CMU EEE Lab

Carnegie Mellon University campus as seen from the Cathedral of Learning — Carnegie Mellon University campus. Photo: Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to the CMU EEE Lab

The Energy, Environment, and Economics (EEE) Lab at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of energy, environmental policy, and economics. We use rigorous empirical methods to inform policy decisions on some of the most pressing challenges facing society.

Core Expertise

Energy and Economic History — We digitize and analyze historical datasets spanning centuries to understand the long-run evolution of energy systems, carbon emissions, and their economic consequences.

Environmental and Energy Economics — Our work examines the design and impact of environmental regulations, energy markets, and climate policy using modern econometric techniques.

Featured Research

Power plant smokestacks and cooling towers along the Ohio River — Power plant along the Ohio River. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, Public Domain

The Carbon Rollercoaster: 200 Years of U.S. Carbon Emissions (Clay, Jha, Severnini) — This project traces two centuries of carbon emissions across the United States, documenting the dramatic rise, regional shifts, and policy-driven changes in America’s carbon footprint.

Social Lifecycle Impacts of Power Plant Siting: 1900–2020 (Clay, Jha, Severnini) — This study examines over a century of power plant location decisions and their long-term social and environmental consequences for surrounding communities.

Team

The EEE Lab is based at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Our team brings together expertise in environmental economics, energy markets, applied econometrics, and economic history.