Full Title: Public Policy Evaluation in the Face of Strong Prior Beliefs: The Case of Electric Cars
Author(s): Stephen P. Holland, Erin T. Mansur, Nicholas Z. Muller, and Andrew J. Yates
Publisher(s): Cato Institute
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
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Description (excerpt):
Dispassionate public policy evaluation is crucial in contexts characterized by strong prior beliefs about the merits of the policy and/or its targeted outcome. Federal subsidies for purchasing electric cars (and many state-level incentives) reflect beliefs that electric vehicles generate a range of benefits, including environmental benefits from electric vehicle use. Rather than simply accepting this belief, our research compares the environmental consequences of gasoline and electric vehicles.
A rigorous assessment of policies pertaining to electric cars is complicated by interactions among economic and physical systems. First, despite being treated by regulators as “zero emission vehicles,” electric vehicles are not necessarily emissions-free. These vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions, but like gasoline cars, electric cars produce emissions when fossil fuels are burned for energy to move the vehicle.