What are the possible economic costs of an increase in air pollution in Kamloops?

LETTER — On March 9, 2014, I gave a public talk sponsored by the TRU Faculty Association Human Rights Committee and the TRU Eco Club. The talk was entitled, “What are the possible economic costs of an increase in air pollution in Kamloops?”

My presentation started with an introduction on the benefits and costs that arise from projects that yield cleaner air versus those that increase air pollution. This allows a community to consider alternative paths such as ventures which produce a cleaner air. Cleaner air is good economics. It has been shown in many studies that the benefits arising from cleaner air far exceed the costs of environmental regulation.

The presentation also investigated existing air pollution in Kamloops and the possible sources. The talk then proceeded with the exploration of the impact of air pollution on health, the value we place on safety and a brief overview of two benefit-cost studies performed by the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. to determine the consequence of the regulatory amendments to the Clean Air Act over time.

From this point forward, the possible health effects of increased air pollution in Kamloops were examined. Importance was placed on the size of the city.

A virtual “world tour” was taken to determine whether large urban cities are located close to large open pit mines. The evidence indicated that large cities are rarely close to large open pit mines. It is significantly more common to find small towns near open pit mines. Because of a larger exposed population, the increased air pollution has a bigger health impact for a large city relative to small towns.

Finally, the possible economic costs (benefits) of increased (decreased) air pollution in Kamloops were assessed and a number of recommendations were made. I would like to share my presentation with the community https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9bqbwcVPsRuN05PMVZZdllrMkk/edit?usp=sharing

Dr. PETER TSIGARIS

Kamloops