Cutting emissions, cutting costs

A New York Times (NYT) article highlights a recently published report by McKinsey & Company which says the United States could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 28% "at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations." NYT reports the study finds reductions implementations "would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers."

There are a significant number of options where the long-term savings in terms of lower operating costs and/or lower energy usage levels outweigh the initial costs of adoptions. In simple terms, the savings outweigh the costs and significant GHG abatement can be achieved.

The study was sponsored by DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison), Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric and Shell.

Achieving these reductions at the lowest cost to the economy, however, will require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future.

Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?
(November 29, 2007, pdf, 107pp/4.11MB)

executive summary (pdf, 10pp/460KB)