The Department of Energy has published a notice seeking public comment on the draft report produced by DOE's Climate Working Group (CWG), titled "A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate." DOE is seeking input from the public, especially from interested individuals and entities, such as industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders.

The report states that several dozen global climate models offer little guidance on how much the climate responds to elevated CO2, with the average surface warming under a doubling of the CO2 concentration ranging from 1.8° C to 5.7° C. Data-driven methods yield a lower and narrower range.

The CWG report concludes that models and experience suggest that CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed, and excessively aggressive mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial. The report states Social Cost of Carbon estimates, which attempt to quantify the economic damage of CO2 emissions, are highly sensitive to their underlying assumptions and thus provide limited independent information.

The information used in this report has supported EPA's decision to reconsider its GHG Endangerment Finding and repeal its GHG vehicle emissions standards. See "Regulatory Updates" section below for more information on this issue.