Very depressing news. The EPA plans to NOT take into account of the value of human life any more when making rules and setting policy regarding air pollutants (e.g., fine particulate matter and ozone). Meaning that the value of a human life is zero dollars. Instead, the only thing that will be considered is the cost to businesses of pollution regulations.
In other words, no more estimates of the dollar value of lives saved in the cost-benefit analyses for new pollution rules. People dying will just be a side-effect of business - eh, move on, nothing to see here.
This means that the cost to society (of human suffering and deaths) from pollutants just doesn't matter. Businesses obviously do not/will not want regulations that cost money. Yes, this will mean dirtier air and the environment going forward. Very depressing...
Excerpts from NY Times: Trump’s E.P.A. Has Put a Value on Human Life: Zero Dollars
Government officials have long grappled with a question that seems like the purview of philosophers: What is the value of a human life?
Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the answer has been in the millions of dollars. The higher the value, the more the government has required businesses to spend on their operations to prevent a single death.
But for the first time ever, at the Environmental Protection Agency the answer is effectively zero dollars. ...continue reading "The EPA Now Values Human Life At Zero Dollars"