It’s perhaps no great surprise to people that reducing our reliance on coal has various health as well as environmental benefits. Research from North Carolina State University highlights that while this is understandably the case, the health benefits are not spread equally across society.
The researchers used data from Texas and found that efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases produced by power generation produce sufficient health benefits to more than meet the costs imposed by any decarbonization initiatives. Despite these benefits spreading across society, however, they also found that Black and low-income communities continue to face higher air pollution, and the subsequent health consequences, even after the transition.
Environmental justice
“In terms of environmental justice, it is well established that some people suffer more from the effects of air pollution than others, and we wanted to explore whether decarbonization efforts might make things better or worse for the communities who suffer the most,” the researchers explain.
They looked at six specific decarbonization strategies, three of which involved using either solar, wind, or natural gas to replace coal-fired power plants. A further two looked at the implementation of carbon taxes at various levels, and the final strategy required power plant operators to incorporate the economic costs imposed by the health effects of emissions in their decision-making.
Using power generation data from Texas alongside health data from Texas and those states that are affected by emissions from the power plants in Texas, the researchers developed models to understand the health consequences of the various strategies.
“We were able to assess health impacts at the census tract level, which is fairly granular—each tract represents between 1,200 and 8,000 people,” they explain. “Specifically, we drew on established studies to determine the extent to which air pollution was contributing to mortality numbers in each tract.”
Health impact
The models highlighted the financial benefits of reducing air pollution using the “value of a statistical life”, which is a commonly used metric used by the federal government when it performs a cost-benefit analysis.
All six of the strategies were somewhat effective in reducing the health consequences of air pollution, and indeed all six managed to more than offset the cost of implementing the strategy.
Interestingly, however, while all six of the strategies produced a health benefit of some kind, there remained areas that were more affected by air pollution than others, with these areas commonly low-income communities with large Black populations.
“While there are health benefits under every decarbonization scenario—which is good—there is still a significant environmental justice gap,” the researchers conclude. “For example, the gap between Black neighborhoods and other neighborhoods either stays the same or gets worse. In other words, while Black neighborhoods benefit from decarbonization, they don’t benefit as much as other neighborhoods. And the same holds true for low-income neighborhoods across all races.”
