benefit first, and steps that provide less benefit can wait until later.

As society draws closer to Qb, some might argue that it becomes more important to use market-oriented

environmental tools to hold down the costs of reducing pollution. Their objective would be to avoid

environmental rules that would provide the quantity of environmental protection at Qc, where marginal costs

exceed marginal benefits. The following Clear It Up feature delves into how the EPA measures its policies – and

the monetary value of our lives.

CLEAR IT UP

What's a life worth?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must estimate the value of saving lives by reducing pollution

against the additional costs. In measuring the benefits of government environmental policies, the EPA’s National

Access for free at openstax.org
12.5 • International Environmental Issues 293

Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) values a statistical human life at $7.4 million (in 2006 U.S. dollars,
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