ABSTRACT
Pollution control technologies have frequently been assessed in terms of their abatement costs and their immediate impact on the environment. The rewards or benefits of air pollution control lie in the results at the end of the environmental chain, not in the beginning. Fewer illnesses, protected wildernesses, prolonged lifetimes, or increased agricultural production are the types of effects which are relevant to society. The numericalcalculations are accurate only for a very narrow scope. The tradeoffs in air pollution control are among abatement costs, uncertainty, health, material lifetimes, vegetation, and distributional effects. Several abatement procedures are compared through simulations and a number of specific results are obtained. These results raise a number of important questions about environmental policies. The New Source Performance Standards regulations attempt to control pollution on the basis of the mass of certain emissions instead of the potential harm of the pollutants. The regulations neither recognize nor adapt to the substantial variations in local conditions across the country.
