Economic Insights from Modeling Analyses of the American Clean Energy and Security Act

Economic models are an important tool for evaluating the potential impact of proposed legislation on our economy. This brief compares modeling analyses of the House-passed clean energy and climate bill (H.R. 2454) conducted by seven different groups including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and an academic institution. It identifies key similarities and differences among these analyses and draws the following conclusions:

  • GDP will continue to grow robustly with the passage of the House bill.
  • Household income grows robustly across all models with many models finding relatively modest impacts.
  • The availability of low-carbon technologies to generate electricity is crucial to minimizing the costs of achieving the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in the House bill.
  • The more offsets included in the program, the lower the costs.
  • The degree to which the modeling analyses accurately reflect key provisions in the House bill will impact their estimates of costs.