Brad Johnson over at Wonk Room acquired a copy of the EPA’s recommendations on regulating greenhouse-gas emissions that the White House has been trying so hard to hide.
The documents give you a good idea why: EPA officials concluded that the benefits of new, tougher standards “far outweigh their costs.” In fact, if gas prices stay in the range of $3.50 a gallon, “the net benefit to society could be in excess of $2 trillion” through 2040 if fuel efficiency standards for automobiles are raised “well above 35 mpg.”
This, of course, renders false President George Bush’s assertion in April that regulating greenhouse-gases under the Clean Air Act “would have crippling effects on our entire economy.” This is the edited version of the EPA’s recommendations — the original, which was sent to the White House in an email the administration refused to open, was much tougher, according to EPA officials.
See Wonk Room and Warming Law for more, or download the first 150 pages of the draft, which the Wonks have graciously posted: Part one and two [PDFs].
