Environmental policies that specifically target energy generation through renewable sources such as Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) have drawn significant support from a growing number of states and American cities due to its goal of mitigating the effects of climate change. A new study from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of Washington explored the “extent to which subnational renewable energy policies can improve air quality.” It was the first study to “directly compare the health co-benefits of RPSs to those of carbon pricing.” 

The study, titled “Health co-benefits of sub-national renewable energy policy in the US,” estimated that the ‘Rust Belt’ region (comprised of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware) could generate $4.7 billion in health benefits in 2030, a 34 percent return on the “$3.5 billion price tag associated with actually building out that infrastructure of renewable energy sources such as wind or solar farms,” according to The Verge. The study focused on the Rust Belt region where states are most heavily exposed to high concentration of fine particulate matter, or soot, which is classified as the “deadliest form of air pollution,” according to the World Health Organization. The air quality is also severely affected by the coal plants distributed in the region. 

Moreover, the study calculates the carbon pricing will deliver 63% more on health co-benefits of reducing the same amount of carbon dioxide through an RPS approach and that these co-benefits of climate policy may alone “justify the implementation of RPSs or carbon pricing” which tends to exceed policy costs. A higher RPS requirement in the Rust Belt region will then “increase net societal benefits,” which includes improved air quality which would positively impact public health and safety; thus, could lead to lower medical fees and reduced lost wages. Although the study does not cover national-level effects and cannot be applied to sweeping federal policies relating to renewable energy, it serves as an informative reference to the challenges that we are still facing in terms of air pollution and its direct effects to different areas in the country and offer solutions on how to address them.