The most important number you’ve never heard of

When we talk about carbon pricing, we usually refer to an actual price paid for emitting a tonne of CO2. That price can be fixed as a tax or be the result of permit trading. So, mostly politics with a bit of economics. The «social cost of carbon», is an attempt to define the real cost of carbon emissions, both for current and future generations. Money quote: «The social cost of carbon was needed because otherwise the benefits will always be measured in tonnes of carbon, and the costs in dollars, and the dollars will always win.»