Jonathan Colmer on Environmental Inequality
On this episode of Free Range, Mike Livermore speaks with Jonathan Colmer, an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia’s Department of Economics and the Director of the Environmental Inequality Lab. His research interests are in environmental economics, development economics, and the distributional impacts of environmental policy. Colmer begins by discussing a recent paper of his that examines the distributional characteristics of air pollution in the United States and how they have changed over time.
Episode is an appropriate teaching tool for but not limited to the following topics & courses: environmental inequality, environmental economics, developmental economics, environmental policy, pollution
Discussion Questions
- How much does environmental inequality contribute to income inequality?
- What are the causes of air pollution disparities from an economic standpoint – is it income? Is it racial discrimination or other considerations?
- What are the pros and cons of moving from a place-based to a person-based understanding of environmental inequality?
Free Range Podcast 