Some very smart people are trying to figure out whether, where, and to what extent air pollution is a killer. Most recently, Tyler Cowen wrote in Marginal Revolution about a new study claiming that 10.2 million people die from pollution by fine particulates (particles 2.5 microns or lower) each year. Sixty-two percent of those premature…
Search Results for: pollution
A Laffer Curve for Pollution?
Most of us naturally assume that some pollution is the price we must pay for economic progress. That may be true, but studies show that more pollution is bad for health, IQ, productivity and employment. That means that pollution reduces human capital. There may be a “Laffer Curve” for pollution, just as there is for…
Air Pollution, Sea Rise, and Virginia’s ‘Clean Economy Act’
Air pollution has been declining for years. Here are some charts. NoTricksZone.com || Rapid sea rise on Atlantic coast – in the 18th century. Eurekalert.org || Virginia tries to save the planet with ‘Clean Economy Act.’ Wattsupwiththat.com || Counting tweets: A scientific tool for measuring climate change? Heartland.org ||
Environmental Activists Oppose Carbon Capture as a ‘False Solution’
It’s hard to keep up with what environmental activists are against. (See Ron Bailey on solar geoengineering.) Now it’s carbon capture. Carbon capture (CCS) is the largely experimental technology for removing carbon dioxide during or after a combustion process and then storing it, usually underground. The Biden administration is promoting carbon capture, and this month Energy…
Bjorn Lomborg: Truths about Electric Cars
“Politicians are spending hundreds of billions of dollars and keeping consumers from the cars they want for virtually no climate benefit.” That’s the bottom line of Bjørn Lomborg’s assessment of electric cars. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, the president of the Copenhagen Consensus says: “The climate effect of our electric-car efforts in the 2020s…
Was Environmental Policy Worth It?
Economist Timothy Taylor reports on a study of the past 50 years of environmental policies. The news is generally upbeat. “Have the reductions in pollution been worth it? he asks. “Economists have sought to itemize and monetize the costs and benefits of environmental rules. The studies can be controversial, as one might expect.” (It’s hard…