Because human activities emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) and conventional air pollutants from common sources, policy designed to reduce GHGs can have co-benefits for air quality that may offset some or all of the near-term costs of GHG mitigation. We present a systems approach to quantify air quality co-benefits of US policies to reduce GHG (carbon) emissions. We assess health-related benefits from reduced ozone and particulate matter (PM2.5) by linking three advanced models, representing the full pathway from policy to pollutant damages. We also examine the sensitivity of co-benefits to key policy-relevant sources of uncertainty and variability. We find that monetized human health benefits associated with air quality improvements can offset 26–1,050% of the cost of US carbon policies. More flexible policies that minimize costs, such as cap-and-trade standards, have larger net co-benefits than policies that target specific sectors (electricity and transportation). Although air quality co-benefits can be comparable to policy costs for present-day air quality and near-term US carbon policies, potential co-benefits rapidly diminish as carbon policies become more stringent.
Technology Partners: MimirTech
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/systems-approach-evaluating-air-quality-co-benefits-us-carbon-policies
[2] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/tammy-m-thompson
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/sebastian-rausch
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/rebecca-k-saari-et-al
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/nature-climate-change
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/air-pollution
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/green-house-gases
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/urban-air-quality
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/united-states-america-us
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/pm-25
[11] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/ozone
[12] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/health-effects
[13] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/climate-change
[14] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/coal
[15] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/thermal-power-plants
[16] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/vehicular-pollution
