Pollution
Enrolling Capitalism in the Fight Against Climate Change
Environmentally conscious critics of contemporary capitalism often highlight the system’s permissiveness toward egregious pollutant activities, typically enjoyed by the ultra-wealthy. Using private jet ownership...
Capitalism Does Not Require a Tradeoff Between Planet and Profit
Critics of capitalism claim that the economic system incorrigibly encourages the exploitation of the planet and is thus incompatible with efforts to mitigate climate...
Firms Gerrymander Ownership of Polluting Plants to Reap Public and Regulatory Benefits
New research has discovered that many companies who appear to sell, or ‘divest,’ their toxic plants, actually retain relationships with their buyers. Despite the...
Fracking Can Lead to Elevated Salt Levels in Surface Water, Study Finds
A new study finds that fracking can lead to increased salt levels in water surfaces, especially during the early stages of production and in...
Livestreaming Polluters to Enforce Environmental Policy: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Pittsburgh
Enforcing environmental regulations is controversial and can be costly. But researchers at UCLA and Carnegie Mellon have proposed a low-cost alternative for enforcement—disclosing emissions...
What Can We Learn from London’s Long Struggle with Air Pollution?
Research on the long-term effects of pollution on mortality has been held back by lack of historical pollution data. In a new working paper,...
Does Environmental Crime Pay?
A new Stigler Center working paper conducts a cost-benefit analysis of DuPont's emissions of a toxic chemical dubbed C8.
The Trump administration has shown clear signs that it...
