Challenges to Managing Air Pollution

Abstract

There is never enough money, time, or resources to do all the things that need to be done—a statement that is true both for governments and individuals. For governments, this fact implies that (1) priorities need to be established; (2) goals are essential to be set to address these priorities, partly with an eye toward maximizing the net benefits to society; and (3) policies need to be implemented to reach those goals efficiently and effectively. In this article, major challenges of managing air pollution in each of these areas are examined.

Notes

¹For a contrary view, see Cohen et al., 2004, where the authors argue for a threshold PM_2.5 concentration of 7.5 μg/m³ (half the new U.S. annual standard) and argue for either an upper threshold of 50 or 75 μg/m³ or a log-linear concentration-response function for PM_2.5 and mortality (which implies small marginal benefits of reducing concentrations for countries with high PM baselines).