Cars on Crutches: How Much Abatement do Smog Check Repairs Actually Provide?

Cars on Crutches: How Much Abatement do Smog Check Repairs Actually Provide?. Merel, P., Smith, A., Williams, J., & Wimberger, E. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 67(3):371–395, Academic Press, 2014.

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Not as much abatement as has been presumed. Smog check programs aim to curb tailpipe emissions from in-use vehicles by requiring repairs whenever emissions, measured at regular time intervals, exceed a certain threshold. Using data from California, we estimate that on average 41% of the initial emissions abatement from repairs is lost by the time of the subsequent inspection, normally two years later. Our estimates imply that the cost per pound of pollution avoided is an order of magnitude greater for smog check repairs than alternative policies such as new-vehicle standards or emissions trading among industrial point sources.

@article{merel2014cars,
  title={Cars on Crutches: How Much Abatement do Smog Check Repairs Actually Provide?},
  author={Merel, Pierre and Smith, Aaron and Williams, Jeffrey and Wimberger, Emily},
  journal={Journal of Environmental Economics and Management},
  volume={67},
  number={3},
  pages={371--395},
  year={2014},
	url={https://files.asmith.ucdavis.edu/2014_JEEM_MSWW_crutches.pdf},
	keywords={energy},
	abstract={Not as much abatement as has been presumed. Smog check programs aim to curb tailpipe emissions from in-use vehicles by requiring repairs whenever emissions, measured at regular time intervals, exceed a certain threshold. Using data from California, we estimate that on average 41\% of the initial emissions abatement from repairs is lost by the time of the subsequent inspection, normally two years later. Our estimates imply that the cost per pound of pollution avoided is an order of magnitude greater for smog check repairs than alternative policies such as new-vehicle standards or emissions trading among industrial point sources.},
  publisher={Academic Press}
}

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