Switching to Renewable Energy is Actually Cost-Effective
By cutting health costs and avoiding the social costs of carbon emissions, certain parts of the U.S. could see huge benefits to going green.
The price tag for addressing climate change is huge, and the debates over whether we can afford it can be distracting. But according to a new study, those discussions are also missing a big chunk of the puzzle: all the health benefits of switching to renewable energy.
Cutting back on air pollution improves the local population’s health, which reduces the cost of healthcare. At the same time, energy companies are free to pollute the atmosphere with carbon with no penalty—an unaccounted-for cost…