Editing Emissions trading (section)

====Nitrogen oxides====
In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to administer the {{NOx}} Budget Trading Program (NBP) under the {{NOx}} State Implementation Plan (also known as the "NOx SIP Call"). The {{NOx}} Budget Trading Program was a market-based cap and trade program created to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO<sub>x</sub>) from power plants and other large combustion sources in the eastern United States. NO<sub>x</sub> is a prime ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone ([[smog]]), a pervasive air pollution problem in many areas of the eastern United States. The NBP was designed to reduce NO<sub>x</sub> emissions during the warm summer months, referred to as the ozone season, when ground-level ozone concentrations are highest.<ref>[https://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/nox-budget-trading-program "NOx Budget Trading Program"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426055618/https://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/nox-budget-trading-program |date=2017-04-26 }}, Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2017.</ref> In March 2008, EPA again strengthened the 8-hour ozone standard to 0.075 parts per million (ppm) from its previous 0.08 ppm.<ref>[https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/ozone_fact_sheet.pdf "Ozone Fact Sheet"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222022508/https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/ozone_fact_sheet.pdf |date=2017-02-22 }}, Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2017.</ref>

Ozone season {{NOx}} emissions decreased by 43 percent between 2003 and 2008, even while energy demand remained essentially flat during the same period. CAIR will result in $85 billion to $100 billion in health benefits and nearly $2 billion in visibility benefits per year by 2015 and will substantially reduce premature mortality in the eastern United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BGC Environmental Brokerage Service {{!}} Environment {{!}} Clean Air Interstate Rule |url=http://www.bgcebs.com/Emissions/?page=USAComp_CAIR |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=www.bgcebs.com}}</ref>
NOx reductions due to the {{NOx}} Budget Trading Program have led to improvements in ozone and PM2.5, saving an estimated 580 to 1,800 lives in 2008.<ref name="ex">{{cite web
|title=Cap and Trade
|url=http://www.epa.gov/captrade/
|publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency
|access-date=27 October 2014
|archive-date=8 November 2014
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108041221/http://www.epa.gov/captrade/
|url-status=live
}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2017}}

A 2017 study in the ''[[The American Economic Review|American Economic Review]]'' found that the {{NOx}} Budget Trading Program decreased {{NOx}} emissions and ambient ozone concentrations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|first1=Olivier|last1=Deschênes|first2=Michael|last2=Greenstone|last3=Shapiro|first3= Joseph|date=2017|title=Defensive Investments and the Demand for Air Quality: Evidence from the NOx Budget Program|journal=American Economic Review|volume=107|issue=10|pages=2958–2989|doi=10.1257/aer.20131002|issn=0002-8282|doi-access=free}}</ref> The program reduced expenditures on medicine by about 1.5% ($800 million annually) and reduced the mortality rate by up to 0.5% (2,200 fewer premature deaths, mainly among individuals 75 and older).<ref name=":2" />