Show me the green
The Distributional Effects of Building Energy Codes
Christopher Bruegge, Tatyana Deryugina & Erica Myers
NBER Working Paper, January 2018
Abstract:
State-level building energy codes have been around for over 40 years, but recent empirical research has cast doubt on their effectiveness. A potential virtue of standards-based policies is that they may be less regressive than explicit taxes on energy consumption. However, this conjecture has not been tested empirically in the case of building energy codes. Using spatial variation in California’s code strictness created by building climate zones, combined with information on over 350,000 homes located within 3 kilometers of climate zone borders, we evaluate the effect of building energy codes on home characteristics, energy use, and home value. We also study building energy codes’ distributional burdens. Our key findings are that stricter codes create a non-trivial reduction in homes’ square footage and the number of bedrooms at the lower end of the income distribution. On a per-dwelling basis, we observe energy use reductions only in the second lowest income quintile, and energy use per square foot actually increases in the bottom quintile. Home values of lower-income households fall, while those of high-income households rise. We interpret these results as evidence that building energy codes result in more distortions for lower-income households and that decreases in square footage are responsible for much of the code-induced energy savings.
Spillover health effects of energy efficiency investments: Quasi-experimental evidence from the Los Angeles LED streetlight program
Benjamin Jones
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, March 2018, Pages 283-299
Abstract:
Payback estimates of energy efficiency investments often ignore public health externalities. This is problematic in cases where spillover health effects are substantial, such as when the application of new technology alters environmental exposures. When health externalities are included in return on investment calculations, energy efficiency programs may look more or less attractive than suggested by conventional “energy savings only” estimates. This analysis exploits the quasi-experiment provided by the 2009 Los Angeles (LA) LED streetlight efficiency program to investigate the returns on investments inclusive of an originally estimated health externality. Using the synthetic control method, we find that the LED streetlight program is associated with a lagged increase in breast cancer mortality of 0.479 per 100,000. Inclusive of the effects of LEDs on breast cancer and avoided carbon emissions, the LA LED program provides a −146.2% 10-year return compared to +118.2% when health outcomes and carbon emissions are ignored.
Changes in Time Use and Their Effect on Energy Consumption in the United States
Ashok Sekar, Eric Williams & Roger Chen
Joule, forthcoming
Abstract:
Lifestyles are changing due to information technology and other socio-technological trends. We study the energy effects induced by lifestyle shifts via tradeoffs in time spent in performing activities. We use the American Time Use Survey to find changes in times performing different activities from 2003 to 2012. The results show that Americans are spending considerably more time at home (7.8 days more in 2012 compared with 2003). This increased home time is counterbalanced by decreased time spent traveling (1.2 days less in 2012 versus 2003) and in non-residential buildings (6.7 days less in 2012 versus 2003). Increased residential time is mainly due to increased work at home, video watching, and computer use. Decomposition analysis is then used to estimate effects on energy consumption, indicating that more time at home and less on travel and in non-residential buildings reduced national energy demand by 1,700 trillion BTU in 2012, 1.8% of the national total.
The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Fetal Health: Evidence from the Shutdown of a Coal-Fired Power Plant Located Upwind of New Jersey
Muzhe Yang & Shin-Yi Chou
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, forthcoming
Abstract:
Our study examines a case where cross-border air pollution had not been effectively dealt with by a decentralized, state level policymaking, letting a coal-fired power plant located on the border between two states pollute the downwind state for years without being controlled. We find that the shutdown of the power plant, thanks to a landmark ruling by the federal government, reduces the likelihoods of having a low birth weight baby and having a preterm birth by 15 percent and 28 percent, respectively, in areas downwind of the power plant. The ruling marks the first-ever federal level regulation under the Clean Air Act that overrides state-level regulations and is directly imposed upon a single pollution source. Our empirical setting emphasizes the importance of such regulation in curbing environmental free riding induced by jurisdictional borders, where pollution cost-shifting can be aided by natural forces such as prevailing winds.
The Economic and Health Effects of the 2014 Chemical Spill in the Elk River, West Virginia
Todd Guilfoos et al.
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
In January 2014, Freedom Industries spilled 4-methylcyclohexylmethanol, a chemical foaming agent used in coal processing, from a storage facility into the Elk River in West Virginia. This chemical spill, one of the most significant in U.S. history, adversely affected the drinking water supply of over 300,000 individuals in the Charleston, West Virginia Metropolitan area. We use synthetic control methods to estimate the casual effects on macro-economic growth and infant health outcomes from this water crisis. We find a significant decrease in 5-minute Apgar Scores, a measure of how babies fare in the birthing process and outside of the womb, after the chemical spill. We do not find significant effects for infant birthweight or gestational age. We find a statistically insignificant decrease of per capita GDP in the Charlestown, West Virginia area compared to the synthetic control of 3% two years after the chemical spill.
You Can’t Take It With You: Appliance Choices and the Energy Efficiency Gap
Ryan Sandler
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, March 2018, Pages 327-344
Abstract:
In the U.S. real estate market, some types of appliances are expected to convey (be included) with the sale of a house, while other appliances may or may not convey depending on local norms that vary at the state level. An appliance that conveys will be left behind when a homeowner moves, while an appliance that does not convey may be kept until the end of its useful life. I estimate the effect of an appliance conveying using a difference-in-differences across states and appliance types, allowing me to fully control for state-level trends with fixed effects. I find that consumers purchase less expensive refrigerators and clothes washers when those appliances convey. This result indicates that the value of these appliances are not fully capitalized into home prices. I further show that accounting for whether an appliance conveys can substantially reduce or eliminate apparent undervaluation of energy efficiency benefits.
The Local Effects of the Texas Shale Boom on Schools, Students, and Teachers
Joseph Marchand & Jeremy Weber
University of Pittsburgh Working Paper, October 2017
Abstract:
This study explores how the Texas shale boom affected schools, students, and teachers. Using variation in geology across school districts and oil prices over time, the evidence shows that test scores in the average shale district declined despite tripling the tax base and creating a revenue windfall. Greater spending went to capital projects and servicing debt, not to teachers. Higher labor market wages did not affect student completion rates, but a growing gap in wages between the private and education sectors contributed to greater teacher turnover and more inexperienced teachers, which helps explain the decline in test scores.
Association of Childhood Blood Lead Levels With Criminal Offending
Amber Beckley et al.
JAMA Pediatrics, February 2018, Pages 166-173
Objective: To test the hypothesis that a higher childhood blood lead level (BLL) is associated with greater risk of criminal conviction, recidivism (repeat conviction), conviction for violent offenses, and variety of self-reported criminal offending in a setting where BLL was not associated with low socioeconomic status.
Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 553 individuals participated in a prospective study based on a population-representative cohort born between April 1, 1972, and March 31, 1973, from New Zealand; the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study observed participants to age 38 years (December 2012). Statistical analysis was performed from November 10, 2016, to September 5, 2017.
Results: Participants included 553 individuals (255 female and 298 male participants) who had their blood tested for lead at age 11 years. The mean (SD) BLL at age 11 years was 11.01 (4.62) μg/dL. A total of 154 participants (27.8%) had a criminal conviction, 86 (15.6%) had recidivated, and 53 (9.6%) had a violent offense conviction. Variety scores for self-reported offending ranged from 0 to 10 offense types at each assessment; higher numbers indicated greater crime involvement. Self-reported offending followed the well-established age-crime curve (ie, the mean [SD] variety of self-reported offending increased from 1.99 [2.82] at age 15 years to its peak of 4.24 [3.15] at age 18 years and 4.22 [3.02] at age 21 years and declined thereafter to 1.10 [1.59] at age 38 years). Blood lead level was a poor discriminator between no conviction and conviction (area under the curve, 0.58). Overall, associations between BLL and conviction outcomes were weak. The estimated effect of BLL was lower for recidivism than for single convictions and lower for violent offending than for nonviolent offending. Sex-adjusted associations between BLL reached statistical significance for only 1 of the 6 self-reported offending outcomes at age 15 years (r = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.01-0.18; P = .02).
Conclusions and Relevance: This study overcomes past limitations of studies of BLL and crime by studying the association in a place and time where the correlation was not confounded by childhood socioeconomic status. Findings failed to support a dose-response association between BLL and consequential criminal offending.
Effect of Cooperative Enforcement Strategies on Wastewater Management
Zach Raff & Dietrich Earnhart
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper examines the influence of the environmental enforcement approach on the effects of government interventions on corporate environmental management. The paper contrasts a potentially innovative cooperative approach with the standard coercive approach. Empirical results show that the effectiveness of enforcement at inducing better environmental management depends on the overall regulatory enforcement approach. For example, greater cooperation undermines the effectiveness of more severe enforcement forms. Specifically, as the environmental enforcement approach becomes more cooperative, the effectiveness of federal inspections and monetary penalties decreases. These results generally demonstrate that a cooperative enforcement approach proves less effective than a coercive approach.
Causes and consequences of decreasing atmospheric organic aerosol in the United States
David Ridley et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 9 January 2018, Pages 290-295
Abstract:
Exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) exacerbates respiratory and cardiovascular conditions and is a leading source of premature mortality globally. Organic aerosol contributes a significant fraction of PM in the United States. Here, using surface observations between 1990 and 2012, we show that organic carbon has declined dramatically across the entire United States by 25–50%; accounting for more than 30% of the US-wide decline in PM. The decline is in contrast with the increasing organic aerosol due to wildfires and no clear trend in biogenic emissions. By developing a carbonaceous emissions database for the United States, we show that at least two-thirds of the decline in organic aerosol can be explained by changes in anthropogenic emissions, primarily from vehicle emissions and residential fuel burning. We estimate that the decrease in anthropogenic organic aerosol is responsible for averting 180,000 (117,000–389,000) premature deaths between 1990 and 2012. The unexpected decrease in organic aerosol, likely a consequence of the implementation of Clean Air Act Amendments, results in 84,000 (30,000–164,000) more lives saved than anticipated by the EPA between 2000 and 2010.
Subways and Urban Air Pollution
Nicolas Gendron-Carrier et al.
NBER Working Paper, January 2018
Abstract:
We investigate the relationship between the opening of a city’s subway network and its air quality. We find that particulate concentrations drop by 4% in a 10km radius disk surrounding a city center following a subway system opening. The effect is larger near the city center and persists over the longest time horizon that we can measure with our data, about eight years. We estimate that a new subway system provides an external mortality benefit of about $594m per year. Although available subway capital cost estimates are crude, the estimated external mortality effects represent a significant fraction of construction costs.
Valuing nuclear energy risk: Evidence from the impact of the Fukushima crisis on U.S. house prices
Shinsuke Tanaka & Jeffrey Zabel
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, forthcoming
Abstract:
Behavioral economics suggests that individuals overweight recent unexpected and/or rare events when updating beliefs. This study investigates the effect of such an event, the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, on the learning process of a local environmental risk by evaluating how perceptions of the risk of a nuclear accident are capitalized into house prices near nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the U.S. Our results provide new evidence on the dynamics of the effect – spatially, the impact was concentrated in a 4-km radius around NPPs, and temporally, it peaked a half year later and dissipated one year after the crisis.