The obscure federal agency that’s hindering climate legislation

Here’s a rundown of what we discuss this week on the Carbon Copy podcast.

In December 2021, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) appeared on Fox News to announce that he would not vote for Joe Biden’s signature legislative package, Build Back Better. The reason he cited? A score given to the package by the Congressional Budget Office.

The Congressional Budget Office, CBO for short, is the most important government agency you’ve never heard of. It acts as a budget referee, assigning a score to proposed legislation based on how it will impact the economy and the federal budget. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) once called the CBO the ​“God” of Capitol Hill. Its scores often help determine which legislation passes and which dies. 

But there’s one big catch. The CBO is systematically leaving out the full impacts of climate change and carbon pollution on the economy in its assessments — and stacking the deck against climate legislation in the process. Lawmakers have the power to change it. Will they?

Guest: Mark Paul is an assistant professor of economics and environmental studies at New College of Florida. He recently wrote about the CBO for Noema.

The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

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