EPA knocks $900,000 off value of a life
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- julesrs007
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WASHINGTON - It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be.
Each American is now valued at $6.9 million by the EPA in figuring out the costs/benefits of certain rulemaking — that's nearly $1 million less than five years ago.
The "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May — a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.
The Associated Press discovered the change after a review of cost-benefit analyses over more than a dozen years.
Though it may seem like a harmless bureaucratic recalculation, the devaluation has real consequences.
When drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as tighter restrictions on pollution.
Consider, for example, a hypothetical regulation that costs $18 billion to enforce but will prevent 2,500 deaths. At $7.8 million per person (the old figure), the lifesaving benefits outweigh the costs. But at $6.9 million per person, the rule costs more than the lives it saves, so it may not be adopted.
Some environmentalists accuse the Bush administration of changing the value to avoid tougher rules — a charge the EPA denies.
"It appears that they're cooking the books in regards to the value of life," said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which represents state and local air pollution regulators. "Those decisions are literally a matter of life and death."
Each American is now valued at $6.9 million by the EPA in figuring out the costs/benefits of certain rulemaking — that's nearly $1 million less than five years ago.
The "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May — a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.
The Associated Press discovered the change after a review of cost-benefit analyses over more than a dozen years.
Though it may seem like a harmless bureaucratic recalculation, the devaluation has real consequences.
When drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as tighter restrictions on pollution.
Consider, for example, a hypothetical regulation that costs $18 billion to enforce but will prevent 2,500 deaths. At $7.8 million per person (the old figure), the lifesaving benefits outweigh the costs. But at $6.9 million per person, the rule costs more than the lives it saves, so it may not be adopted.
Some environmentalists accuse the Bush administration of changing the value to avoid tougher rules — a charge the EPA denies.
"It appears that they're cooking the books in regards to the value of life," said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which represents state and local air pollution regulators. "Those decisions are literally a matter of life and death."
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- News and Politics, Politics, Green, Earth and Science, 8 more
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bornfreeid
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First, I didn't think the government thought we were worth that much.
Second, good "government number" to use in a lawsuit if even necessary.
- 3 years ago
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bornfreeid
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Ayahuasca2012
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Looks like they got caught in yet another scheme... I'm sure they hoped we wouldn't notice the change.
Looks like the big corporations will be getting away with dumping out even more pollution with no repercussions!
- 3 years ago
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Ayahuasca2012
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VegaNerDiva
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It was obvious they thought lives held less value when they started putting Flouride in our water.
- 3 years ago
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VegaNerDiva
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Psychedelic
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It's nice to see that our government values the individual in terms of dollars. Our drop in value is symbolic of our nations current condition. Now if I could just figure out a way to take out a self equity loan from that figure I'd be all right.
- 3 years ago
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Psychedelic
