"A Storm Brewing: Costs of Climate-Induced Pollution in Drinking Water" [Working Paper] (under review).
This study uses Florida birth and water quality records (2013 – 2021) to estimate how tropical cyclones, which climate change may intensify, harm infant health by damaging drinking water infrastructure. Identification exploits the random timing and path of storms, comparing exposed and unexposed births from the same mother. I distinguish between residential and water source exposure to isolate water pollution as a key mechanism that mediates cyclones’ health impact. Source exposure increased coliform detection by 17\%, premature births by 6.4\%, and cost society over \$344 million annually. These findings are robust to common identification challenges and underscore climate change’s health risks.
"Are "Killer Trees'' Helpful for Understanding the Effects of the NOx Budget Program?" (with Lala Ma, Lucija Muehlenbachs, and Sagbo Anicet Hounton) [Working Paper] [Resources for the Future Working Paper 25-24] (under review).
Forests play a largely unrecognized role in determining the effectiveness of air-quality regulations. We study the NOx Budget Trading Program, a cap-and-trade system covering 19 U.S. states designed to curb ground-level ozone. We show that evergreen forest cover, a major source of VOCs, can be used to determine where NOx reductions translate into the largest ozone reductions. The most heavily forested areas experienced ozone reductions four times larger than less-forested areas. However, we demonstrate that mortality reductions do not mirror these pollution reductions. For policy design, our findings illustrate how ignoring cross-pollutant interactions and heterogeneous marginal damages can lead regulators to mis-estimate benefits.
"A Torrential Ordeal: Understanding Health Damages of Flooding" (with Elaine Hill)
“Wildfire Smoke and Drug Overdoses” (with Elaine Hill, Konstantin Kunze, and Jamie Mullins )
"Housing Supply Responses to Floodplain Regulation." (with Sarah Brown)