Unanticipated Consequences of Regional Greenhouse Gas Policies: Criteria Emissions and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiave

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has been developed by 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in an attempt to curb emissions of carbon dioxide (C02) coming from fossil fuel burning power plants. Scheduled to begin in 2009, RGGI is a market based cap and trade emission permit system, where each regulated power plant must obtain one permit for every ton of C02 they create as a product of their electricity generation. This policy is only designed to address greenhouse gases and to date, only C02. What it fails to address is how related emissions of criteria pollutants (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) may be affected. The market structure of the de-regulated electricity market in the Northeast United States, allows generators and distributors of electricity to make competitive bids on electricity, with the goal of obtaining a supply and price most advantageous to their own business. The physical structure of the electricity market, with regional interconnections, allows distributors to buy electricity from generators from neighboring states and regions. Adding an extra cost to a generator, in the form of a pollution permit, may make a regulated generator\u27s electricity significantly more expensive as compared to unregulated regions, reducing demand in favor of those unregulated cheaper sources. In the case of RGGI, the regulated region predominantly uses natural gas, a clean, and already more expensive fuel than the coal used predominantly in the neighboring states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana Illinois, Virginia and West Virginia. Market forces may lead to reduced gas-fired generation in RGGI states, in favor of increased coal-fired generation in coal burning states. A shift in generation between these regions may also shift emissions of criteria pollutants to the Midwest. This may have a negative impact on the Northeastern states who already by prevailing wind patterns receive air pollution from these neighboring states. In order to examine this potential, this research gathers data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Administration. These data include unit level emissions, generation, fuel usage values and the prices of delivered fossil fuels. Using the transcendental logarithmic (translog) cost model to determine how price and generation demand impact demand for fuel, a RGGI policy scenario is modeled which adds to the relative price of each fuel and reduces demand for RGGI region generated electricity. These new fuel demand values are then used to determine how levels of criteria emissions will shift in each region and the study area as a whole. This research finds emissions of criteria pollutants decrease as expected in the RGGI region as generators switch to cleaner fuels. Furthermore, the increased demand from Non-RGGI generators is linked with higher natural gas use, and not coal use as predicted. This study finds criteria emissions for the entire study area decrease over the duration of RGGI policy, contrary to the predicted results of this research

Unanticipated Consequences of Regional Greenhouse Gas Policies: Criteria Emissions and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiave

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has been developed by 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in an attempt to curb emissions of carbon dioxide (C02) coming from fossil fuel burning power plants. Scheduled to begin in 2009, RGGI is a market based cap and trade emission permit system, where each regulated power plant must obtain one permit for every ton of C02 they create as a product of their electricity generation. This policy is only designed to address greenhouse gases and to date, only C02. What it fails to address is how related emissions of criteria pollutants (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) may be affected. The market structure of the de-regulated electricity market in the Northeast United States, allows generators and distributors of electricity to make competitive bids on electricity, with the goal of obtaining a supply and price most advantageous to their own business. The physical structure of the electricity market, with regional interconnections, allows distributors to buy electricity from generators from neighboring states and regions. Adding an extra cost to a generator, in the form of a pollution permit, may make a regulated generator\u27s electricity significantly more expensive as compared to unregulated regions, reducing demand in favor of those unregulated cheaper sources. In the case of RGGI, the regulated region predominantly uses natural gas, a clean, and already more expensive fuel than the coal used predominantly in the neighboring states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana Illinois, Virginia and West Virginia. Market forces may lead to reduced gas-fired generation in RGGI states, in favor of increased coal-fired generation in coal burning states. A shift in generation between these regions may also shift emissions of criteria pollutants to the Midwest. This may have a negative impact on the Northeastern states who already by prevailing wind patterns receive air pollution from these neighboring states. In order to examine this potential, this research gathers data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Administration. These data include unit level emissions, generation, fuel usage values and the prices of delivered fossil fuels. Using the transcendental logarithmic (translog) cost model to determine how price and generation demand impact demand for fuel, a RGGI policy scenario is modeled which adds to the relative price of each fuel and reduces demand for RGGI region generated electricity. These new fuel demand values are then used to determine how levels of criteria emissions will shift in each region and the study area as a whole. This research finds emissions of criteria pollutants decrease as expected in the RGGI region as generators switch to cleaner fuels. Furthermore, the increased demand from Non-RGGI generators is linked with higher natural gas use, and not coal use as predicted. This study finds criteria emissions for the entire study area decrease over the duration of RGGI policy, contrary to the predicted results of this research

A Model of the Sustainable Management of the Natural Environment in National Parks-A Case Study of National Parks in Poland

This paper aimed to present a model of natural environment management in national parks in Poland in the context of increased tourist tra c. The research area comprised Polish national parks as they are characterized by barely altered nature, little human impact, and undisturbed natural phenomena. The methods involved the observational method, literature analysis and criticism, and the in-depth interview method employed in November 2019. The respondents included national park management sta . The questions were prepared in accordance with the Berlin Declaration principles of sustainable tourism development and were extended with the authors’ own items. The questionnaire contained 17 questions, grouped in four parts: science and documentation; tourism; cooperation and education; environmental threats. The results indicate that in order for actions to prove e cient in a park, a conservation plan should be carefully developed. Its correctness requires monitoring the state of the environment, tourist tra c size and trends, and tourists’ impact on the environment. An important condition for e ective tourism management in parks is to increase the competences of the administering bodies and knowledge regarding individuals’ responsibilities. Boards should be able to evaluate and modify conservation plans, spatial development plans, municipality development strategies, and projects for investments within the parks