CBO GDP study

The Distortion

Opponents of energy reform continually try to hide the benefits of clean energy legislation and attempt to paint a picture of economic harm. They misuse and cherry-pick studies by the Congressional Budget Office to try to make their case.

The Truth

The costs of doing nothing about our climate are catastrophic, while clean energy legislation would actually help our economy, and any energy costs to small businesses and consumers would be paid for in the bill. The head of the CBO, Douglas Elmendorf, released a study looking solely at the cost of the bill and concluded that they were “modest,” with the economy growing at roughly similar ways with the energy bill and without. He went on to say that he didn’t include the costs of climate catastrophe, and many studies have shown a net benefit to the economy and a strong increase in jobs. This result has been replicated in study after study: small costs that are more than offset by increased efficiency, job growth in the clean energy sector, and benefits from avoiding the worst of the climate catastrophe. http://blogs.edf.org/innovation/2009/10/16/washington-post%E2%80%99s-headline-got-the-story-wrong/