The White House directed federal agencies to stop monetizing climate damages when crafting regulations and making other decisions — unless it is “plainly required in their governing statutes.”
The memo by Jeffrey Clark, President Donald Trump’s acting regulatory chief, directs agencies not to use a social cost of greenhouse gas emissions metric when weighing costs and benefits of federal actions like permits and rules.
Clark repeated a contention made by Trump in an energy executive order that the figures are “marked by logical deficiencies, a poor basis in empirical science, politicization, and the absence of a foundation in legislation.”
“It is incumbent upon executive departments and agencies … to remove any barriers put in place by previous Administrations that unduly restrict the ability of the United States to maximize the benefits Americans enjoy from our abundant natural resources,” he stated.
