re: #112 jaunte

Two things: First, one should note that the figures you cite apply to the time period 1995-2008 (Bush, as governor, apparently signed a tort reform bill into law in 1995 and another one in 2003).

Second, realize that this is not a peer-reviewed study, so take its conclusions with a grain of salt. I can find very little information about the Perryman Group, but the report says it uses the methodology of the Pacific Research Institute, a conservative think tank which flirts with AGW denialism. Sample quote from the linked page:

The last decade of global temperatures (from about January 1999 onward) reveals little to no warming.

I do not say this as an attempt at guilt-by-association; I’m just saying don’t take their study as gospel. I doubt you would put much stock in a report from the Center for American Progress saying that tort reform would be harmful; I hope you can see that the same caveat applies here, even if you agree with this group’s politics.