Healthy Economic Growth Forecast Under Climate Legislation

NRDC: "The economy will experience healthy growth under a climate bill, according to just-revealed results of one of the most prominent studies conducted by opponents of climate legislation. Economic modeling by the American Council on Capital Formation and the National Association of Manufacturers presents a particularly negative outlook on the economic impacts of climate legislation, and has been prominently featured in US Chamber of Commerce forums circulated on Capitol Hill and to reporters. 

But it turns out that the actual results of their modeling - not what they typically present - shows healthy economic growth for the US economy. The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) has posted a set of state-specific fact sheets for about 30 states that show impacts on state GDP, average personal income and other measures according to worst-case scenario portrayed by the ACCF/NAM model."

PERI's analysis for Montana, using the industry study's 'high-cost case,' showed a healthy economic growth of 48 percent by 2030, while carbon emissions would fall by 36 percent.  There would be at least 11.2 percent more jobs and the average income for residents would be 36 percent higher than in 2007.    This was not the first challenge to the industry study's conclusion. One of the authors of the industry study acknowledged that even her modeling showed that U.S. GDP would double under a climate bill, a far different story than the economic disaster forecast in the study.