Measuring the Social Cost of Carbon: The Promise and Pitfalls of Using the SCC to Justify Regulation

When
March 31, 2015 12:00 pm — 1:30 pm
Where
Washington, DC (and via webinar/webcast)

This program is sponsored by the Air Quality Committee of the D.C. Bar Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Section, in cosponsorship with the following additional D.C. Bar Section(s): Administrative Law and Agency Practice Section, the ABA, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, and the  Environmental Law Institute.


The Social Cost of Carbon tool assesses the economic costs of greenhouse gas emissions. Our panel of experts offered a primer on the tool and debated the advantages and shortcomings of relying on it as a factor in agency decision-making.

Richard Ayres is among the nation’s most knowledgeable and well-respected environmental attorneys and policy makers. He has significantly shaped the country's environmental policies, including the Clean Air Act, and their implementation.

Dr. Kevin D. Dayaratna specializes in tax, energy and health policy issues as Senior Statistician and Research Programmer in The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis (CDA). An applied statistician, he has researched and published on the use of high-powered statistical models in public policy.

Dr. Laurie Johnson is the chief economist at NRDC's climate and clean air program in Washington, DC. She focuses on modeling the costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts of environmental regulation on employment, economic analyses of regulation by industry, and macroeconomic modeling of climate change legislation and its distributional impacts.

Patrick Traylor practices in the area of environmental law, with a particular focus on the Clean Air Act, environmental litigation, and energy infrastructure development and climate change.

Speakers:
Richard Ayres, co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, managing partner, Ayres Law Group LLP
Dr. Kevin Dayaratna, Heritage Foundation
Dr. Laurie Johnson, Natural Resources Defense Council
Patrick Traylor, partner, Hogan Lovells
Jessica Olson, Ayres Law Group LLP (moderator)