• Southern Methodist University | Public Comments

Cost Benefit Analysis
July 29, 2020

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on EPA’s use of cost-benefit analysis in the Clean Air Act rulemaking process. I am a Ph.D. economist currently serving as associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute in Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business, where I am also an adjunct professor of business economics. My research focuses primarily on the intersections between economic development, public policy, taxation, and energy infrastructure build-out.

It goes without saying that energy drives the American economy. In recent years, our country has achieved the enviable goals of energy dominance and security, a fact that is not widely appreciated by much of the public. A decade ago, we were a large net energy importer. Today, we’re a net exporter. This would not have occurred absent the buildout of the infrastructure to move oil, natural gas, and other products through the energy supply chain. But at the same time this build-out has collided with an ever growing number of federal regulations. If not properly addressed, costly regulatory overload could undermine both our global energy dominance and our national energy and economic security.