Greenhouse Gases Emission In The Midwest: System Approach To Policy And Planning Under Liability Rules

<div> The issue of global warming poses a daunting public economic policy design challenge, which has received the attention of economic theorists, many of whom ha\e recommended emission mitigation option schemes based on the benefits and costs of mitigation, and the environmental consequences. Policy practitioners and the public are increasingly enthusiastic in curtailing the magnitudes of these gaseous emissions, in particular, CO: emitted by coal-fired electricity generation. In this, the generating companies and the end-users have joint interest in profit maximization. But have dichotomy in their related activities. Tradition, in both law and economics, suggests that companies should be made to pay the costs of the pollution either through assignment or enforcement of full liability — Polluter Pays Principles and. then pass these incurred costs on to the end-users by charging a higher rate per kWh of electricity they use. The results of the analytical investigation, in this thesis, which consists of three separate sections that attempt to put the issue in its proper context. ha\e demolished the full liability doctrine and suggested an intermediate liability dogma. The first Section demonstrates that the overall total of CO: emissions from selected sources namely, coal, petroleum, natural gas, landfill and nitrogenous fertilizer, were significantly greater in the Midwest region, as a paradigm for the United States, from 1990 to 1998. The energy sources that contributed major portions to these trends were where coal combustion dominated the trends, in each state except in Michigan, w here petroleum dominated the trend in 1998, .Although Ohio contributed most to the region’s overall total historical CO2 emission trends, it was placed only titled in per capita emission levels in 1998, whereas Indiana was placed first. Illinois was the largest emitter of both total N2O and CH 4 emissions over this period with only a few minor exceptions in 1998. In the second Section, a theoretical framework and a flexible empirical methodology for measuring the degree of liability, based on economic efficiency and equity measures, where classical liberal maxim, regulator) axiom and ethical aspects act as catalysts, reveals that parties in question, i.e., the generating company(s) and the end-user(s), should be liable for the externality dilemma. In other words, they should share the costs of the emission burdens that they create as results of their own acts. A finite number of intermediate liabilities were examined under a hypothesized federal CO2 emission statute. Under the prescribed liability dogma, the third Section provides a background for regulators and stakeholders in optimizing policy design, to meet the stipulated emission standards, and choosing the best strategy&nbsp;<span>for CO2 mitigation, subject to a set of systemic constraints.</span> </div>