Inequitable Valuation of Point Source Pollution
In reflecting on the fore-front issues of this new Anthropogenic era we have found ourselves to have created, there is a disproportionate focus on overall pollution/risk to the population at large, called non-point source pollution, and an innate ability to overlook an original, and long-standing origin of the very issue itself, point source pollution (Matthews et al., 2000). Point source pollution is any form of pollution coming from a single, identifiable source (versus agricultural run-off, for example, which can become widespread, with the exact source becoming untraceable) (noaa.gov, 2016). While such pollution can render various negative externalities in nature degradation, public health, and more, there is often an intentionality behind the source; thus, benefits being gained weighed such a decision. Intentionality, however, does not assume knowledge, equal power, or equitable valuing of all involved variables. In 1996, a documentary came out about the nation’s largest incinerator firm located in Chester, Pennsylvania, owned by Covanta. The firm produces toxic levels of nitrous oxides and other asthma and cancer inducing chemicals by importing and incinerating trash in large volumes, while lacking the necessary pollution controls (ejnet.org, 2007). The monetary benefits here of a company with a close-to $2B revenue annually (that argues adding additional pollution controls would be too costly) has been valued more highly than costs associated with the factory, such as noise pollution, smell, increased asthma in children, and increased cancer rates. Beyond such, there are unintentional sources of point-source pollution, such as the Deepwater Horizontal Spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, which released 134 million gallons of oil. (noaa.gov, 2016). While there were no intentional benefits here, the costs weighed detrimental on ocean life, as well as the fishing industry. In the creation of a vector of point-source pollution, valuation of all involved parties and externalities must be assessed (Food Ethics, 2016). Neoclassical economists approach it from a cost-benefit analysis perspective most often, but due to inequities in valuation itself, this isn’t so simple.
Worldwide, the highest concentrations of point-source pollution consist of a few commonalities: they are most common in areas that are impoverished, in economic disparity, and/or are in areas of minorities (Fann, et al. 2009)(EPI. 2018). Various hypotheses of variable correlations have been produced to provide explanation and understanding of this ‘structure’ and how such inequities have emerged. After the proposal of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), a display of environmental degradation in correlation with income per capita (a U shaped curve that while degradation originally decreases with increase income, eventual improvements form with increase income), it became a game with the environment in which we, as a society, hoped we could create a Utopian era in which we could “have our cake and eat it too,” spurring the movement of sustainability within development, and the concept of achieving optimal pollution (Stern, 2004). The externalities of this, however, thus result in inequitable valuation that presumably occurs in the process of locating and creating vectors of point source pollution, where lack of use, value, and political power, knowledge, and a variety of other factors can result in externalities being reflected on ‘bystanders’ (Goodstein et. al, 2017).
In my concentration, I am working to discover a better understanding of the source of created inequities. While exploring involved processes and variables of valuation, and how they are achieved, I wonder what role they play in regulation of point-source pollution, and how inequities in such a world-wide phenomena are occurring, despite such vast research in optimal pollution. By doing so, I hope to nurture ways in which sound valuation of externalities can be made, and highlight actions that can be taken (whether legislatively through regulation, or other) to better locate vectors of point-source pollution.
Sources:
“Addressing Non-Point Sources of Water.” 2016. https://search.proquest.com/openview/a840561d1c78cc2ad6910e64e638bcc0/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2044520.
“Environmental Racism in Chester: Chester Environmental Justice / DelCo Alliance for Environmental Justice.” 2007. http://www.ejnet.org/chester/.
Fann, Neal, Charles M. Fulcher, and Bryan J. Hubbell. “The Influence of Location, Source, and Emission Type in Estimates of the Human Health Benefits of Reducing a Ton of Air Pollution.” Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health 2, no. 3 (September 1, 2009): 169–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-009-0044-0.
Goodstein, Eban S., and Stephen Polasky. Economics and the Environment. Hoboken: Wiley, 2017.
“Matthews and Lave - 2000 - Applications of Environmental Valuation for Determ.Pdf.” Accessed October 10, 2018. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/es9907313.
“Point vs. Non-Point Water Pollution: What’s the Difference? | Response.Restoration.Noaa.Gov.” November 15, 2016. https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/point-vs-non-point-water-pollution-what-s-difference.html.
Pojman, Louis P., Paul Pojman, and Katie McShane. Food Ethics. Cengage Learning, 2016.
Stern, David I. “The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve.” World Development 32, no. 8 (August 1, 2004): 1419–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.03.004.
“Welcome | Environmental Performance Index.” 2018. https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/.
Guiding Questions
Descriptive- Where in the world are the highest concentrations of point source pollution and what role do profit and power(ownership) play in this distribution?
Explanatory- What facets are explored in the valuation of point source pollution, and thus considered in forming these concentrated locations?
Evaluative- What factors play into how point source pollution is regulated and why may this be inequitable? How have systems of inequitable valuation formed from this?
instrumental- How do we address inequities in the valuation of point source pollution and create a more sound valuation, and how can this, in turn, influence regulations and placement of such points?
Potential Courses:
ENVS 460 Environmental Law and Policy
ENVS 305 Environmental Sociology
ENVS 311 (un)natural disasters
IA 296 Human Rights and international Politics
POLS 253 Public Policy
PHIL 210 - Social justice