Fun Facts: Air pollution costs vs. campaign costs

by Bill Chameides | October 26th, 2012
posted by Erica Rowell (Editor)

In which we do a little cost-benefit analyzing of some spending matters. (All numbers below are estimates.)

Cost of Clean Air Act (CAA) 1970–1990: $523 billion
Benefits of CAA 1970–1990: $6-$50 trillion*

Annual cost [pdf] of CAA in 2010: $53 billion
Annual benefits [pdf] of CAA in 2010: $90 billion to $2.3 trillion

Per candidate cap on political spending on presidential campaigns in 1976: ~$35 million

Amount of money raised by the two presidential campaigns 2011-2012: $2 billion**

Costs of political advertising in 2012: more than $3 billion

Benefits of campaign spending: priceless …?

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End Note

* Included in this monetary value assessed and estimated for “the human health, human welfare, and environmental effects” of the law are 205,000 avoided American deaths.

** According to the New York Times, between January 2011 and October 17, 2012, President Obama and the Democrats had raised some $1.06 billion and Governor Romney and the Republicans had raised some $954 million.

filed under: faculty, health, politics
and: air pollution, Barack Obama, Clean Air Act, legislation, Mitt Romney, public health