the costs of carbon
pollution, a study suggests.
Writing in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences,
researchers said the model used by the government is incomplete
because it all but ignores the economic damages climate change
will inflict on future generations.
Without properly accounting for pollution costs, natural gas
appears to be the cheapest generation option for new power
plants, but that's a faulty assumption, the study authors said.
"It turns out that the price we now pay for energy is much
higher than what shows up on our electric bills or the tab at
the gas pump," Laurie Johnson, chief economist in the climate
and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council,
said.
Considering the economic costs of carbon and other pollutants
from fossil fuel generation, the researchers said, building new
electricity generation capacity using wind and solar power would
be more cost effective than either natural gas or coal.
"With approximately 40 percent of all carbon emissions in the
United States coming from power plants, the economic advantages
of clean electricity sources are significant," Johnson said.
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