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Index for Crude Oil’s Climate Impact Illuminates What’s Behind the Barrels

Producers and consumers alike are becoming more attuned to the impact of goods of all sorts, and it's no different when it comes to a barrel of oil.

published by
Platts
 on September 14, 2015

Source: Platts

Producers and consumers alike are becoming more attuned to the impact of goods of all sorts, and it's no different when it comes to a barrel of oil. Platts senior editors Herman Wang and Brian Scheid talk to two of the developers of the first-ever index measuring the climate impacts of individual oils.

Deborah Gordon, the director of Carnegie's Energy and Climate Program, and David Livingston, an associate with the program, discuss the purpose of the Oil-Climate Index, which can be used to calculate the climate impact of a specific type of oil and the impact of using it in certain ways. They detail some challenges in creating and implementing the index, such as wide variability and a need for more data, as well as market and policy implications of the information. Can an index be a tool for future decision making?

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