Did the EPA's voluntary industrial toxics program reduce emissions? A GIS analysis of distributional impacts and by-media analysis of substitution

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• 作者：Shanti Gamper-Rabindran
• 关键词：Voluntary programs ; Cross-media substitution ; Health-indexed emissions ; Toxic release inventory ; Geographical information systems
• 刊名：Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
• 出版年：2006
• 出版时间：July 2006
• 年：2006
• 卷：52
• 期：1
• 页码：391-410
• 全文大小：213 K

文摘

Voluntary programs in which manufacturing plants pledge to reduce their emissions beyond the legal requirement have been promoted as a low-cost way to achieve health and environmental protection. The EPA's Industrial Toxics program is evaluated using an author-assembled GIS-database of manufacturing plants in the 48 contiguous states, controlling for mandated reductions in ozone depleting chemicals and changes in reporting of emissions. I find that, controlling for participants’ self-selection into the program, relative to non-participants, participants do not reduce their health-indexed emissions of target chemicals in several key industries. Where reductions are detected in selected industries, participants’ increased off-site transfers to recyclers give reasons to question whether this program truly reduced emissions. Moreover, the program did not reduce emissions in less politically active communities.