How we cut carbon emissions influences our health

If policymakers want to reduce our carbon emissions, they have a variety of policy options at their disposal. These policies could include targeted efforts like boosting energy efficiency or more general approaches like putting a tax on carbon. From the perspective of carbon emissions, all of these approaches are different means to the same end.

But carbon dioxide isn't the only pollutant produced while burning fossil fuels; particulates, ozone, mercury, nitrates, and sulfates are all emitted by fossil fuel plants. These pollutants can cause a large societal burden through impacts on human health and the costs associated with those impacts. As a result, the exact method of lowering carbon emissions can make a big difference when it comes to these associated costs.

To find out how this system plays out in the US energy market, a team of researchers looked at different means of getting to the EPA's goal of reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel plants, and they found significant differences in the outcomes for several routes to reduced carbon emissions.

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