NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 25 (UPI) -- A Yale University professor suggests cutting carbon emissions by as much as 40 percent during the next 20 years could help U.S. economic growth.
"As Congress prepares to debate new legislation to address the threat of climate change, opponents claim the costs of adopting the leading proposals would be ruinous to the U.S. economy," said Professor Robert Repetto. "The world's leading economists who have studied the issue say that's wrong -- and you can find out for yourself."
Repetto has developed an interactive Web site that reviews 25 of the leading models used to predict the economic impacts of reducing carbon emissions. The Web site synthesized thousands of policy analyses in order to identify the seven key assumptions accounting for most of the differences in the model predictions. Visitors can choose which assumptions they view as most realistic and then see the predictions of the economic models based on their chosen assumptions.
"The Web site shows that even under the most unfavorable assumptions regarding costs, the U.S. economy is predicted to continue growing robustly as carbon emissions are reduced," said Repetto.
The Web site is at www.climate.yale.edu/seeforyourself
--
Copyright 2008 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
--