Chevron Chairman Calls for Regulatory and Tort Reform

Chevron Chairman Ken Derr emphasized the need for business leaders to be involved in efforts to reform the nation's regulatory and civil justice systems. He stated that unnecessary regulations waste valuable resources, stifling innovation and job growth. Derr highlighted the ballooning costs of regulatory and tort liabilities, which he estimated to be in the range of $100 billion annually, hindering productivity and competitiveness.

Key Takeaways:

Chevron Chairman Ken Derr advocates for regulatory and tort reform to stimulate economic growth and innovation.
Annual tort costs in the United States are estimated to be in the range of $100 billion.
Regulatory costs are approximately five or six times that of tort costs, representing a significant burden on the U.S. economy.
Derr contends that the current regulatory system is "bloated on an unbalanced diet of zero-risk thinking."
He supports four key yardsticks for measuring regulatory effectiveness: risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis, comparative-risk analysis, and good science.
Derr states that meaningful reform could invigorate the U.S. economy and restore competitiveness.

Statistics:

Annual tort costs in the United States are estimated to be $100 billion.
Regulatory costs are approximately five or six times that of tort costs.
The cost of regulatory expenditures works out to nearly $6,000 per U.S. household annually.
Twenty years ago, regulatory expenditures facilitated significant environmental improvements.

Sources:

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/CONTACT: Mike Libbey, San Francisco, 415-894-4440, or Jack Coffey, Sacramento, 916-441-3638, both of Chevron/ (CHV)