During the congressional debate over the climate legislation proposed by Reps. Waxman and Markey, the EPA published several costs estimates for the bill. But the agency was never asked to estimate the corresponding benefits.
Policy Integrity requested that EPA conduct a benefits estimate in addition to the in-depth analysis of the costs of the proposed law.
Too often, politicians look only at one side of the ledger deciding that policies are too expensive without weighing the economic pay-offs. It’s like hearing that something costs $100,000 and thinking that sounds like a lot…until you find out it’s for a Park Avenue apartment.
EPA should provide legislators with a full account of what they’d get for their money if they pass this bill.