Eliminating fossil fuels from US power sector would cost US$4.7 trillion, study shows
- Findings come amid push to implement the Democrat’s ‘Green New Deal’, designed to move towards cleaner fuel sources and reduce carbon emissions
Eliminating fossil fuels from the US power sector, a key goal of the “Green New Deal” backed by many Democratic presidential candidates, would cost US$4.7 trillion and pose massive economic and social challenges, according to a report released on Thursday by energy research firm Wood Mackenzie.
That would amount to US$35,000 per household, or nearly US$2,000 a year for a 20-year plan, according to the study, which called the price tag for such a project “staggering”.
The report is one of the first independent cost estimates for what has become a key issue in the 2020 presidential election, with most Democrats proposing multi-trillion-dollar plans to eliminate US carbon emissions economy-wide.
Front-runner Joe Biden’s plan to get to zero emissions, for example, carries a US$1.7 trillion price tag, while Beto O’Rourke’s proposal comes in at US$5 trillion. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the authors of the “Green New Deal,” a non-binding Congressional resolution, put the cost of a comprehensive climate solution at around US$10 trillion.
Such ideas aim to tap into a growing sense of urgency about global warming on both sides of the political divide, but have been panned by President Donald Trump and many Republicans as being unfeasible, costly, and a threat to the economy.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Wednesday showed most Americans back “aggressive” climate change action like that proposed by Democrats, but that support falls off dramatically if they sense the initiatives would cost them.