scholarly journals Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy

2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 1649-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Z Muller ◽  
Robert Mendelsohn ◽  
William Nordhaus
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
National Accounts

This study presents a framework to include environmental externalities into a system of national accounts. The paper estimates the air pollution damages for each industry in the United States. An integrated-assessment model quantifies the marginal damages of air pollution emissions for the US which are multiplied times the quantity of emissions by industry to compute gross damages. Solid waste combustion, sewage treatment, stone quarrying, marinas, and oil and coal-fired power plants have air pollution damages larger than their value added. The largest industrial contributor to external costs is coal-fired electric generation, whose damages range from 0.8 to 5.6 times value added. (JEL E01, L94, Q53, Q56)

scholarly journals Fusing subnational with national climate action is central to decarbonization: the case of the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan E. Hultman ◽  
Leon Clarke ◽  
Carla Frisch ◽  
Kevin Kennedy ◽  
Haewon McJeon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Emissions Reductions ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Reduce Emissions

Abstract Approaches that root national climate strategies in local actions will be essential for all countries as they develop new nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. The potential impact of climate action from non-national actors in delivering higher global ambition is significant. Sub-national action in the United States provides a test for how such actions can accelerate emissions reductions. We aggregated U.S. state, city, and business commitments within an integrated assessment model to assess how a national climate strategy can be built upon non-state actions. We find that existing commitments alone could reduce emissions 25% below 2005 levels by 2030, and that enhancing actions by these actors could reduce emissions up to 37%. We show how these actions can provide a stepped-up basis for additional federal action to reduce emissions by 49%—consistent with 1.5 °C. Our analysis demonstrates sub-national actions can lead to substantial reductions and support increased national action.

scholarly journals An Integrated Assessment Model for Valuing Water Quality Changes in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-492
Author(s):  
Joel Corona ◽  
Todd Doley ◽  
Charles Griffiths ◽  
Matthew Massey ◽  
Chris Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Integrated Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Quality Changes

Book Reviews

2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 572-573 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Power Generators ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Pollution Impacts

Art Fraas, Randall Lutter of Resources for the Future reviews, “Using Marginal Damages in Environmental Policy: A Study of Air Pollution in the United States” by Nicholas Z. Muller and Robert Mendelsohn. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Considers the opportunity to improve its air pollution regulatory regime in the United States by reforming its current regulations to be more economically efficient. Discusses the theory of environmental regulation; air quality modeling; modeling air pollution impacts; calculating the marginal damages of air pollution; statistical uncertainty; a case study of efficient pollution control—sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired electric power generators; setting regulatory priorities using net marginal damages; the gross external damages from air pollution in the United States; the gross external damages from air pollution by sector; and green accounting, including air pollution damages in national accounts. Muller is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and the Environmental Studies Program at Middlebury College. Mendelsohn is Edwin Weyerhaeuser Davis Professor at Yale University.”

Dynamic Energy-Water-Land hotspots at variable spatial scales across the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zarrar Khan ◽  
Thomas Wild ◽  
Chris Vernon ◽  
Mohamad Hejazi ◽  
Gokul Iyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Large River ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Ecological Zones ◽  
Agro Ecological Zones

<p>Energy, water, and land (EWL) resource planning at regional (e.g. large river basins, states and provinces, balancing authorities) and sub-regional (e.g. sub-basins, counties, Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ)) scales has commonly been conducted in relative isolation by institutions focused on individual sectors, such as water supply or electricity. The effectiveness of this traditional approach is increasingly being strained by rapid integration among sectors as well as by a range of regional and global forces, such as climate, technological and socioeconomic change. In this study we explore regional and sub-regional implications of these changes across the United States for a suite of scenarios representing a range of socio-economic and climate pathways. We couple a global integrated assessment model with a suite of sectoral downscaling tools to analyze the evolution of EWL hotspots at variable spatial scales. The ability to flexibly telescope into regions to identify the evolution of dynamic EWL hotspots allows planners to capitalize on synergistic opportunities as well as avoid potential conflicts across sectors at stakeholder specific jurisdictional boundaries as well as in the context of the larger region.</p>

Linking Policy to Statistical Uncertainty in Air Pollution Damages

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Z Muller
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Air Quality Modeling ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Quality Modeling ◽  
Marginal Damage ◽  
Damage Estimates

Abstract This study uses Monte Carlo analysis to characterize the uncertainty associated with per-ton damage estimates for 565 electric generating units (EGUs) in the contiguous United States (U.S.) This analysis focuses on damage estimates produced by an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) for emissions of five local air pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia (NH3), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). For each power plant and pollutant, the Monte Carlo procedure yields an empirical distribution for the damage per ton, or marginal damage. The paper links uncertainty in marginal damages to air pollution policy in two ways. First, the paper characterizes uncertainty in the magnitude of the marginal damages which is relevant to policymakers in determining the stringency of pollution controls. Second, the paper explores uncertainty in the relative damages across power plants. Relative damages are important if policymakers elect to design efficient regulations that vary in stringency according to where emissions are released. The empirical section of the paper finds that the marginal damage distributions are positively skewed and they are more variable for sources in urban areas than rural locations. The paper finds that uncertainty in three input parameters has the greatest impact on uncertainty in the magnitude of damages: the adult mortality dose-response parameter, the mortality valuation parameter, and air quality modeling. The analysis also finds that for each pollutant except for NOx only uncertainty in air quality modeling impacts efficient trading ratios calibrated to each firm's marginal damages.

scholarly journals Fine particulate matter damages and value added in the US economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (40) ◽  
pp. 19857-19862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Tschofen ◽  
Inês L. Azevedo ◽  
Nicholas Z. Muller
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Fine Particulate

Emissions of most pollutants that result in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) formation have been decreasing in the United States. However, this trend has not been uniform across all sectors or regions of the economy. We use integrated assessment models (IAMs) to compute marginal damages for PM2.5-related emissions for each county in the contiguous United States and match location-specific emissions with these marginal damages to compute economy-wide gross external damage (GED) due to premature mortality. We note 4 key findings: First, economy-wide, GED has decreased by more than 20% from 2008 to 2014. Second, while much of the air pollution policies have focused to date on the electricity sector, damages from farms are now larger than those from utilities. Indeed, farms have become the largest contributor to air pollution damages from PM2.5-related emissions. Third, 4 sectors, comprising less than 20% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), are responsible for ∼75% of GED attributable to economic activities. Fourth, uncertainty in GED estimates tends to be high for sectors with predominantly ground-level emissions because these emissions are usually estimated and not measured. These findings suggest that policymakers should target further emissions reductions from such sectors, particularly in transportation and agriculture.

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