Air pollution is a vexing problem for emerging countries that strike a delicate balance between environmental protection, health, and energy for growth. We examine these difficulties in a study of disparate levels of exposure to pollution from coal-fired power generation in India, a country with high levels of air pollution and large, marginalized populations. With data on coal plant locations, atmospheric conditions, and census demographics, we estimate exposure to coal plant emissions using models that predict emission transportation. We find that ethnic and poor populations are more likely to be exposed to coal pollution. However, this relationship is sometimes non-linear and follows an inverted u-shape similar to that of an Environmental Kuznets Curve. We theorize that this non-linear relationship is due to the exclusion of marginalized communities from both the negative and positive externalities of industrial development.

中文翻译：

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印度的环境正义：燃煤电厂造成的空气污染事件

对于在环境保护、健康和增长能源之间取得微妙平衡的新兴国家来说，空气污染是一个令人烦恼的问题。我们在一项关于印度燃煤发电污染暴露程度不同的研究中研究了这些困难，印度是一个空气污染严重、人口众多、边缘化人口众多的国家。根据有关燃煤电厂位置、大气条件和人口普查人口统计数据，我们使用预测排放运输的模型来估算燃煤电厂排放的风险。我们发现少数民族和贫困人口更容易受到煤炭污染的影响。然而，这种关系有时是非线性的，并遵循类似于环境库兹涅茨曲线的倒 U 形。