College Students Fund Air Pollution Cut
A group of students at Bates College in Maine successfully bid on and bought a government permit for the release of one ton of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Fifty students participating in the school’s 200-level environmental economics course each put $5 toward a bid for the permit, which they say will be retired.
“We are not going to resell it, so that ton of sulfur dioxide will never be emitted into the atmosphere,” said Lynne Lewis, associate professor of economics at Bates and the originator of the college’s annual bidding effort.
This is the third year students from the college’s environmental economics course have bid on and purchased a government sulfur dioxide (SO2) permit. SO2 causes acid rain and is considered a harmful air pollutant.
Each year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) auctions off SO2 permits through the Chicago Board of Trade. Held in March, the auction is part of the EPA’s Acid Rain Program, which uses a market-based cap and trade approach to curtail air pollution.
“There is something very tangible about seeing Bates’ name on the actual auction,” said Bates student Mark Thomson. “And the fact that we obtained a permit is excellent, because you study different market-based incentive programs to reduce pollution, but to actually do it – and to say that we’re willing to pay because we don’t want acid rain in Maine – is a great opportunity.”
This year’s lowest successful bid was $171.80 and Ohio-based American Electric Power, the nation’s largest electrical supplier, won 99.9 percent of the 125,000 permits on offer.
Bates’ bid was $185.50, fourth-lowest of the 20 successful bids.
Student contributions left over were donated to the Acid Rain Retirement Fund, a program at the University of Southern Maine that was the only other Maine bidder this year.
“It is great to do this exercise not only for learning purposes, in terms of how economic ideas get applied to the real world, but also in terms of giving students a sense of environmental responsibility and a connection to environmental stewardship,” said Christopher Westcott, a student who participated in the project.
Provided by theEnvironmental News Service.
