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The economics of air pollution from fossil fuels

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  • Newbery, D.

Abstract

The paper sets out the economic theory for addressing externalities such as air pollution from burning fossil fuels and from road transport, and for public bads such as greenhouse gases, taking as examples the Clean Air Act, 1956, progress in reducing emissions from power stations, and recent concerns over the number of premature deaths from the rapid growth in diesel cars. That damage can be costed at 15p/litre of diesel on average. The last part discusses the efficacy of taxes, quotas or standards and the EU ETS for mitigating climate damage.

Suggested Citation

  • Newbery, D., 2017. "The economics of air pollution from fossil fuels," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1719, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:1719
    Note: dmgn
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    File URL: http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/research-files/repec/cam/pdf/cwpe1719.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Air pollution; particulates; fossil generation; transport; emissions trading;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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