scholarly journals What Can We Learn from the Grand Policy Experiment? Lessons from SO2 Allowance Trading

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert N Stavins
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Acid Rain ◽  
Clean Air Act ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Allowance Trading ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Policy Experiment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Trading Program

The most ambitious application ever attempted of a market-based approach to environmental protection has been for the control of acid rain under the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, which established a sulfur dioxide allowance trading program. This essay identifies lessons that can be learned from this grand experiment in economically oriented environmental policy. The author examines positive political economy lessons, asking why this system was adopted from acid-rain control in 1990, and he considers normative lessons that can be learned from the program's structure and performance, focusing on lessons for the design and implementation of future systems.

The Design and Implementation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harro van Asselt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
The United States ◽  
Trading Systems ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Trading Scheme

This chapter offers a cross-jurisdictional analysis of the design and implementation of mandatory emissions trading schemes. It traces the beginning of emissions trading schemes from the sulfur dioxide emissions trading scheme in the United States, which was implemented through the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. After initial experiments at a local and regional level, the United States launched the first large-scale, countrywide trading system. This program sought to address the acid rain problem by creating a trading regime for sulfur dioxide emissions. This was the birthplace of large-scale emissions trading systems and from this point onwards, emissions trading schemes began to spread across jurisdictions. The chapter describes how the EU’s speedy adoption of an emissions trading directive in 2003 could be seen as an instance of horizontal borrowing from the United States, spurred by the simple need to keep the costs of reducing emissions down.

The Intergovernmental Fiscal Effects of the Clean Air Act

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 810-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Carr
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
Clean Air Act ◽  
Suspended Particulates ◽  
Total Suspended Particulates ◽  
Criteria Pollutants ◽  
Clean Air

The impacts of air quality regulations under the Clean Air Act extend beyond directly regulated polluting industries; these regulations also affect the tax bases of local governments. To assess the local fiscal effects of nonattainment regulations under the Clean Air Act, this article analyzes revenue data spanning twenty years for counties throughout the entire United States. Attainment status for ozone, total suspended particulates (TSP), particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) is found to affect local governments' own source or property tax revenues. Nonattainment for these criteria pollutants results in regulations focusing on local industries. These findings indicate declining revenues in ozone, TSP, and PM10 nonattainment areas and suggest suppression of growth during the nonattainment period for SO2.

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