The impact of trading on the costs and benefits of the Acid Rain Program
H. Ron Chan, B. Andrew Chupp, Maureen L. Cropper, and Nicholas Z. Muller , ( 88 )
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
180–209
March
2018
Abstract

We quantify the cost savings from the Acid Rain Program (ARP) by comparing compliance costs for 761 coal-fired generating units under the ARP with compliance costs under a counterfactual uniform performance standard (UPS) that would have achieved the same aggregate emissions in 2002. In 2002, we find compliance costs to be $200 million (1995$) lower and health damages to be $170 million (1995$) lower under the ARP. We also compare health damages associated with observed SO2 emissions from all ARP units in 2002 with damages from a no-trade counterfactual.

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