Dallas Burtraw, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future, gave a lecture, "Applying science and economics to the study of air pollution in the Adirondacks," on October 8 at Hamilton College. The lecture was part of the Levitt Public Affairs Center series, "The Environment: Public Policy and Social Responsibility."
Resources for the Future studies the benefit/cost to determine the best way the government can take in reducing air pollutants such as Nitrous Oxides (NO(X)) and Sulfur Dioxides (SO(2)). The organization assessed Title IV, the 1990 Clean Air Amendment, using the integration of full-form models with special emphasis on external and internal validity. Burtraw displayed a number of models estimating the effects of air pollution in the Adirondacks through 2010 if current emission rates go unchecked. With SO(2) not being managed more carefully there will be reduced visibility, a constant haze on the horizon, and reduced recreational lake fishing due to the increase in morbidity to those who have prolonged exposure especially the elderly who enjoy fishing everyday.
Resources for the Future also analyzed the government's response to these problems, in particular the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) emission trading and the 19 state trading regions. They discovered it would be more cost efficient if the EPA implemented an annual policy as opposed to the seasonal policies already in place for emissions trading over the long run. But Burtraw was quick to note that these numbers were based on projections for the future and that a number of forces could occur before then changing his projections dramatically. Burtraw concluded that SO(2) and NO(X) caps for all proposals appear justified, even though there was more room for SO(2) reductions, there were ancillary CO(2) reductions, and finally there was existing evidence supporting regional caps. He said we all can help by reducing the use of coal and put more of an emphasis on natural gases and renewables.
Written by Thomas S. Lapinski '05
