externalities

The true cost of gasoline? $13 a gallon

What's the true cost of the emissions from every gallon of gasoline, when you add up all the negative environmental impacts they'll lead to, from poor air quality to catastrophic climate change? Nine dollars a gallon. Add that to what you're typically paying at the pump right now, and it means that the real cost of a gallon of gas to the planet and our future is easily into double digits.

Are energy subsidies really in danger?

Has energy-subsidy reform become more likely in recent days and weeks? That would be nice, but don't hold your breath.

Gas should cost $15 per gallon

Grist readers know that the "high price" of gasoline in America doesn't begin to capture its true costs. But do you know exactly why that is? The smart, deep-diving folks at the California's Center for Investigative Reporting have made this great video breaking down the reasons why gasoline should actually cost closer to $15 per gallon. You should watch it (it involves cocker spaniels!), but if you can't spare 5 minutes, the highlights are below.

 

The real cost of coal: even higher than we think

Every now and then I see studies that try to estimate the real cost of fossil fuels, what we don’t pay up front. Normally they contain numbers that seem unbelievably low to me, like this one from the National Academy of Sciences that was reported on Grist. We blow the tops off mountains, kill miners quickly in […]

Hidden costs, despite being hidden, are costs

Harold Pollack has a post on gold mining making the familiar point that there are all sorts of market failures that support destructive environmental practices. If the mine in question actually had to pay for the costs it imposes — or even pay fair price for the land it occupies — it could never compete […]

What is coal’s true cost?

For coal, the real costs outweigh the benefits.Photo: Andrea AbbottPaul Epstein, associate director of the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, will publish a study entitled, “Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal,” later this month. The study has 10 coauthors, including public health and environment experts. A news release explains […]

Should we get rid of all energy subsidies?

Should the U.S. get rid of all energy subsidies? In a new piece for Washington Monthly, Jeffrey Leonard argues that we should. Is that a good idea?

New report shows dirty coal doing even more damage than you thought

A new study shows EPA has been undercounting the externalities imposed by ozone pollution, and thus understating net benefits of its new ozone rules.

Thumb on the scale in the comparison of fuel taxes and efficiency standards?

A new review of the literature by Resources for the Future suggests that gas taxes motivate drivers to use less gasoline far more cheaply than auto efficiency standards like CAFE. There are a number of reasons to be suspicious of this conclusion.