Weaponizing Economics: Big Oil, Economic Consultants, and Climate Policy Delay

The document examines the role of economic consultants hired by the petroleum industry to undermine US climate policy initiatives. It argues that these consultants used models that inflated costs and ignored benefits, presenting their industry-sponsored findings as independent to delay policies such as carbon pricing and international climate agreements.

• From the 1990s to the 2010s, the petroleum industry employed economic consultants who used models to inflate the predicted costs of climate policies while omitting the associated benefits.
• Industry-sponsored economic analyses were frequently presented to the public as independent, which helped undermine major US climate policy efforts, including carbon pricing and engagement in international climate agreements.

APA

Franta, B. (2021). Weaponizing Economics: Big Oil, Economic Consultants, and Climate Policy Delay. Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/weaponizing-economics-big-oil-economic-consultants-and-climate-policy-delay/

Chicago

Franta, Benjamin. Weaponizing Economics: Big Oil, Economic Consultants, and Climate Policy Delay. Climate Social Science Network, 2021. https://cssn.org/weaponizing-economics-big-oil-economic-consultants-and-climate-policy-delay/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Franta |first1=Benjamin |title=Weaponizing Economics: Big Oil, Economic Consultants, and Climate Policy Delay |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=1 September 2021 |url=https://cssn.org/weaponizing-economics-big-oil-economic-consultants-and-climate-policy-delay/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{franta2021weaponizing, author = {Franta, Benjamin}, title = {{Weaponizing Economics: Big Oil, Economic Consultants, and Climate Policy Delay}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://cssn.org/weaponizing-economics-big-oil-economic-consultants-and-climate-policy-delay/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }