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Title: Three Essays on Environmental Justice
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2023
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Abstract: This dissertation consists of three essays related to environmental justice. The first essay examines the impact of decarbonization of the US electric grid on air quality and assesses how the health benefits of better air quality will be distributed among people of different ages and races. This work was done for the contiguous US at the county level. These benefits are estimated through three regulatory-grade models: Integrated Planning Model (IPM), Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ), and Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP). Air quality improvements and health gains (premature deaths avoided) are reported for the years 2030, 2040, and 2050. Most of the PM2.5 and O3 reductions are concentrated in the Eastern US. Black communities experience the largest improvement in air quality compared to all other races. For health benefits, I find that Whites have the largest benefits in terms of absolute numbers, but when appropriate race-specific mortality incidence rates are used and population-weighted race-age decomposition is conducted, Blacks have 20% larger gains compared to Whites in age group 25-74. Moreover, when premature deaths averted are converted to life years, I find that disparity in health benefits between age groups is sharply reduced, shifting 2.86 percentage points of the total gains from Whites to Blacks. Age-race decomposition analysis for decarbonization of US electric grid thus suggests improvement in environmental justice. The finding from this paper can help policymakers understand how health disparities are reduced with respect to age and race due to decarbonization. In the second essay I examine how improved air quality due to the decarbonization of the US power sector can reduce asthma exacerbation among children disaggregated by poverty status, race, and geography. These benefits are estimated through three regulatory-grade models: Integrated Planning Model (IPM), Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ),
Url: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2864137391?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true
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Authors: Mehdi, Qasim
Institution: Syracuse University
Department: Philosophy
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Pages: 1-153
Data Collections: IPUMS Health Surveys - NHIS
Topics: Natural Resource Management, Population Mobility and Spatial Demography, Race and Ethnicity
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