Deck 15: Federal Air Pollution-Control Policy

Question 1

The EPAs Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) was rejected by the federal courts because

A)of the difficulties involved in interstate commerce and trading
B)of the lack of markets between states that would allow for permit trading
C)of concerns over permit concentrations developing in upwind states.
D)of the complexity of enforcement efforts when state boundaries must be crossed

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Primary standards that are established in the 1970s CAA are concerned with

A)levels of pollution that threaten the public welfare
B)levels of pollution that threaten the public health
C)efficiency standards that equate marginal damages with marginal abatement costs
D)thresholds

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In the United States SO₂ program, emissions permits are tradable and managers of a particular plant can

A)emit at or below the plant's allowable level and hold on to any excess permits
B)emit below the plant's allowable level and sell off any excess permits
C)emit above the plant's allowable level and purchase permits to cover the excess emisisons
D)all of the above are allowable options

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Even though the purchase of a new, more efficient car could save a consumer money in the medium to long run, consumers have shown reluctance to make the investment and this is called the

A)behavioral economics
B)energy efficiency gap
C)rebound effect
D)discount rate

Question 5

New source bias is justified on the basis of

A)efficiency
B)that it costs more for older sources to retrofit than for new sources to adopt technology
C)cost
D)all of the above

Question 6

Thresholds are levels of pollutants

A)below which the cost of abatement is zero.
B)below which the EPA cannot detect emissions.
C)below which damages are minimal or non-existent.
D)below which the source of the pollutant cannot be detected.

Question 7

National emissions for major air pollutants in the U.S.have _______since the 1980s.

A)decreased
B)increaased
C)remained steady
D)fluctuated

Question 8

Figure 1
Refer to Figure 1.Federal mobile source air pollution control policies have focused almost exclusively on

A)emissions per mile
B)total quantity of emissions
C)number of vehicles
D)average miles traveled

Question 9

When a with/without analysis reveals increased levels of ambient air quality, we cannot be assured that______________.

A)the amount of money spent on air pollution control bought the highest possible impact.
B)that we would have better air quality without the policy.
C)that the change in air quality is a result of the policy.
D)all of the above

Question 10

Economic models reveal that the command and control policies such as technology-based effluent standards used to control air pollution are

A)six times less costly than other policies that are designed to be cost effective.
B)six times more costly than other policies that are designed to be cost effective.
C)six times less effective than other policies that are designed to be more stringent.
D)six times more effective than other policies that are designed to be more stringent.

Question 11

The CAFE standards in the U.S.were originally introduced in order to

A)reducing petroleum imports into the U.S.
B)reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the U.S.
C)unlimited geographically, but limited to domestic polluters
D)best if they are completely unlimited

Question 12

In order to understand whether pollution control policies have been effective, a __________ analysis examining what emissions were compared to what they would be if policies had not been pursue must be performed.

A)pre-test/post-test
B)with/without
C)before/after
D)today/tomorrow

Question 13

A with/without analysis of the impact of the 1990 Clean Air Act reveals that several categories of air pollution have__________ as a result of the legislation.

A)stayed the same
B)increased
C)decreased
D)experienced indeterminate change

Question 14

Annual expenditures for air pollution control in the U.S.have ______ since the 1970s.

A)decreased
B)increased
C)remained steady
D)fluctuated

Question 15

New source bias is defined as

A)not allowing old sources to increase production so that new sources can enter the market.
B)holding older sources of pollution to stricter standards than new sources.
C)not allowing new sources into the industry for fear of increased emissions.
D)holding new sources of pollution to stricter standards than existing sources.

Question 16

The Clean Air Act of 1970 introduces ____________ over air-pollution matters introducing uniform ambient standards, technology based effluent standards and stricter emissions standards for automobiles.

A)state control
B)federal control
C)municipal control
D)U.S.Army Corp of Engineering control

Question 17

The 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments differentiated between areas labeled ____________ and _______________ with different technology based emissions standards.

A)PSD areas; nonattainment areas
B)Prevention of Significant Deterioration Areas; attainment areas
C)urban areas; rural areas
D)new industrial development areas; PSD areas

Question 18

In setting national ambient air quality standards, the 1970 CAA set two levels of standards for criteria pollutants:

A)federal standards; state standards
B)state standards; municipal standards
C)primary standards; secondary standards
D)technology based effluent standards; ambient quality standards

Question 19

In the last 50 years, air pollution problems have become more serious due to

A)the scale of airborne emissions
B)the variety of airborne emissions
C)the diverse set of damages caused by airborne emissions
D)all of the above

Question 20

Because new car certification programs can only control emissions from new cars, the federal government required that states with severe air pollution problems initiate programs that inspect individual cars.These programs are called

A)warranty programs
B)inspection and maintenance (I&M) programs
C)old car certification programs
D)best management practices

Question 21

Because of the existence of the energy efficiency gap, many economists recommend _________ to reduce mobile source emissions.

A)increased taxation on gasoline
B)stricter CAFE standards
C)decreased taxation on new vehicles
D)all of the above

Question 22

Some of the reasons that the energy efficiency gap exists is

A)consumers have a high discount rate for future savings in energy costs
B)consumers may believe that the future energy and cost savings are uncertain
C)consumers may lack access to the credit or liquidity required to purchase new energy efficient cars
D)all of the above