Environmental Economics

Another Env-Econ bear safey PSA

From GoBlueRidge.net (Grandfather closes trails ...):

Grandfather Mountain announced today several trails would be closed until further notice because of increased bear activity.

According to Grandfather’s website, the Grandfather Extension Trail, the Black rock Trail, and the Grandfather Trail from the Swinging Bridge to MacRae Peak are closed.

Mother bears and cubs have been reportedly seen in the area, so the trails are closed for safety reasons.

State Park Rangers are also asking hikers not to hike on the Profile Trail and the Daniel Boone Scout Trail.

My fav comment (sans ?):

Do they really think the bears will stay off the trails.

Note: previous bear safety tips.

More evidence that the VSL is about $6 million

From GoBlueRidge.net (Bear Safety Tips ...):

[Ranger Linda] Barnes [of the Blue Ridge Parkway], “Only about one in every 600,000 black bears will actually fatally attack.  Grim as it sounds, being murdered is 90,000 times more likely.”

If you are willing to pay $10 to avoid a black bear then your value of statistical life is $6 million:

• $6,000,000 = $10/0.00000167

Post recession summer getaways

Despite yesterday's declaration that the recession is over, many are still struggling to find a summer vacation for the family on the cheap.  For those to whom this applies, thank your Federal travel assistants for solving your dilemma (from CNN.com):

It's hardly a bailout, but the federal government is hoping that waiving fees at national parks will help boost local economies across the country. On three weekends this summer, the National Park Service will offer fee-free weekends to encourage cash-strapped families to visit the parks.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the initiative Tuesday at a news conference at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.

"National parks also serve as powerful economic engines for local communities, and we hope that promoting visitation will give a small shot in the arm to businesses in the area," Salazar said.

Many national parks were bracing for a busy summer, and this improves the tourism forecast, said George Price, superintendent of Cape Cod National Seashore.

"Sometimes, when the economy downturns, places like the seashore see an upsurge because people choose to stay closer to home," Price said. "Visitation will be very strong this year. The question will be how much people will actually spend when they come to visit."

And, of course, what the local multiplier is?

...and how many jobs will be created?

Where I'll be drinking beer this weekend

We're headed out for our annual Memorial Day weekend trip to Lake Cumberland, Kentucky.  Let's hope fo no repeats of last year's 'incident.'

PERC on 20/20

From the inbox:

On Friday evening, May 8, you can see PERC Executive Director Terry Anderson in prime time on ABC's "20/20" with host John Stossel. As part of a special segment on saving endangered species, Anderson recommends markets as the best way to preserve those parts of our environment that we value most and that includes endangered species. The show airs at 10 p.m. ET.

ABC promotes the show as follows:

THE BEST WAY TO SAVE MANY ENDANGERED SPECIES IS TO EAT THEM. International bans on the trade of rare animal parts (tiger organs, elephant tusks, rhino horns) have been about as successful as the international war on drugs. Why? Because wherever there is a demand strong enough, market forces overwhelm law enforcement. Terry Anderson of PERC, the Property and Environmental Research Center, claims that governments have repeatedly failed when they tried to save animals by banning their sale -- it failed with the Colobus monkey in West Africa … with the alligator in China … and now, with the tiger in Asia. It's quite the conceit that a few conservation groups think a government decree can change history, and get a billion plus people to change their habits. By contrast, does America have a shortage of chickens? No, because people own them and eat them. Allowing private owners to sell animals for food or tourism saved the rhino and the elephant in Africa, and the bison in America. It could save the tiger too, if environmental groups would drop their resistance.

Hat tip: CL

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

(Old deeds ...):

A state transportation official says the discovery of two old deeds will help North Carolina save $300 million when it replaces the bridge across Oregon Inlet on the Outer Banks.

The discovery of the deeds will allow the state Department of Transportation to save the money while replacing the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge by not requiring a certain route. The existing 2½-mile-long bridge was built in 1963.

The deeds were found in the archives at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reported Monday. The documents from 1953 and 1958 give the state right of way at any time through a wildlife refuge on Hatteras Island at the southern end of the bridge.

Unsaid in the article are the costs of buidling the bridge through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The website says that there are 2.7 million visitors annually. If each visitor had a willingness-to-pay of $12 to keep the bridge out of the refuge then the present value of the costs of the "old deeds" outweigh the benefits (T = 30, r = .10).

The annual fishing vs endangered species Cape Hatteras tradeoff

From the Greensboro News-Record (Access to Cape Point closed to protect nesting birds):

Off-road vehicle access to a popular beach on North Carolina's Outer Banks has been closed because rangers spotted breeding by endangered sea birds, an official said Wednesday.

Officials shut down access to Cape Point on Tuesday after American oystercatchers were seen two-tenths of a mile south of the ramp leading to the beach. Officials said the shoreline in the area was too narrow to allow enough buffer to protect the birds and allow vehicles at the same time.

... Holda said a section of the beach locally called "the bypass" normally would be used to drive around the closed area and on to Cape Point's mile-plus beach. But that area is eroded.

Paul Stevens, acting superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, said there currently isn't an alternative route to Cape Point to allow vehicles to skirt the birds.

Key Terms:

1. The Point - a (very) popular shore fishing location, the only way to get all of your crap and beer out there is with a 4x4

2. Piping Plover - a small little endangered bird who doesn't really want to cause trouble, inspires the bumper sticker slogan: "I like 'em fried."

A back-of-the-envelope benefit-cost analysis (and this) suggests that things aren't that bad for the anglers and if a modest number of people get $15 in benefits from the closure it is worth it.

Are payments for environmental services in the President's new budget?

High school friend of Env-Econ (Chuck) asks: what are your thoughts on the farm part of this?  First an excerpt:

On agriculture, wealthy farmers would get less money from the federal government -- and none, three years down the line -- under proposals in Obama's first budget.

Obama's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget "phases out direct payments over three years to farmers with sales revenue of more than $500,000 annually," according to the list.

At present, "direct payments are made to even large producers regardless of crop prices, losses or whether the land is still under production."

But according to the list, "Large farmers are well-positioned to replace those payments with alternative sources of income from emerging markets for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration, renewable energy production, and providing clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat."

The new proposed budget cuts the Market Access Program which provides "funding for overseas brand promotion." It cuts cotton subsidies and "proposes to eliminate the requirement for the government to pay the storage costs of cotton that is put under loan by the USDA. Cotton is the only commodity for which this assistance is provided."

My thoughts?  Jublilation. Joyous vindication.  Disciplinary pride. 

Reducing or removing inefficient farm income policies is long overdue...with the added bonus of cheaper food.  Sounds like a win-win to me.

Now I'm ready to jump on the Anti-Global Warming bandwagon

You think I'm prone to overreaction based in irrational fears?  Sometimes you have to appeal to people's deepest darkest fears to prod them into action. Well, this works for me:

Fossil remains of a 43-foot snake that crushed its prey the way a modern-day boa constrictor squeezes life out of a mouse, was discovered in coal mine in northern Columbia.

That's longer than a city bus. By the way, the snake, named Titanoboa cerrejonensis, weighed in at more than a ton.

Scientists from the U.S., Columbia and Toronto report that the snake, which they named Titanoboa cerrejonensis, weighed 2,500 pounds and, at its fattest part, would have laid hip-high to a man.

Their report will be in this week's issue of Nature.

The size of cold-blooded animals is restricted by cool temperatures. The researchers believe that Titanoboa lived about 60 million years ago, at a time when the region was 3 to 13 degrees warmer than it is today.

Add that to concerns about global warming.

Stop global warming NOW! 

Before we are overrun with 50 foot pythons. 

PLEASE!

Happy place.  Happy place.

My best post of 2008

I left a comment on a green jobs post the day after pagan celebration of a Christian holy day:

That is why economics is known as the dismal science. We strange economists are most adept at recognizing the opportunity costs of various decisions. No one else really seems to care if opportunity costs offset some, or all, of the benefits of a good idea.

Opportunity cost is a strange notion to some (especially intro micro students) ... it is the value of the next best alternative whenever a choice is made. For example, if I purchase a $1000 flat panel LCD TV, the true cost of the TV is not $1000, but what I could purchase instead (such as $500 in each kid's college education 529 plan [sorry kids]).

In the case of green energy subsidies, if you are an economist then you must at least wonder if this is the best way to spend the money. There are benefits of pushing down the costs of green energy (e.g., improved air quality), and there are opportunity costs. Ignoring the opportunity costs is likely to lead to wasteful spending. Considering the opportunity costs is likely to lead to better social decision making -- regardless of whether the benefits of the subsidies exceed the costs.

The notion of opportunity cost, its recognition and the inevitable result that not all great sounding ideas are really great ideas, is the most important thing that economists bring to many policy discussions. Pointing out the unpleasantantries of opportunity cost is one of the purposes of this blog. The dismal part of the dismal science can not be avoided.