Brian C. Prest
Fellow; Director, Social Cost of Carbon Initiative
Brian Prest is an economist and fellow at RFF specializing in the economics of climate change, energy economics, and oil and gas supply. Prest uses economic theory and econometrics to improve energy and environmental policies by assessing their impacts on society. His recent work includes improving the scientific basis of the social cost of carbon and economic modeling of various policies around oil and gas supply. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature, the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. His work has also been featured in popular press outlets including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, and Barron’s.
Prest holds a PhD from Duke University and previously worked in both the public and private sectors. At the Congressional Budget Office, he developed economic models of various energy sectors to analyze the effects of proposed legislation, including the 2009 Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and related Clean Electricity Standards. At NERA Economic Consulting, he conducted electricity market modeling, project valuation, and discounted cash flow analysis of various infrastructure investments in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia, with a focus on the power sector.
Education
- PhD in environmental and resource economics, Duke University, 2018
- BA in economics, Williams College, 2009
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Issue Brief — Mar 30, 2023
Will Nations Meet the Paris Agreement’s Emissions and Temperature Goals?
Will Nations Meet the Paris Agreement’s Emissions and Temperature Goals?
Report — Mar 28, 2023
Global Energy Outlook 2023: Sowing the Seeds of an Energy Transition
RFF's annual Global Energy Outlook report examines a range of projections for the global energy system, summarizing key implications for global energy consumption, emissions, and geopolitics.
Testimony and Public Comments — Feb 13, 2023
Updated Estimates of the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases for Usage in Regulatory Analysis
To the Environmental Protection Agency on the EPA External Review Draft of Report on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases: Estimates Incorporating Recent Scientific Advances.
Journal Article — Jan 18, 2023
RCTs against The Machine: Can Machine Learning Prediction Methods Recover Experimental Treatment Effects?
RFF researchers investigate how successfully ML prediction algorithms can be used to estimate causal treatment effects in electricity demand applications with nonexperimental data.
Issue Brief — Mar 30, 2023
Will Nations Meet the Paris Agreement’s Emissions and Temperature Goals?
Will Nations Meet the Paris Agreement’s Emissions and Temperature Goals?
Report — Mar 28, 2023
Global Energy Outlook 2023: Sowing the Seeds of an Energy Transition
RFF's annual Global Energy Outlook report examines a range of projections for the global energy system, summarizing key implications for global energy consumption, emissions, and geopolitics.
Testimony and Public Comments — Feb 13, 2023
Updated Estimates of the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases for Usage in Regulatory Analysis
To the Environmental Protection Agency on the EPA External Review Draft of Report on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases: Estimates Incorporating Recent Scientific Advances.
Journal Article — Jan 18, 2023
RCTs against The Machine: Can Machine Learning Prediction Methods Recover Experimental Treatment Effects?
RFF researchers investigate how successfully ML prediction algorithms can be used to estimate causal treatment effects in electricity demand applications with nonexperimental data.
Common Resources — Nov 15, 2022
The US Environmental Protection Agency Introduces a New Social Cost of Carbon for Public Comment
The US Environmental Protection Agency has introduced an updated approach to estimating the social cost of carbon that incorporates important scientific and statistical advances.
Common Resources — Oct 27, 2022
How Can Hydrogen Producers Show That They Are “Clean”?
To derive the value of hydrogen fuel tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, the US Treasury Department must assess the life-cycle emissions of hydrogen production, including upstream electricity use. Assessing these life-cycle emissions is difficult.
Resources Radio — Sep 6, 2022
A New Social Cost of Carbon, with Brian C. Prest and Kevin Rennert
Brian C. Prest and Kevin Rennert discuss their updated estimate of the social cost of carbon and its implications for policymaking.
Resources Magazine — Sep 1, 2022
The Social Cost of Carbon: Reaching a New Estimate
RFF scholars lay out their new (higher) calculation of the social cost of carbon—an estimate of the economic damages that result from an incremental ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere—which can help evaluate US policy actions.
Press Release — Mar 28, 2023
We’re on the Cusp of an Energy Transition. Where Do We Go from Here?
The future is uncertain, but a new report from researchers at Resources for the Future concludes that the public and private sectors are sowing the seeds of an energy transition.
Media Highlight — Mar 16, 2023
Washington Post: "The Willow Oil Project Debate Comes Down to This Key Climate Change Question"
An article about the debate between curbing fossil fuel supply or demand to meet US decarbonization goals feature research and insight by RFF Fellow Brian Prest about "leakage."
Press Release — Feb 9, 2023
The Economist: "Joe Biden Is Not Quitting Fossil Fuels"
An article about the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska includes research insights from RFF Fellow Brian Prest.
Media Highlight — Nov 17, 2022
Bloomberg: "'No Brainer' Methane Rule Touts New EPA Approach to Carbon Costs"
This article, which cites RFF research and Fellow Brian Prest's expertise, discusses the EPA's recently proposed methane rule and the newly estimated social cost of carbon that it uses.