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GEN – Clean Air Act PROPage| 1

GEN – Clean Air Act – PRO

Preston BlackPSDC

GEN – Clean Air Act PROPage| 2

GENERAL BENEFITS

1. The benefits of reduced health costs for children alone amount to $2 billion2. Economic benefits outweigh the costs by a margin of four to one, according to a new EPA study3. Projections from the EPA study show that by 2010 CAA regulations will have averted 23,000 deaths, 1.7million asthma attacks, 67,000 incidences of bronchitis, 91,000 occurrences of shortness of breath, 4.1 millionlost workdays, 31 million days of restricted activity 22,000 respiratory-related hospital admissions, 42,000cardiovascular hospital admissions and 4,800 emergency room visits for asthma4. The economic benefits of CAA regulations are $110 billion, while the costs are just $27 billion – a merefraction of the benefits5. Generic: Regulations addressing pollution represent the most effective means of lifting countries out of poverty6. Generic: MIT researchers found that the U.S. enjoyed an additional $5.4 trillion in market consumptionbetween 1975 and 2000 that would not have been available in the absence of air pollution controls7. The financial benefits of air regulations sharply contrast with the health effects of deregulation (i.e.abolishing the CAA is very, very bad – we would lose the economic gains and suffer severe health effects of pollution)8. The economic activity we would lose by ending air regulations 3-4% of the entire U.S. market consumptionover a quarter century – the agriculture sector accounts for just 1%9. Amazing summary: The advantages from CAA regulations (up to $50 trillion) strongly outweigh the costs($500 billion)10. MIT Study: Benefits from air pollution regulations rose from $50 billion in 1975 to $400 billion in 2000;total benefits were $5.4 trillion1. The benefits of reduced health costs for children alone amount to $2 billion

Carol Potera

[writer for Environmental Health Perspectives (since 1996)], “Less Pollution, Less Earache?”

Article Published in Environmental Health Perspectives

[

a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research

and news published by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services; mission is to serve as a forum for the discussion of the interrelationships between the environment and human health by publishing in a balanced and objective manner the best peer-reviewed research and most current and credible news of the field],

December 2009

,http://ehsehplp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.117-a540a[PB]

“The Clean Air Act revisions of 1990 strengthened the EPA’s enforcement of stringent regulations aimed atimproving air quality to benefit the nation’s health, with the added benefit of reducing medical costs.

In the February 2004issue of E[nvironmental] H[ealth] P[erspectives],

Eva Y. Wong and colleagues estimated that reductions in air pollution by 2010 as aresult of the Clean Air Act could save up to $2 billion in children’s respiratory health costs alone.

If the current findings bear out,the savings could be substantial for otitis media costs, which may exceed $5 billion annually, according to a report in the June 2000 issue of Pediatrics.

2. Economic benefits outweigh the costs by a margin of four to one, according to a new EPA study

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

, “New Report Shows Benefits of 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments Outweigh Costs by Four-to-One Margin,”

November 16, 1999 News Release

, Last updated in September 2009,http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/caa90/10.htm[PB]

“The economic value of the public health and environmental benefits that Americans enjoy from the Clean Air ActAmendments of 1990 exceed their costs by a margin of four to one, according to a new EPA study. The report projects that the Clean Air Act Amendments and their associated programs prevent thousands of premature deathsrelated to air pollution, and millions of asthma attacks as well as a wide range of additional human health andecological effect.

‘This Administration has enacted the most stringent public health and environmental standards ever while creating unprecedented economic growth,’ said PresidentBill Clinton. ‘This report further demonstrates that public health and environmental benefits can be achieved along with economic benefits, and this Administration will continue to work aggressively to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land on which we live.’ Using a sophisticated array of computer models and the latest emissions and cost data, the EPAstudy shows that in the year 2010 the Amendments of 1990 will prevent 23,000 Americans from dying prematurely, and avert over 1,700,000 incidences of asthma attacks and aggravation of chronic asthma. In addition, in 2010, they will prevent 67,000 incidences of chronic and acute bronchitis, 91,000 occurrences of shortness of breath, 4,100,000 lost work days, and 31,000,000days in which Americans would have had to restrict activity due to air pollution related illness. Plus, 22,000 respiratory-related hospital admissions would be averted, as well as 42,000cardiovascular (heart and blood) hospital admissions, and 4,800 emergency room visits for asthma.

The report, the most comprehensive and extensiveassessment of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments ever conducted, was the subject of extensive peer review during

Preston BlackPSDC

GEN – Clean Air Act PROPage| 3

which independent panels of distinguished economists, scientists, and public health experts provided in-depthassessment and advice throughout the study’s design, implementation, and documentation.”

Preston BlackPSDC