"When lives are assigned a higher dollar value, stricter pollution standards tend to clear the 'economic efficiency' sniff test, resulting in cleaner air. But that improved air quality comes at the expense of America's industrial industries, which have to invest in pricey systems to reduce the amount of these pollutants they spew down to acceptable levels."
"Erasing the VSL has direct consequences for the regulatory limits on the two most common air pollutants: ozone and fine particulate matter, which are debris 30 times smaller than a human hair."
"Clean air is one of the great success stories of government policy in the last half-century. And at the heart of the Clean Air Act is the idea that when you allow people to lead longer and healthier lives, that has value that can be measured in dollars."
The EPA has revised its policies on industrial pollution limits, eliminating the 'value of a statistical life' (VSL) from cost-benefit analyses. Previously valued at approximately $11.7 million per person, the Trump administration's stance assigns a VSL of zero. This change leads to weaker regulations on air pollutants like ozone and fine particulate matter, potentially reversing progress made since the Clean Air Act of 1970. The removal of VSL undermines the economic justification for stricter pollution controls, risking public health and air quality improvements.
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