TY - JOUR
T1 - An analysis of costs and health co-benefits for a U.S. Power Plant Carbon Standard
AU - Buonocore, Jonathan J.
AU - Lambert, Kathleen F.
AU - Burtraw, Dallas
AU - Sekar, Samantha
AU - Driscoll, Charles T.
N1 - Funding Information:
Known funding sources and other relationships of co-authors as of 12-18-15 were as follows: 1) Jonathan Buonocore – lead author, Center for Global Health and the Environment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Funding for this work was through a subaward to Joel Schwartz from grant the Hewlett Foundation to Harvard University. Other funding over past 3 years on related work The Schmidt Family Foundation 11th Hour Project and The Rockefeller Foundation through grants to Harvard University. The Center for Health and the Global Environment general operations are in part funded by gifts and grants from private individuals, charitable foundations, and corporations. List as of 2013 available at: http://www.chgeharvard.org/about/pages/funders . 2) Dallas Burtraw – co-author, Resources for the Future. Funding for this work was provided by Mistra’s Indigo research program and the FORMAS Human Cooperation to Manage Natural Resources through Resources for the Future. Existing research contract with U.S. EPA through Resources for the Future. Pending research proposal with U.S. EPA on land use and air quality through Resources for the Future. Submitted a declaration on the potential adverse effects of delaying the implementation of the Clean Power Plan in response to a legal challenge to stay the rule, at the request of the public health and environmental non-governmental organizations-intervenors. The declaration has this language: Resources for the Future has periodically received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, and from the Department of Energy through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to conduct research on the electricity sector, including funding related to analysis of the Clean Power Plan. The authors were not involved in EPA's Integrated Planning Model analysis of the Clean Power Plan. Funding from EPA and DOE represents a small fraction of Resources for the Future's budget. Resources for the Future also receives funding from energy companies including electricity generators and electric utilities for general and program support. 3) Kathleen Lambert – co-author, Harvard Forest, Harvard University. Funding for this work was provided by grant from Hewlett Foundation through Harvard University. Additional funding for this project was provided by a grant from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment to Harvard University. No EPA funding. Member of the Board of Trustees of the Highstead Foundation. 4) Samantha Sekar – co-author, Resources for the Future. Funding for this work was provided by Mistra’s Indigo research program and the FORMAS Human Cooperation to Manage Natural Resources through Resources for the Future. No known U.S. EPA funding. 5) Charles Driscoll – co-author, Syracuse University. Funding for this work was provided by subaward on grant from Hewlett Foundation to Harvard University. Prior U.S. EPA funded project on modeling climate change effects on watersheds through Syracuse University. Current U.S. EPA grant on land use and air quality through Syracuse University and Resources for the Future. Member of U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (a federal advisory committee) – review board for secondary NOx and SO2 standards. Member of Advisory Board for National Research Council Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology. Member of Advisory Board for Hubbard Brook Research Foundation. This did not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Buonocore et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants can have important "co-benefits" for public health by reducing emissions of air pollutants. Here, we examine the costs and health co-benefits, in monetary terms, for a policy that resembles the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. We then examine the spatial distribution of the co-benefits and costs, and the implications of a range of cost assumptions in the implementation year of 2020. Nationwide, the total health co-benefits were $29 billion 2010 USD (95% CI: $2.3 to $68 billion), and net co-benefits under our central cost case were $12 billion (95% CI: -$15 billion to $51 billion). Net co-benefits for this case in the implementation year were positive in 10 of the 14 regions studied. The results for our central case suggest that all but one region should experience positive net benefits within 5 years after implementation.
AB - Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants can have important "co-benefits" for public health by reducing emissions of air pollutants. Here, we examine the costs and health co-benefits, in monetary terms, for a policy that resembles the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. We then examine the spatial distribution of the co-benefits and costs, and the implications of a range of cost assumptions in the implementation year of 2020. Nationwide, the total health co-benefits were $29 billion 2010 USD (95% CI: $2.3 to $68 billion), and net co-benefits under our central cost case were $12 billion (95% CI: -$15 billion to $51 billion). Net co-benefits for this case in the implementation year were positive in 10 of the 14 regions studied. The results for our central case suggest that all but one region should experience positive net benefits within 5 years after implementation.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0156308
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0156308
M3 - Article
C2 - 27270222
AN - SCOPUS:84975292112
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 11
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 6
M1 - e0156308
ER -