Summary:

"Important parts of the world are acting to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, and the United States is now debating whether to join that process. This paper examines the potential impact of a cap on greenhouse gases on the U.S. economy as a whole and on American families.
What will it cost to protect ourselves against the potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming?
Advocates of action anticipate minimal costs. Those who want to do nothing sometimes assert that carbon cuts will bankrupt the economy. Who is right?

This paper conducts the broadest assessment to date of the impacts on the U.S. economy of capping greenhouse gases. This report synthesizes the ndings of several state-of-the-art economic models, and arrives at a strong conclusion: The United States can enjoy robust economic growth over the next several decades while making ambitious reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. If we put a cap-and-trade policy in place soon, we can achieve substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions without significant adverse consequences to the economy. And in the long run, the coming low-carbon economy can provide the foundation for sustainedAmerican economic growth and prosperity.

But for such a policy to be truly a ordable, we must act now. Delay will greatly increase the economic cost of making the necessary emissions reductions, and will risk locking in irreversible climate change. And delay will put the United States further behind the rest of the world in the race to invent and produce the next generation of energy technologies."

URL: http://www.edf.org/documents/7815_climate_economy.pdf