Cosmic Markdown: EPA Says Life Is Worth Less

By David A. Fahrenthold Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 19, 2008; Page A01 Last week, it was revealed that an Environmental Protection Agency office had lowered its official estimate of life's value, from about $8.04 million to about $7.22 million. That decision has put a spotlight on the concept of the "Value of a Statistical Life," in which the Washington bureaucracy takes on a question usually left to preachers and poets. One of the researchers whom the EPA cited said he was puzzled at the agency's calculations on the value of a human life. "Nobody's ever lowered it," said W. Kip Viscusi of Vanderbilt University. EPA came closest: In 2003, it tried to count senior citizens' lives as worth less than those of other adults. After a loud outcry from seniors, the agency backed off. Viscusi said most researchers believe the value should generally be going up, as Americans have become wealthier and more willing to spend money to avoid risks.