Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs

The report estimates that the Coal Phase-Out Regulations, Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Regulations, and Methane Regulations will provide between $18 billion and $21 billion in direct health benefits by 2050. These savings, primarily derived from respiratory benefits of reduced emissions, are equivalent to the cost of 2,200 to 2,500 doctors over a 36-year period. The regulations target pollutants including particulate matter, benzene, mercury, lead, NOX, SOX, PM2.5, and VOCs.

• Four federal environmental regulations—the Coal Phase-Out Regulations, Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Regulations, and Methane Regulations—are projected to yield direct health benefits valued between $18 billion and $21 billion (in 2024 dollars) by 2050.
• The healthcare spending saved by these four regulations is estimated to be sufficient to fund between 2,200 and 2,500 doctors over the 36-year period covered by the regulations.
• The health benefits are primarily linked to the respiratory advantages of reducing emissions of key pollutants, including NOX, SOX, PM2.5, and VOCs, as well as other toxins like benzene, mercury, and lead.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (n.d.). Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs. n.d. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironmentndhealthy, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }