"By one official reckoning in 2011, the act's limits on harmful pollution has benefited the U.S. economy to the tune of $2 trillion by 2020, in contrast with $65 billion in costs to implement regulations. But now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is abruptly changing how it enforces at least parts of the Clean Air Act by not calculating the economic benefits of some regulations."
"To get a sense of why this matters, it is important to understand what ozone and PM2.5 do to our body. PM2.5 describes particles that have a diameter smaller than 2.5 microns. They are tiny enough to enter the bloodstream, lodge deeply in the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier. PM2.5 has been liked to diabetes, obesity, dementia, cancer, low birth weight and asthma. Ozone, a key ingredient of smog, is particularly dangerous for people with asthma and other lung diseases, especially children."
Clean Air Act protections over more than five decades prevented millions of premature deaths, hospitalizations, and lost work and school days and produced roughly $2 trillion in benefits by 2020 versus $65 billion in implementation costs. The EPA will no longer calculate the dollar value of lives saved or other health benefits for some PM2.5 and ozone regulations and will instead count only industry compliance costs. PM2.5 particles are smaller than 2.5 microns, can enter the bloodstream, lodge in lungs, and cross the blood-brain barrier, and have been linked to many chronic conditions. Ozone aggravates asthma and other lung diseases, particularly in children, making higher pollution levels likely to worsen population health.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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