The question has long been not whether or not to reduce air pollution, but by how much and by what means. Since the extent of the reduced discomfort and illness is not clear—and the measurement of peoples’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for reduced discomfort and illness is uncertain—it is not easy to know how much the pollution should be reduced. But it has always been clear that reducing automotive air pollution had to be part of the overall strategy. (more…)

The increased use of fossil energy since the industrial revolution, and especially since 1950, has been the major cause of increased emissions of air pollutants and, correspondingly, many environmental problems. Emissions due to the use of energy are major sources of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and soot and constitute a large contribution of methane, non-methane volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals. (more…)