Essays on Environmental Factors, Policies, and Health Outcomes
Abstract
Environmental hazards such as air pollution and heat waves can adversely influence health outcomes. In Chapter 1, I use a 2SLS approach to identify the causal relationship between air pollution and these dispatches. I find that single unit increases in seasonal ambient PM2.5 and NO2 lead to significant increases in EMS dispatches for conditions of interest per zip code-day across NYC, and find that more of these dispatches caused by pollution take place in disadvantaged communities relative to non-disadvantaged communities. I find these effects despite PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations meeting annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards for each year in the study. My results provide evidence that these pollution concentrations present in a single season can still cause dangerous health emergencies and that those living in disadvantaged communities are most likely to experience these emergencies and bear the associated costs.Heat waves are predicted to become more frequent and more severe in the wake of climate change. In Chapter 2, I examine how these heat waves affect the number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Dispatches made for traumatic injuries and mental health conditions. I find that heat waves defined using relatively low-temperature thresholds have the largest effects on these dispatches, likely because people are unaware that these temperatures are dangerous and, therefore, do not take precautions or adjust their behavior to stay cool on these days. My results indicate that temperatures below heat thresholds that NYC issues official advisories for should be warned against so that people can take defensive action.In Chapter 3, my co-author and I study investments in charging stations, as these can increase electric vehicle (EV) adoption, thereby reducing transportation-related air pollution and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. NYC strives for widespread EV adoption but faces a major challenge as a large percentage of families live in homes with no garage access and thus require access to public charging stations for refueling. We show that EV adoption and charging station investments have been concentrated in wealthy and White neighborhoods thus far. Increasing public investment in charging station infrastructure in under-served locations could help bring the benefits of vehicle electrification to lower-income and Black and Brown communities. This paper presents the factors in the city that affect private investment and have led to inequitable under-investment in charging stations in under-served communities. We provide a framework for understanding equitable investments in charging stations, and present policies that can help bring about a more equitable transition to electric vehicles in NYC.
Subject Area
Economics|Environmental economics|Environmental Justice
Recommended Citation
Wilwerding, Rachel, "Essays on Environmental Factors, Policies, and Health Outcomes" (2024). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI31242451.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI31242451
