Publications

An open Internet allows anyone with an idea and a domain name to add content to the web for all to use. It’s a system that most believe works very well, generating billions in economic benefits for the American public every year. This policy brief analyzes the economic uncertainties of weakening our current, open Internet and sees potential trouble ahead if it is not preserved.

Up to 259 lives could be saved every year if certain large buildings in New York City stopped burning dirty heating oil. Using newly available data, a reworked analysis finds that residual oil has even greater consequences than estimated in an earlier report.

The government’s flood insurance program gives discounts to homeowners who build in flood-prone areas, often causing significant environmental damage. In this analysis, the Institute for Policy Integrity finds that this practice can benefit wealthy owners of expensive homes at a cost to the average taxpayer.

The CLEAR Act, sponsored in the Senate by Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), would place a price on carbon, auction 100% of the pollution permits, and refund most of the revenue back to consumers. This brief found that pricing carbon would spur investment and innovation in new energy technologies, giving a substantial boost to industries like manufacturing and construction—both hit hard in the recent financial crisis. Relatively well-paying jobs would be generated in these sectors, helping to mop up the slack created by the recession.

In about 9,000 big apartment and commercial buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, boilers burn a dirty fuel to heat their units. “Residual Risks” analyses the health, environmental, and economic benefits of switching away from this dirty fuel to cleaner alternatives like natural gas.