Environmental effects of SO{sub 2} trading and banking
The widely acknowledged innovation of Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments is sulfur dioxide allowance trading, which is designed to encourage the electricity industry to minimize the cost of reducing emissions. Few studies have examined the environmental effects of trading, and none have explored the effects of banking. The authors used an integrated assessment computer model, the Tracking and Analysis Framework, to evaluate changes in emissions of SO{sub 2}, atmospheric concentrations of sulfates and deposition of sulfur, and public health benefits from reduced exposure to SO{sub 2} and particulate matter. They assessed geographic and temporal changes at the state level that result from trading and banking and compared them with estimated cost savings. The findings are not consistent with the feats of the program's critics. In the East and Northeast including New York State, an area of particular concern, the authors found that health benefits increase and sulfur deposition decrease slightly as a result of trading. Nationally, trading results in health-related benefits in addition to significant cost savings. Banking changes the timing of emissions, but the geographic consequence of banking is varied.
- Research Organization:
- Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20000723
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 33, Issue 20; Other Information: PBD: 15 Oct 1999; ISSN 0013-936X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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