Page 101 - Fundamentals of Air Pollution

Questions 71

As air pollution management moves forward, economics has a major
role in reducing pollution. Multimedia considerations are forcing a blend
of traditional emission reduction approaches and innovative methods for
waste minimization. These efforts are directed toward full cost accounting
of the life cycle of products and residuals from the manufacturing, use,
and ultimate disposal of materials.

REFERENCE

1. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. First Report, Command 4585, H.M. Sta-
tionery Office, London, 1971.

SUGGESTED READING

Ashby, E., and Anderson, M., "The Politics of Clean Air." Oxford Univ. Press (Clarendon),
New York, 1981.
Cohen, R. E., "Washington at Work: Back Rooms and Clean Air." Macmillian, New York,
1992.
Crandall, R. W., "Controlling Industrial Pollution: The Economics and Politics of Clean Air."
Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1983.
Hoberg, G., "Pluralism by Design: Environmental Policy and the American Regulatory State."
Praeger, New York, 1992.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain why certain important long-range air pollution control strategies will not suffice
for short-term episode control, and vice versa.
2. Develop an episode control scenario for a single large coal-fired steam electric generating
station.
3. In Fig. 5-1, the words "Social and political considerations" appear several times. Discuss
these considerations for the various contexts involved.
4. Discuss the relative importance of air quality criteria and cost effectiveness in the setting
of air quality standards.
5. The quotation in Section V contains the words "what may appear to be the cheapest policy
in the short-term may prove in the long-term to have been a false economy." Give some
examples of this.
6. Draw a simplified version of Fig. 5-1 with fewer than 10 boxes.
7. How would one go about developing an air pollution damage function for human health?
8. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been a propo-
nent of the "polluter pays" principle. What is the principle and how can it be implemented?
9. Study Table 5-2 and determine whether there are any control methods that you believe
should be added or deleted.