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Understanding social costs

DAVID THOMAS ROBERTS

Bellefonte

Twelve states have filed a lawsuit fighting President Biden’s executive orders on climate change, arguing that his administration doesn’t have authority to establish the “social costs” of greenhouse gases to be used in federal rule-making. March 9 (UPI)

The 12 Republican led states championing continued fossil fuel use argue we should not take “social costs” into consideration when determining how to defeat climate change.

To make this clear, “social costs” is in no way related to “socialism,” which is an economical means of production.

Social costs are the actual costs to our communities calculated by examining all cost factors, including the usually ignored, hidden costs of health care, national security, damaged infrastructure, land loss, sea level rise, crop failure, habitat destruction, loss of life, mass extinction, environment degradation, economic collapse, and the many other impacts expected from extreme climate change.

If we decide that the preservation of a habitable Earth is not a social cost to be considered we will rush full speed ahead into economic and ecological collapse, social disruption, and the end of the civilization and prosperity we now enjoy.

So let’s get real and include our social costs when we plan for our future. We are in this mess because “social costs” have been ignored for many years by those in power who do not care about us or our communities, so long as they profit and remain in power.

Let us end fossil fuel addiction now and defeat global heat destruction of our wonderful world.

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