WASHINGTON–The Biden administration has issued a directive that would, for the first time, have federal agencies consider the economic damage caused by climate change when deciding what kinds of vehicles, equipment and goods to buy.
CUToday.info has contacted NCUA for a response on what the directive may mean to the agency but has not yet received comment.
“The new guidance from President Biden could affect purchasing decisions across the government, from agriculture to defense to health care,” the New York Times stated. “The idea is to take into account the greenhouse gases generated by goods and projects, how they contribute to global warming, and the cost of that to the economy.”
According to the report, the potential impact is “significant,” as the federal government is the world’s largest consumer of goods and services, spending roughly $600 billion each year.
‘Whole of Government Approach’
“It will be the first time this ‘whole of government approach’ is used to evaluate the climate consequences of government actions,” said Richard Revesz, President Biden’s regulatory chief, who is helping lead the initiative.
According to the Times, Revesz, a climate law expert, has focused on using cost-benefit analysis when designing policies meant to protect human health and the environment.
Critics, however, told the Times they feared the new step would end up harming the fossil fuel industry.
“It will constrain the development of traditional energy sources and infrastructure buildout, and give a new rationale to boost the development of wind and solar and EVs,” said Mandy Gunaskera, who served as chief of staff of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Trump administration and is now a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization.
Views Along Party Lines
Since the Obama administration, the E.P.A. has used a metric to calculate the economic harm caused by one ton of planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution, known as “the social cost of carbon,” and applied it when regulating polluting industries, such as transportation and energy.
Views on the issue largely break down according to party lines. As the Times noted, in the Obama administration, White House economists calculated the social cost of carbon at $42 a ton. The Trump administration lowered it to less than $5 a ton. Under Biden, the cost was adjusted for inflation and set at $51. Officials are now working on an update that is expected to jump to around $190 a ton, according to the report.
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