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ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF OZONE ON AGRICULTURE
Citation:
Adams, R., S. Hamilton, AND B. McCarl. ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF OZONE ON AGRICULTURE. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-84/090.
Description:
Past attempts to assess the monetary impacts of ozone or other air pollutants on agriculture have had only sparse plant science information on which to base an assessment. This paper reports on an economic assessment of the effects of simulated changes in ambient ozone on U.S. agriculture using recent crop response data from the National Crop Loss Assessment Network (NCLAN). The economic analysis is limited to those ozone effects directly associated with production and consumption of a set of agricultural commodities. Effects on non-agricultural commodities and compliance costs of achieving the simulated changes in ozone are not evaluated here and hence, these economic estimates are not necessarily net economic effects. The results are derived from an economic analysis based on a U.S. agricultural sector model that includes major crop and livestock production as well as processing and export uses. The economic effects of four hypothetical ambient ozone levels are measured and compared with a 1980 base situation. The analysis indicates that the economic effects as measured in income-equivalents to producers and consumers of agricultural commodities of moderate (25 percent) ozone change below ambient levels are approximately $1.7 to $1.9 billion. A similar increase in ozone pollution results in costs (losses in income) of $2.1 to $2.4 billion. These economic estimates display varying sensitivity to the form of the response and meteorological data incorporated in the assessment.