Health Effects of Pollution Cost California Economy $28 Billion Each Year

The California economy loses about $28 billion annually due to premature deaths and illnesses linked to ozone and particulates spewed from hundreds of locations in the South Coast and San Joaquin air basins, according to findings released Wednesday by a Cal State Fullerton research team.

Most of those costs, about $25 billion, are connected to roughly 3,000 smog-related deaths each year, but additional factors include work and school absences, emergency room visits, and asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses, said team leader Jane Hall, a professor of economics and co-director of the university's Institute for Economics and Environment Studies.

The study underscores the economic benefits of meeting federal air quality standards at a time when lawmakers and regulators are struggling with California's commitment to protecting public health in a weak economy.
Read the full story here.

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Comments

[TrooAmerican]

I'm tellin ya, they desperately need pneumatic people mover tubes criss crossing the city from the outskirts of one side to the other.

People commute in a shorter distance from the suburbs, to transport hubs, then Smoothly launch in pods through the tubes from one side to the other. All powered by the top surface of the tubes 180degrees covered by that new flexible Solar skin.

Done. pollution drops like a stone, city cools off a little, smog goes away, congestion goes away, parking problems for delivery and transport of goods goes away etc.

Or...alter­natively, all goods transports use the pneumatic tubes and no trucks spewing diesel come into the city limits any longer cept for permitted exceptions.

[mamacat]

Two more months and counting. Then the federal government will be working on the side of the people instead of against them.

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

Hmm $28 billion, annually. Good for them to assign a dollar figure to it.

I don't see how this is an immigration issue. Please explain it to me.

[Gasparilla]

The more our population grows, the harder to solve our environmental problems. The more immigration, the more our population grows. Pretty basic.

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

I would argue that a larger hindrance to solving our environmental problems has to deal with industry lobbying and a lack of environmental leadership. However the cost attributed to this most likely takes into account health costs for illegal immigrants as well.

[bthechangeyouseek]

And President Bush is signing a bill that would allow EPA standards to be lowered in California, expect more pollution and higher health costs.

[Gasparilla]

But let's keep adding 3 million people a year to our population. Don't anyone dare suggest that immigration is the main contributor to that.

[SolarPowerGuy]

You wouldn't dream of using population issues as a fig leaf for racial prejudices, would you? Because, you know, a lot of people do that.

As long as you acknowledge that the immigration that adds challenges here in California includes white American immigrants from Tennessee, too -- then the two of us can be in agreement.

Personally, I think that California's biggest environmental problem is a lack of water.

[Gasparilla]

Actually there is not a lot of immigration into California from other states anymore, not nearly as much as there was at one time. As for the racial prejudice angle, I stated a simple fact. This nation's population is growing by about 3 million a year, and the majority of that is due to direct immigration and the higher birth rates of immigrants in this country. If you can dispute that, please do. Otherwise, you're blowing smoke with the racial prejudice stuff. Water is definitely a part of the problem, as it is all over the Southwest, because of the limited amounts available. Urban sprawl is also a problem. A growing population, fueled by immigration, only makes the problems harder to solve. If the truth offends you, I can't help that.