Amicus Brief on New York’s Zero Emissions Credits and the Social Cost of Carbon

The Institute for Policy Integrity submits that the New York Public Service Commission correctly applied the Social Cost of Carbon to internalize the external costs of carbon emissions when pricing zero-emissions credits for nuclear generators. This mechanism supports the state's Clean Energy Standard goal of reaching 50% renewable generation by 2030 by preventing potential pollution increases that would occur if nuclear plants closed.

• The New York Public Service Commission established the Clean Energy Standard with the objective of increasing renewable generation to 50% of the market by 2030.
• New York implemented a zero-emissions credits (ZECs) system to compensate nuclear generators for avoiding emissions, aiming to prevent a rise in pollution that would result from the closure of these generators.
• The use of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) to set ZEC prices is considered reasonable because it serves to internalize the external costs associated with carbon emissions and assesses the value of avoided carbon damages.

APA

Noll, R. L. R. B. Ü. B. A. D. (2018). Amicus Brief on New York’s Zero Emissions Credits and the Social Cost of Carbon. Institute for Policy Integrity. https://policyintegrity.org/projects/update/amicus-brief-on-new-yorks-zero-emissions-credits-and-the-social-cost-of-car

Chicago

Noll, Richard L. Revesz, Burçin Ünel, Bethany A. Davis. Amicus Brief on New York’s Zero Emissions Credits and the Social Cost of Carbon. Institute for Policy Integrity, 2018. https://policyintegrity.org/projects/update/amicus-brief-on-new-yorks-zero-emissions-credits-and-the-social-cost-of-car.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Noll |first1=Richard L. Revesz, Burçin Ünel, Bethany A. Davis |title=Amicus Brief on New York’s Zero Emissions Credits and the Social Cost of Carbon |publisher=Institute for Policy Integrity |date=28 March 2018 |url=https://policyintegrity.org/projects/update/amicus-brief-on-new-yorks-zero-emissions-credits-and-the-social-cost-of-car |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{noll2018amicus, author = {Noll, Richard L. Revesz, Burçin Ünel, Bethany A. Davis}, title = {{Amicus Brief on New York’s Zero Emissions Credits and the Social Cost of Carbon}}, institution = {Institute for Policy Integrity}, year = {2018}, month = mar, url = {https://policyintegrity.org/projects/update/amicus-brief-on-new-yorks-zero-emissions-credits-and-the-social-cost-of-car}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }