Science in the Triangle

During a week of climate discussions in Copenhagen and Washington, RTI International released results from a study that looks at the costs of mandatory emissions controls.

The RTI analysis is based on the “Blueprint for Legislative Action,” a plan by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership that includes mandatory reductions of CO2 emissions. The partnership, which is a group of businesses and environmental organizations, recommended emissions reductions of 80 percent to 89 percent by 2020 and a 58 percent by 2030.

Enforcing these targets will cost U.S. households an average $89 per year in 2020 and $269 in 2030, RTI researchers figured. The projections are in 2007 dollars.

The cost increases come mostly from moderately higher electricity and natural gas bills and a 15 percent increase in petroleum prices by 2030. That means, a gallon of gas would cost $4.42 instead of $3.84, according to the RTI study. (More about the study results here.)

RTI, a research institute based in Research Triangle Park, released the study results Thursday, while negotiators from 192 countries talked about climate change in Copenhagen. Earlier in the week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. And on Friday, U.S. Senators John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., will submit their legislative plan on CO2 emissions control.