<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/12/trump-judge-biden-climate-metric-greenhouse-gases>
"A Trump-appointed federal judge has blocked the Biden administration’s attempt
to put greater emphasis on potential damage from greenhouse gas emissions when
creating rules for polluting industries.
The move represents a blow to Joe Biden’s efforts to bring America more back in
line with global efforts to fight the climate crisis after the Trump era, when
the US largely turned its back on measures that might have helped limit
emissions.
It also shows the impact of Donald Trump’s judicial appointees, which were
overwhelmingly conservative and will have impact far beyond Trump’s single term
in office.
US district judge James Cain of the western district of Louisiana sided with
Republican attorneys general from energy producing states who said the
administration’s action to raise the cost estimate of carbon emissions
threatened to drive up energy costs while decreasing state revenues from energy
production.
The judge issued an injunction that bars the Biden administration from using
the higher cost estimate, which puts a dollar value on damages caused by every
additional ton of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.
Biden on his first day in office restored the climate cost estimate to about
$51 a ton of carbon dioxide emissions after the Trump administration had
reduced the figure to about $7 or less a ton. Trump’s estimate included only
damages felt in the US versus the global damages captured in higher estimates
that were previously used under the Obama administration.
The estimate would be used to shape future rules for oil and gas drilling,
automobiles and other industries. Using a higher cost estimate would help
justify reductions in planet-warming emissions, by making the benefits more
likely to outweigh the expenses of complying with new rules."
Via Robert Sanscartier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
