Dr. David Harrison Jr.
Senior Vice President
Environment Group Co-Head
Education
PhD in economics, Harvard University
MSc in economics, London School of Economics
BA in economics, magna cum laude, Harvard College (Phi Beta Kappa)
Experience
Dr. Harrison is Senior Vice President and co-head of NERA's Global Environment Group. He has extensive experience in economic analysis of climate change, air quality, water quality, health and safety regulation, economic impact assessment, and transportation.
Dr. Harrison has been active in the economic assessment of climate change policies. Building upon more than 25 years of experience with emissions trading programs, he has participated in the development or evaluation of major greenhouse gas emission trading programs and proposals in the United States, including those in California, the Northeast, the Midwest, and various federal initiatives, as well as programs in Europe and Australia. He and his colleagues have assisted the European Commission and the UK government with the design and implementation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and national European programs related to climate change, renewable policies, and energy efficiency policies. He also has directed numerous projects for individual companies and trade associations -- including those in electricity, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, cement, and other sectors -- using the NERA Carbon Financial Impacts Model, which combines a national state-of-the-art model of energy and related sectors with detailed information on potential climate change policies and company-specific information. Dr. Harrison and his colleagues have used the NERA Carbon Financial Impacts Model to evaluate the impacts of climate change, renewable and energy efficiency policies on revenues, and costs for numerous companies and sectors, including electricity, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, cement and others. He has also used the model to assess the impacts of climate change policies on investment decisions and other corporate strategies. He has lectured frequently on climate change and related topics at numerous conferences in the US and abroad.
Dr. Harrison has extensive experience over more than three decades evaluating the costs and benefits of air quality regulations and other social regulatory policies, including various health and safety regulations. These studies have been done for a large number of sectors, including electricity, automobile, trucking, marine, chemical, iron and steel, petroleum, pulp and paper, small utility engines, small handheld equipment, construction equipment, and others. He and his colleagues have worked closely with company officials and collaborated with various technical consultants in the development of information on these programs. The results of these analyses have been presented to company officials, government agencies, and the media.
Dr. Harrison has directed benefit-cost analyses for numerous facilities under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. These assessments have included estimates of the potential impacts on electricity cost and reliability using numerous electricity market models in various electricity regions of the United States. Dr. Harrison has assisted the Utility Water Act Group (UWAG), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), and individual utilities in their evaluation of the EPA 316(b) regulations. He has presented the results of these assessments to senior EPA and OMB officials as well as state officials. Dr. Harrison was a co-signer of an Amicus Brief submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the comparison of benefits and costs under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act.
Dr. Harrison has led more than two dozen assessments of the economic impacts of energy and environment policies and related infrastructure programs. These assessments have involved a wide range of economic models, including state-of-the-art regional models such as that developed by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI). The projects have been developed for numerous areas in the US and abroad including France, Spain, Africa, the European Union, the Bahamas, Illinois, California, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.
Before joining NERA, Dr. Harrison was an Associate Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he taught energy and environmental economics and policy, microeconomics, transportation, regional economic development, and other courses for more than a decade. He also served as a Senior Staff Economist on the US government's President's Council of Economic Advisors, where he had responsibility for environment and energy policy issues. He is the author or co-author of two books on environmental policy and numerous articles on various topics in professional journals.
Dr. Harrison received a PhD in economics from Harvard University, where he was a Graduate Prize Fellow. He holds a BA, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics, where he was the Rees Jeffreys Scholar.
