Studies of Environmental Cost
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Studies of the Environmental Costs of Electricity, OTA-ETI-134 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office,
September 1994).
- Abstract
- Studies of the Environmental Costs of Electricity examines studies
that assign monetary value to the environmental effects of energy
technologies. Quantitative analysis of environmental effects has
been an important feature of energy policy for several decades,
and growing numbers of studies attempt to integrate these analyses
into an overall framework that allows comparison of the environmental
effects of different technologies for generating electricity.
Because of the large size and scope of environmental cost studies,
however, they necessarily involve a large number of assumptions.
These assumptions have been the focus of contentious debate in
the analytical and policy communities. While changing a study's
assumptions can profoundly affect its results, there is currently
no agreement on the most appropriate set of assumptions. This
does not imply that all assumptions are equally valid, but indicates
that assumptions often reflect deeply held values of participants
in policy debates.
This report was prepared in response to a request by the House
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The report examines
a set of environmental cost studies, compares and contrasts their
methods and assumptions, and discusses how they could be made
more useful to federal policymakers. In contrast to other studies
in this area, OTA's report explores the close ties between values,
assumptions, and quantitative results and the implications of
these ties for policymaking.
- Text
- The text of the report is available in PDF. The printed version of the report can be ordered from the National
Technical Information Service.
- Links
- Office of Technology Assessment
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