A coalition of 12 states, including Arizona, Ohio and Nebraska, is suing President Joe Biden. Republican officials’ rebellion against Democratic guidelines continues.
US President Joe Biden has been indicted by a 12-state coalition with Republican Attorneys General over an executive order he signed in January to protect the environment and curb the climate crisis.
Who is suing?
The plaintiff’s states are Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. Prosecutors in these states, with a conservative ideology, believe that Biden does not have the constitutional authority to implement regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, but that this is a task for Congress.
What did Biden order?
Hours after being sworn in as president, Biden signed Executive Order 13990, asking federal agencies to calculate the social costs of greenhouse gas pollution.
And what are the social costs?
The social costs are the costs that society must bear for the operation of a company. This is measured by the effects that the production of an economic activity can have on society, which can be both negative and positive. For these purposes we call them externalities.
An example of positive externality is education, as it brings many benefits to the population. While a negative externality can be found in the purchase of a new car that emits gases. This has negative long-term costs for society due to the emission of gases and the effects they can have on people’s health.
With this understood, Biden intends to run a projection to evaluate the pros and cons of carbon emissions and, based on this review, be able to set a new dollar rate for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
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All this implies that companies using non-renewable energy sources, such as those related to agricultural productivity, would see their expenditure increase if they did not switch to a more environmentally friendly process. And Republicans believe that thousands of jobs could be lost this way.
Experts have long debated what the exact cost per ton of carbon released into the atmosphere should be. Progressives point out, supported by science, that it should be much higher than the current one. Conservatives, sheltered by the desires of the industry, say the risks of climate change are overestimated, inflating the costs of CO2 emissions and the benefits of regulation.
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“Determining the ‘social costs’ of greenhouse gases is an inherently speculative, policy and indeterminate endeavor, seeking to predict unknown contingencies such as future human migrations, international conflicts and global disasters hundreds of years in the future. Assigning such values is pre-eminently a legislative act that falls under the exclusive competence of Congress, ”the lawsuit said.
But those “unknown contingencies” that the Republicans call are not that unknown after all. The effects of climate change on the planet are clear, just that conservatives want to deny them in order to keep businesses connected to nonrenewable energy afloat.
Former President Donald Trump dismantled the inter-institutional task force of experts studying the social costs of greenhouse gases. It also reduced the value of a metric ton of carbon dioxide to about $ 1 to $ 6, when the team of experts estimated it at $ 45.
That prize has been used for many gas emission regulation processes. This has undoubtedly brought benefits to large companies, but at an enormous cost to humanity and especially future generations. In 2020, the United States experienced a record 22 extreme weather disasters. The change was also driven by false arguments and ideological movements oblivious to the reality of the danger of gas emissions.
Biden now wants to increase the cost of a metric ton of carbon dioxide to $ 51. This new estimate would lead to stricter regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. But it is not enough yet. During the four years of the Trump administration, with the abrupt and dangerous adjustment of social costs incurred without regard to the scientific evidence, the world lost time and the United States fell behind in the fight against climate change. The price a metric ton of carbon dioxide should be should be $ 125, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The Republicans’ lawsuits against Biden are only intended to derail a plan that hopes to build a green and sustainable economy for the benefit of future generations and all Americans. However, this is the danger of such a project being passed through an executive order that could be challenged in federal courts. To enable Biden to advance his agenda, he needs these bills to go through Congress.
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