Dec 5 2009
Recently, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) has released an analysis of the U.S. economic growth. Even if the U.S. government adopts various legislations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases for sustainable environment, the analysis reveals that the economic growth of the country will be about 70% through the year, 2030.
The report reveals that if the climate legislation that is similar to Blueprint for Legislative Action is adopted, the GDP growth of U.S. will grow 70-71% through the year, 2030. The economic growth will be 71-72% through the year, 2030 even if no climate change legislation is implemented.
Speaking on behalf of USCAP, Dr. Janet Peace, Vice President, Markets and Business Strategy for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said that the economic growth will not be affected now and in the future if comprehensive legislation related to climate change and reduction of greenhouse gases is implemented.
The analysis was conducted by USCAP using ADAGE and NEMS-USCAP economic models, which are similar to models used by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Energy Information Agency (EIA) while reviewing climate legislation.
The enactment of climate change legislation causes only negligible decline in the GDP growth through the year, 2030 according to the analysis. The U.S. economy is expected to reach about $22.3 trillion by the year, 2030 without any climate change policy and this target will be achieved from two to four months later with the enactment of climate change legislation.
The results announced by USCAP are comparable to the results announced by EPA and EIA while reviewing the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The USCAP also found that carbon offsets program is important to control costs and any delay in local and international offsets program will lead to increase in total costs. The study also found carbon capture and sequestration development should be accelerated and other polices for transportation, energy efficiency are important for lower energy spending in the future.
The economic analysis conducted by USCAP finds continued growth in direct contrast to results of other studies that shows significant damage to the economy due to climate change legislation. Dr. Janet Peace said that climate challenges can be easily addressed to protect the consumers and at the same time achieve significant economic growth. He further added that even though costs are involved, the steps taken are good investment for secure, cleaner, and sustainable future.
Source: http://www.us-cap.org/