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When leaded gasoline was first developed in the 1920s, medical experts were quick to warn of the public health catastrophes it would cause. Yet government regulators did not heed their advice, and for more than half a century, nearly all cars used leaded gasoline, which contributed to a nationwide epidemic of lead poisoning. By the 1970s, 99.8% of American children had significantly elevated levels of lead in their blood. Unleaded tells the story of how crusading scientists and activists convinced the U.S. government to ban lead additives in gasoline. It also reveals how, for nearly fifty years, scientific experts paid by the oil and mining industries abused their authority to convince the public that leaded gasoline was perfectly harmless.  Combining environmental history, sociology, and neuroscience, Carrie Nielsen explores how lead exposure affects the developing brains of children and is linked to social problems including academic failure, teen pregnancies, and violent crime. She also shows how, even after the nationwide outrage over Flint's polluted water, many poor and minority communities and communities of color across the United States still have dangerously high lead levels. Unleaded vividly depicts the importance of sound science and strong environmental regulations to protect our nation's most vulnerable populations.

Due to the long time in vehicular cabins, people have high exposure to the airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCS), which will lead to negative effects on human health. In order to analyze the influencing factors of in-car VOCS pollution concentrations, 38 taxis were investigated on the static and closed conditions. The interior air of taxis was collected through activated Tenax adsorption tubes, and the air samples were analyzed with thermally desorbed gas chromatograph. The average concentrations of in-car benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, styrene, butyl acetate, undecane, and total VOCS (TVOC) were 82.7, 212.3, 74.7, 182.3, 24.7, 33.5, 61.3, and 1,441.7 μg/m³, respectively. Furthermore, the VOCS and TVOC concentrations increase with the rise of in-car temperature and relative humidity, and decrease with the increase of car age and total mileage. In addition, the VOCS and TVOC concentrations are higher in vehicles with small cabins than in ones with big cabins, and change with different sampling sites and various vehicular grades. Finally, according to the multiple linear regression analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, car age is the most important factor influencing airborne VOCS and TVOC pollution concentrations in vehicular cabins, followed by interior temperature and total mileage.

Experimental results on tracer gas diffusion within the near wake of a simplified model car (Ahmed model with a rear slant angle of 25°) are presented. Pollutant emission is simulated using heated air injected through a small pipe at one side of the model base. Fine cold wire thermometry is used to measure instantaneous temperature excess and variance of temperature gradient in the near wake. Measurements of the three mean velocity components were made using a laser Doppler anemometers system. Characteristics of the mean and fluctuating temperature fields, time-averaged flow streamlines and scalar dissipation measurements are presented and discussed. The local mixing time scale is determined from the measured mean dissipation rate of temperature variance. Its value shows that micromixing is not a limiting phenomenon for chemical reactions in the near wake.

Fuel-conservation measures that might be politically palatable are generally perceived as inferior to gasoline taxes on efficiency grounds. This article challenges that assertion: it shows that a policy that should be far more feasible than a large increase in fuel taxes can also achieve a significant reduction in fuel demand, with a dramatically larger welfare gain. The policy is pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance, which is motivated on the grounds of reducing mileage, particularly by high-risk drivers, and reducing the number of uninsured drivers by lowering premiums for low-mileage vehicles. If PAYD were fully implemented, gasoline demand would fall by 11.4 billion gallons. Welfare gains from reducing gasoline are substantially higher under PAYD than under fuel taxes.

To compare \"cost-effectiveness\" of different abatement methods, many studies estimate production or cost functions and plot the marginal cost curve for using each method to achieve more abatement. This paper uses an estimated demand system that accounts for heterogeneity to calculate the lost consumer surplus from feasible policies. To do this, it introduces a somewhat new view of cost-effectiveness, comparing policies instead of technologies. For each rate of tax, the change in all choices and how the new choices affect emissions is simulated. The lost consumer surplus, or equivalent variation, and subtract tax revenue to get deadweight loss is also calculated. Finally, the added DWL over the additional abatement is taken as the social marginal cost of abatement, and this curve is plotted for several different tax policies.

This article estimates a consumer demand system using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the California Air Resources Board, and finds that miles driven and leisure are relative complements. While the induced changes in labor supply are tiny relative to the labor market, they are still substantial relative to the gas market and thus have a dramatic effect on the relative costs of the two policies. Point estimates imply that they reduce the social marginal cost of the gas tax by almost 30%, while increasing the marginal cost of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards by nearly 60%. This result implies that the case raising the gas tax rather than tightening the CAFE standard is far stronger than previous studies suggest. Indeed, it strongly suggests that any tightening at all of the CAFE standard would lower welfare unless the benefits of reduced gas consumption have been seriously underestimated.

This article examines the gasoline tax option being proposed in the U.S. in 2005, employing an econometrically based multi-market simulation model to explore the policy's efficiency and distributional implications. Because of its potential to improve the environment and enhance national security, reducing automobile-related gasoline consumption has become a major U.S. public policy issue. Policy impacts both in the aggregate and across households distinguished by income, car-ownership, and other characteristics were examined. Simulation results show that whether a gas-tax increase is regressive in its impact depends on the manner in which the tax revenues are recycled to the economy. The results also reveal significant heterogeneity in welfare impacts within household income groups, thus highlighting the importance of accounting for household heterogeneity in tastes and car-ownership in evaluating distributional impacts.

The heavy smog suffocating China's cities is increasingly being perceived as a threat by both the population and the authorities. Consequently, political action aiming at regulating ambient air pollution has become increasingly comprehensive and rigid in recent years. Even measures limiting consumption and production seem to become acceptable as China is facing an airpocalypse. Does this suggest a genesis of real “authoritarian environmentalism” (AE) in China? Taking this as a heuristic point of departure, we present findings from research on the implementation of air pollution control measures in Hangzhou city. We offer a critical examination of the concept of AE and, in particular, of local policy implementation strategies vis-à-vis the general public. Two measures in Hangzhou's air policy portfolio are analysed that reveal considerable variation: restrictions on the use of private cars and the (re)location of industrial facilities. Describing the conditions that have helped to produce different implementation strategies, we argue for different emphases in a potential Chinese model of AE. In a context where outcomes are sought at any cost, we observe more complexity and nuances than are usually captured by the AE concept. 近年来,中国政府采取了有史以来力度最大、措施最综合、考核最严格的大气污染治理行动来应对严重的城市雾霾。这种自上而下限制产能、关停污染企业等政策措施是否印证了威权式环境主义在中国的兴盛？通过考察杭州市大气污染治理的两种政策措施：机动车限牌限行与工业污染企业关停搬迁,我们探讨了中国地方政府在环境治理中所采取的不同执行策略及遵循的执行逻辑。与既有“威权式环境主义”理论强调政策执行的“产出”有所不同,我们发现,中国“威权式环境主义”更注重政策执行的“结果”。这在一定程度上解释了为何中国地方政府在环境政策执行时表现出如此大的差异性与灵活度。

Economic research on climate change has been crucial in advancing our understanding of the consequences associated with global warming as well as the costs and benefits of the various policies that might reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. As nations work to develop climate policies, economic insights into their design and implementation are ever more important. With a balance between theoretical and empirical approaches, The Design and Implementation of US Climate Policy looks at the possible effects of various climate policies on a range of economic outcomes. The studies that comprise the volume examine topics that include the coordination—or lack thereof—between the federal and state governments, implications of monitoring and enforcing climate policy, and the specific consequences of various climate policies for the agricultural, automotive, and buildings sectors.

Pakistan's urban air pollution is among the most severe in the world and it engenders significant damages to human health and the economy. Air pollution, inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene are the top environmental priority problems in Pakistan. Industrialization and urbanization, in conjunction with motorization, can result in further deterioration of urban air quality. This book examines policy options to strengthen the Pakistan clean air program (PCAP) to better address the cost imposed by outdoor air pollution upon Pakistan's economy and populace. The approach provided in this book recommends that the federal and provincial environmental protection agencies (EPAs) take on a limited number of high return, essential, and feasible interventions drawn largely from the PCAP. The objective of this book is to examine policy options to control outdoor air pollution in Pakistan. The findings of the analysis aim at assisting the Government of Pakistan (GoP) in the design and implementation of reforms to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Pakistan's ambient air quality institutions. The overarching theme of this book is that prioritizing interventions is essential to address the cost of outdoor air pollution, given current resource limitations. The book also includes a review of secondary sources, focusing on recent analysis of the effects of different air pollutants on human health, as well as lessons learned from ongoing regional and international efforts to improve ambient air quality. This book has seven chapters. Chapter one gives overview. Chapter two identifies major trends in ambient air pollution, including concentration levels of main pollutants and the identification of principal sources. Chapter three examines the evolution of Pakistan's air quality management (AQM) framework over the period 1993 to 2013. Chapter four examines options to control air pollution from mobile sources, the main contributors of several air pollutants, including noxious fine particulate matter (PM) and its precursors. Chapter five addresses measures to tackle pollution from industrial sources. Chapter six identifies synergies of interventions for air pollution control and climate change mitigation. Chapter seven summarizes the main conclusions of the book.