The United States and many other countries have been regulating the emissions of airborne particulates from power plants, vehicles and industry for decades. These policies have yielded drastic improvements in health and well-being through cleaner air. Recent interdisciplinary work at Penn State has highlighted mechanisms through which climate policy can make the air even cleaner. Well-designed climate policy can improve not only the health of future generations but can also save lives and reduce sickness today. In some cases, the immediate benefits of cleaner air can dwarf the benefits of climate mitigation. Achieving these benefits requires well designed climate policy that is coordinated over many different jurisdictions and is an active area of interdisciplinary research and engagement.
