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Designing and evaluating a pilot emissions trading scheme to regulate industry emission of particulate matter in India
(with Michael Greenstone, Nick Ryan and Rohini Pande). |
Environment and Pollution
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Emerging economies like India face a dual challenge: Maintain strong economic growth while limiting the pollution generated by industrialization. Particulate air pollution, which is one of the greatest threats to human health globally, is a particularly severe threat in India where it currently reduces average life expectancy by nearly 2 years relative to what it would be if the country met its own guidelines for clean air.
To confront this challenge, India needs strong pollution policies that deliver a safe environment at an affordable cost for industry. Historically, however, the country’s environmental regulations have produced just the opposite. Blunt, inflexible regulations have proven costly for industry and difficult for the government to implement and enforce, resulting in poor compliance and dangerously polluted air. Market-based instruments, such as emissions trading schemes, provide an alternative that could meet the dual challenge of economic growth and environmental safety. More Background: A First Look at the World’s First Particulate Trading System |