Entire Book - Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research ...
Entire Book - Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research ...
Entire Book - Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research ...
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Improving Transboundary Air Quality with<br />
Binational Emission Reduction Credit Trading<br />
Improvement—comprised of local government, industry, and public<br />
representatives—was established to give environmental policy advice<br />
to environmental officials on both sides of the border. JAC has promoted<br />
a number of programs <strong>for</strong> improving air quality, including<br />
strengthening vehicle inspection, promoting dedicated commuter<br />
lanes, and the seasonal use of oxygenated gasoline (NEJAC 2003).<br />
The ef<strong>for</strong>ts outlined above, while important at the local level,<br />
only address a minority of the air quality issues on the border or<br />
elsewhere in Mexico. An important point, which will be taken up in<br />
detail in subsequent chapters, is that U.S. and Mexican environmental<br />
standards are similar—there is little disagreement about<br />
what is desirable. But Mexico, a developing country, has not set the<br />
same priority on monitoring, en<strong>for</strong>cing, and there<strong>for</strong>e achieving air<br />
quality goals as the United States, nor is it reasonable to think it<br />
should. The reality is that Mexico does not have the resources to<br />
meet all of its environmental goals and has placed a higher priority<br />
on solving problems with potable water and sewers, believing that<br />
these will have a greater impact on public health and quality of life<br />
than improved air quality. Nevertheless, improved air quality is an<br />
important goal <strong>for</strong> border communities.<br />
The question then is, How can policy coordination be achieved<br />
along the U.S.-Mexican border in an ef<strong>for</strong>t to improve air quality?<br />
The answer is that there is no single answer. In some circumstances<br />
command-and-control may be the best solution, in others it might<br />
be corrective taxes and subsidies that make the most sense. The<br />
authors argue that the best solution <strong>for</strong> the border often turns out<br />
to be emission reduction credit trading, and that is the focus of this<br />
monograph—using emissions trading as a policy coordination device<br />
on the U.S.-Mexican border. That is, this monograph is about how<br />
to design, construct, and administer emissions trading programs so<br />
that the shared goals of achieving good air quality can be met.<br />
Emissions trading is an increasingly popular policy choice. The<br />
1990 U.S. Clear Air Act and Amendments (CAAA) encouraged<br />
states to adopt market-based mechanisms, such as emissions trading,<br />
to assist in attaining and maintaining air quality standards (EPA<br />
2002c). In the context of CAAA, concern centers on the criteria pollutants—carbon<br />
dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrogen oxide (NO x ), sulfur dioxide<br />
(SO 2 ), lead (Pb), ozone (O 3 ), and especially particulate matter<br />
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