A new report by Resources for the Future, “Toward a New National Energy Policy: Assessing the Options,” provides a thorough analysis of the various energy, oil savings and climate policies currently under debate. The analysis is especially helpful because it employs an “apples to apples” comparison approach by running differing policies through the same economic model and scoring them on the same two effectiveness metrics:“reduction in barrels of oil consumed and reduction in tons of CO2 emitted.” The model also tallies the projected costs of each policy allowing for a cost-effectiveness analysis. The report does not allow for political calculations but does provide a good basis for policy comparisons.
