Full Title: Downwind and Out: The Strategic Dispersion of Power Plants and Their Pollution
Author(s): John Morehouse, Ed Rubin
Publisher(s): The Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University
Publication Date: May 19, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Most recent policy conversations about coal power plants focus on the carbon emissions they create. But burning coal also creates other pollutants that are more immediately harmful. These pollutants, like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, can cause respiratory illness, lung disease, acid rain, smog, and a host of other negative impacts. Policymakers have tried to reduce exposure to this harmful pollution. Policies like the Clean Air Act, for example, have helped to limit dangerous emissions, but the rogue nature of air pollution makes it difficult to efficiently track and enforce such policies.
This working paper from economists John Morehouse and Edward Rubin examines whether coal power plant owners choose locations that reduce their potential exposure to clean air monitoring and regulations. This strategic siting occurs when plants build close to down-wind county and state borders in order to reduce the amount of pollution they create in their own county and state. The authors find significant evidence that between 55 and 64 percent of coal power plants have been built in strategic locations to reduce the regulatory burden they face.