Markets for Clean Air: The U.S. Acid Rain Program

A comprehensive description and evaluation of the first three years of the U.S. Acid Rain Program. This environmental control program is the world's first large-scale use of a tradeable emission permit system for achieving environmental goals. The book analyzes the behavior and performance of the market for emissions permits, known as allowances, and quantifies emission reductions, compliance costs, and cost savings associated with the trading program. The book also includes chapters on the historical context in which this pioneering program developed and the political economy of allowance allocations. Finally, the book discusses the program's successes, its weaknesses, and the lesson learned regarding application of the emissions-trading approach to controlling other types of emissions, including greenhouse gases. The volume is an indispensable addition to the library of all interested in the application of marker principles for meeting environmental goals.

Table of Contents:
List of illustrations; List of tables; Authors; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. A market-based experiment; 2. A political history of Federal Acid Rain Legislation; 3. The political economy of allowance allocations; 4. The pre-1995 trend in SO2 emissions; 5. Title IV compliance and Emission reductions, 1995–97; 6. Emissions trading: the effect on abatement behavior; 7. Emissions trading: development of the allowance market; 8. Title IV's voluntary compliance program; 9. The cost of compliance with the Title IV in Phase I; 10. Cost savings from emissions trading; 11. Errors, imperfections, and allowance prices; 12. Concluding observations.

Review :
"This book provides important evidence in support of Dales' statement by thoroughly examining the first several years of the U.S. acid rain program. Markets for Clean Air is the definitive text on the U.S. acid rain program. The authors' analysis is careful and convincing. Both scholars and policy-makers will have a better sense of the virtues and pitfalls of market-based regulation after reading this book." Peter Cramton, Journal of Economic Literature "Markets for Clean Air makes an excellent addition to this tradition of analysis by looking in detail at an important new approach to environmental regulation...The book presents illuminating, well-analyzed, and clear data, allowing even those without a strong background in economics to understand the reasons for the observed outcomes of the acid rain program." Environment "This book provides a detailed evaluation of how this 'market for clean air' was established and how effective it has been at reducing sulfur emissions." Foreign Affairs "The praise used to market this book accurately asseses it. It is the "definitive," "most thorough and careful," and "authoritative" analysis of the sulfur dioxide allowance-trading program. The authors, all of whom were at MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, integrate five years of research into a coherent analysis that supports the program's economic efficiency...This book will appeal to those interested in environmental policy, regulatory analysis, investment decisions, and political economy. The writing and analyses are accessible to upper-division undergraduates and wonderful examples for graduate students; they will inspire new research efforts." Choice "The book presents illuminating, well-analyzed, and clear data, allowing even those without a strong background in economics to understand the reasons for the outcomes of the acid rain program. (For those desiring more detail, the econometrics underlying this analysis is presented as well)." Environment