Oil and Coal Could Cost US $30 Trillion By 2030 Says Study

America's economy and quality of life as we know it is at risk, according to a new study released by Environment America.

The study claims that "big oil and dirty coal" could cost the United States $30 trillion dollars by 2030, four times the earnings of American workers in 2007 alone. The forty-five page report, "The High Cost of Fossil Fuels: Why America Can’t Afford to Depend on Dirty Energy," warns that the damages inflicted by America's dependence on oil and coal will only increase in the future if monumental change does not occur soon. "America is at an energy crossroads..." the study states, and

The costs of continuing on our current energy path are steep. American consumers and businesses already spend roughly $700 billion to $1 trillion each year on coal, oil and natural gas, and suffer the incalculable costs of pollution from fossil fuels through damage to our health and environment. If America continues along a business-as-usual energy path, U.S. fossil fuel spending is likely to grow, totaling an estimated $23 trillion between 2010 and 2030.

Emily Figdor, one of the authors of the study, issued a stern statement to Congress:

This Independence Day, we are calling on Congress to break our dependence on Big Oil and Dirty Coal. Instead of allowing the costs of fossil fuels to continue to mount, Congress should repower America with clean, renewable energy that will create jobs and stop global warming.

According to the study, 85 percent of America's energy is supplied by fossil fuels. American consumers and businesses spent 7 percent, or $921 billion, of the nation's GDP on fossil fuels, more than the total spent on education or the military. The report also notes that fossil fuel combustion is the leading cause of climate change, which "in addition to being a looming environmental and human catastrophe, could inflict massive economic damage as well." The economy is not the only victim of America's dependence on fossil fuels. Americans' quality of life and health is at risk as well. The report mentions several studies that warn of possible catastrophes that would be the direct result of fossil fuel combustion. The authors cite a 2008 study conducted by the Natural Resources Council that estimates the cost of high-intensity hurricanes in the United States to be as high as $420 billion between 2025 and 2100. They also note that the "economic cost of air pollution in sectors regulated under the Clean Air Act has been estimated at $9 trillion between 1970 and 2000, with costs resulting from pollution-induced early mortality, illness, health care costs and lost productivity." The report concludes with seven major policy recommendations: institute cap-and-trade system that auctions 100 percent of emissions allowances, end subsidies for fossil fuel industries, heavily increase support for solar technology, promote the development and implementation of clean transportation infrastructure, strengthen energy efficiency measures, ensure that America generates at least 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power by 2025, and reduce the nation’s emissions of global warming pollutants deeply enough to prevent dangerous impacts from global warming, guided by the latest scientific understanding. The report recognizes that massive investments in clean energy are needed to alter America's dependence on fossil fuel, but it argues that the United States cannot afford not to. Otherwise, the United States would go bankrupt in paying for the total costs of fossil fuel use. The transition to clean energy may not be as expensive as expected. A 2007 study by McKinsey and Company estimated that the United States could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent with overall net savings. "These investments are economic winners on their own terms," the authors write, "even excluding benefits for the environment, public health and America’s security..:" The study was authored by Sarah Payne and Tony Dutzik at the Frontier Group and Emily Figdor of Environment America's Research and Policy Center. Environment America is a federation of state-based, citizen-funded environmental advocacy organizations that has staff in 27 states and Washington, D.C.