In carrying out its task, the committee will include the following activities:

Seek to build upon the results of the NRC initiative America’s Energy Future: Technology, Opportunities, Risks, and Tradeoffs.

Identify key externalities to be assessed in the categories of human health, environment, security (including quality, abundance, and reliability of energy sources), and infrastructure (such as transportation and waste disposal systems not sufficiently taken into account by producers or consumers).

Consider externalities associated with producing, distributing, and consuming energy imported from foreign sources.

Define appropriate metrics for each externality category considered.

Identify state-of-the-science approaches for assessing external effects (actual or expected) and expressing their effects in economic terms.

Develop an approach for estimating externalities related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Estimate externalities related to those changes.

Present qualitative and, to the extent practicable, quantitative estimates of externalities and associated uncertainties within a consistent framework that makes the discussion of externalities and uncertainties associated with energy production, distribution, and consumption more transparent.

When it is not feasible to assess specific externalities comprehensively, the committee will recommend assessment approaches and identify key information needs to inform future assessments.