The Proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and Related Energy/Environment Federal Legislation

The Bureau of Economic Geology’s Center for Energy Economics was asked to advise and assist the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in its evaluation of potential State impacts associated with key Federal legislative and regulatory initiatives. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts was most concerned with forward revenues and associated employment, income, investment, and gross state product measures as energy related proposals and developments unfold. The Center devised scenarios for the Texas Comptroller to test using the REMI Policy Insight model, which were the reference scenario and high case scenario that were both modeled on the national and regional levels. In the national reference case, total nationwide employment declined 1.3 percent by 2030 (about 2.6 million jobs lost), gross domestic product declined by about 1.8 percent ($380 billion), and real disposable income by about 2.5 percent ($395 billion). In the regional reference case, by 2030 total employment declined by just over 1 percent (164,000 jobs lost), gross state product declined by almost 1.6 percent (nearly $25 billion), and real disposable income by roughly 2.3 percent (almost $30 billion).

Center for Energy Economics – The Proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and Related Energy/Environment Federal Legislation [full PDF]

Economic Analysis of Casino Applicants for Missouri’s Gaming License

This economic report on three applicants for Missouri’s thirteenth casino license was prepared for the Missouri Gaming Commission by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center and the Missouri Department of Economic Development using a seventeen-region economic model from REMI to research the potential economic impacts each applicant would have to Missouri and the gaming industry. Three scenarios, a worst, average, and best case, were used to determine how outcomes would differ given a range of cannibalization effects. In all three scenarios, Isle of Capri–Cape Girardeau generated the highest net new casino revenue and gaming taxes, new employment, and overall gross domestic product. Casino Celebration–St. Louis was consistently second in all three scenarios while Paragon Gaming–Sugar Creek was third. Isle of Capri was found to generate $76.2 million in net new casino revenue and taxes, $20.7 million in new taxes, 726 new jobs, and $55 million in new state gross domestic product.

Missouri Economic Research and Information Center – Economic Analysis of Casino Applicants for Missouri’s Gaming License [full PDF]

A Macroeconomic Study of Federal and State Automotive Regulations with Recommendations for Analysts, Regulators, and Legislators

With REMI PI, the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs comprehensively analyzed the variety of effects attached to recent automotive regulations on the state and federal levels. After dividing the nation into nine distinct regions, an array of factors impacting the automotive industry are modeled and weighed against one another to accurately iron out which areas need which policies and which policies at-risk areas should avoid. Only the regions that produced their own oil or rely heavily on automotive manufacturing industries did not see immediate benefits, and the benefits for those regions are actually just more long-term than the others.

Indiana University – Macroeconomic Study of Federal and State Automotive Regulations [full PDF]

The Structure and Economic Impact of Utah’s Coal Industry

The future of the Utah coal industry that had played a significant role in the economic development of the state for over a century was dependent upon a constellation of economic, technical, and policy developments. The economic and demographic impacts of coal production for 2007 and for three scenarios of production from 2008 through 2030 were evaluated using the REMI 29-region, 23-sector model built for Utah. Statewide employment impacts rose from 4,703 in 2007 to 6,320 in 2014 for all scenarios. Nominal earnings, local tax revenue, and state tax revenue impacts are higher in 2030 than in 2007 for all three scenarios. From 2007 to 2030, nominal earnings impacts increased from $196.3 million to $426.6 million in the Low Scenario, $542.8 million in the Middle Scenario, and $719.4 million in the High Scenario, and over the same period, nominal local government revenue impacts increased from $0.8 million to $1.6 million in the Low Scenario, $2.0 million in the Middle Scenario, and $2.6 million in the High Scenario.

Bureau of Economic and Business Research – The Structure and Economic Impact of Utah’s Coal Industry [full PDF]

The Economic Impact of the Florida Energy and Climate Change Action Plan on the State’s Economy

This report summarized the analysis of the impacts of the Florida Energy and Climate Change Action Plan on the State’s economy and completed the analysis of The Florida Action Team on Energy and Climate Change’s recommendations by projecting the statewide individual and collective gross state product, output, income, employment, and price impacts of the recommendations between 2008 and 2025. The results indicated that the majority of the recommended greenhouse gas mitigation and sequestration policies individually had positive impacts on the State’s economy and, when combined, the Action Plan recommendations would increase gross state product by about $37.9 billion and increase employment by 148,000 full-time equivalent jobs by the Year 2025. The economic gains were primarily from the ability of mitigation options to lower the cost of production.

The Center for Climate Strategies – The Economic Impact of the Florida Energy and Climate Change Action Plan on the State’s Economy [full PDF]