Terra Incognita For Climate Change Policy – “Dead Ahead” As #44 Leaves / #45 Assumes Responsibility for Public Policy

We are about to enter “uncertain terrain” or as the ancient Romans called it, terra incognita – when it comes to what [national] public policies the United States of America will / or will not pursue in the days ahead regarding the complex issues surrounding “climate change” (or dare we say…”global warming”).
Elected officials may /or may not / pay attention to, or adopt the recommendations emanating from, the Federal government’s official research and analysis bodies and those closely affiliated with the U.S. government. Politics. Worldviews. Business/vested interests. Pandering to the base. Ignorance – deliberate and otherwise. All of these can get in the way and cloud the political lens of the U.S. senator, member of the House, appointed cabinet officer (the secretary)…and higher up.
In this last week of the eight-year reign of the 44th Chief Executive, Barack Obama, the influential National Academy of Sciences (NAS) put out a report and made recommendations that contained a specific metric that we will no doubt be hearing about no matter the side of the climate change issues we are on.
The question posed is:  what is the “social cost of carbon???” The answer from NAS is $36 per ton for carbon dioxide. Remember that “monetary cost” number: $36 per ton when we do a proper cost-benefit analysis (positive, negative) on the various impacts on human societies (flood, drought; impacts on agriculture, human health, etc.). ALL have economic consequences. (The new report is an updating estimation of the social cost of carbon in 2017.)
NAS is a private, not-for-profit society established by an Act of Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The society provides independent, objective advice to public sector leaders in the fields of science and technology. Consider this: Over the years some 500+ members have won the Nobel Prize.
Under the NAS banner, there are two important subgroups: The National Academy of Engineering (1964) and the National Academy of Medicine (1970).  All together, there are 6,000 experts involved from the various field. NAS says in the matters of engineering, science and medicine, Congress and the White House issue legislation (laws, which become rules) or Presidential Executive Orders based on the society’s recommendations.
The hometown newspaper of the nation’s capital published the results with an appropriate headline: “Scientists have a new way to calculate what global warming costs. Trump’s team isn’t going to like it.” (The Washington Post story by Chelsea Harvey is our featured story this week.)
And you can purchase the report from NAS / The National Academies Press in paperback (“Valuing Climate Change” – $80.00) or download a FREE PDF copy as a guest at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24651/valuing-climate-damages-updating-estimation-of-the-social-cost-of
Featured Story
Scientists have a new way to calculate what global warming costs. Trump’s team isn’t going to like it.
(Friday – January 13, 2017)
Source: Washington Post – How we view the costs of future climate change, and more importantly how we quantify them, may soon be changing. A much-anticipated new report, just released by the National Academy of Sciences, recommends major updates to a…