Ideas of India Anant Sudarshan on Market Solutions to Air Pollution, Energy Policy, and Ecological Disruption
Jan 16, 2025
Anant Sudarshan, an expert in environmental economics from the University of Warwick and the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, discusses critical issues of air pollution in India. He sheds light on the challenges posed by crop burning and vehicular emissions, advocating for market-based solutions. The conversation delves into the intertwined effects of agricultural subsidies on groundwater and pollution management. Sudarshan also discusses the alarming decline of vultures, emphasizing their ecological importance and the ripple effects on public health.
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North India's Air Pollution Complexity
- North India's air pollution is historically severe due to many small unregulated sources and meteorological conditions like thermal inversions.
- Crop burning creates a sharp seasonal spike that disproportionately harms downwind states, complicating political solutions.
Weak Enforcement in Pollution Regulation
- Indian industrial pollution regulation relies on strict standards with severe penalties, but enforcement is weak and largely ineffective.
- State capacity issues cause widespread violations, making traditional command-and-control regulation ineffective.
Long Road to Pollution Market
- Anant joined a 12-year project pioneering pollution markets in India, starting with continuous emission monitors in Gujarat.
- The resulting market launched in 2019 after long regulatory innovation and was the first of its kind in India.
