Can Market Mechanisms Reduce Sulfur Dioxide Emissions in China?
China is seeking to reduce its emissions of sulfur dioxide, which are caused by pollution from coal-burning power plants, among other sources, and contribute to environmental problems like acid rain. Since 1999, RAND researchers Noreen Clancy, Paulette Middleton and Pardee RAND Graduate School student Hongjun Kan have conducted a study in collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to examine the feasibility of establishing a sulfur dioxide emissions trading program — much like a comparable US program that has proven to be highly effective — in China.
