“If you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME.” Yes, that old ditty from 
grade school has direct relevance from time-to-time. The atrocious ACCF/NAM study on the fiscal implications of climate legislation seems to take this adage to a new level.
As already noted in Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and Statistics from industry on pollution control costs, this report works with absurd assumptions, such as that the annual wind power introduction into the electricial grid will have an upper limit lower than what occurred in 2007. Reminder: wind power installations (in the US and globally) have been growing over 20 percent year. This study assumes (makes ASSes out of U and ME, Seriously) that the installation rate goes backward. Where they can be determined, the so-called “study”‘s assumptions run counter to common sense.
Footnotes matter and this “report” done by SAIC for the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has a doozy of a note. Page 3, Footnote 4, the last sentence reads:
Conducted by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the independent study examines the implications of the legislation with respect to future energy costs, economic growth, employment, production, household income and the impact on low income earners.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Putting some Hill Heat on Lobbyist Truthiness « Energy Smart // Mar 18, 2008 at 2:53 am
[…] we wonder why the SAIC study team of this “independent study” disavowed their own report with this footnote? “The input assumptions, opinion and recommendations are those of ACCF and […]
2 Reviews are coming in: NAM/ACCF are full of it! « Energy Smart // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:33 pm
[…] of Manufacturers and the American Council for Capital Formation take their dog-and-pony show of supposedly independent but fully deceitful analysis about global warming legislation around the country, reviews of the […]
3 Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : Strange Bedfellows: Manufacturers Lobby For Clean-Energy Subsidies // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:02 pm
[…] that would create a cap-and-trade scheme to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. It commissioned a much-criticized study arguing that the Lieberman-Warner climate bill would cripple U.S. industry. The shop floor: […]
4 Making ASSes of U and ME: SAIC/NAM/ACCF GIGO strikes again … // Aug 12, 2009 at 11:49 am
[…] Assumptions matter and driving assumptions drive the results. As discussed a year ago in ASS-U-ME , this is a pretty strong renunciation of the work coming from SAIC. With this note, the SAIC […]