Climate Damages to the U.S. Economy from U.S. Power Sector Emissions

Summary/Abstract

This study uses peer-reviewed climate damage attribution methods to estimate that climate damages to the U.S. economy caused by the U.S. power sector totaled $78 billion between 1973-2023.

The study first “simulate[s] the contribution of U.S. power sector emissions to global mean surface temperature (GMST) change via a ‘leave-one-out’ experimental design.” It then estimates “U.S. economic damages incurred from that U.S. power sector-driven warming.”

The study relies on peer-reviewed methods from Callahan & Mankin, Climatic Change (2022) and Callahan & Mankin, Nature (2025), and uses a climate model called the Finite Amplitude Impulse Response (FaIR) Model and damage function from Hsiang et al., Science (2017).