Environmental Economics

Politics and Science and Pollution Humor

Enjoy:

Environmentally Responsible Companies

Some companies voluntarily choose to 'go green' for the reputation effect:  Green companies are socially responsible, attracting more customers and increasing the value of their stocks.  I'm going to do my part to help the shareholders of some of these Green Companies by reproducing the EPA's list of the top 25 "Green Partners in the Green Power Partnership."

Expected costs Risk of a nuclear meltdown

Progress Energy announced this month that they would begin the process towards building a new nuclear power plant near Raleigh. The Raleigh N&O explains the regulatory tradeoffs that power plants must consider (Surge in Nuclear Power Likely):

If Progress Energy wanted to build a new coal-fired plant, that facility's pollution would likely push the utility over its federal limit for certain air pollutants unless the output were offset by shutting down older plants, adding more controls or buying pollution allowances, said Dana Yeganian, a Progress Energy spokeswoman.

In addition, utilities are facing the prospect that carbon dioxide emissions may one day be taxed or limited, which could increase the cost of building or operating a new coal-fired plant. That makes nuclear power more attractive.

One cost of a nuclear power plant is the expected losses (i.e., risk) from a nuclear meltdown (think Three Mile Island):

State of the Union heads up from the Daily Grist

Like I said: here is a State of the Union heads up from the Daily Grist:

Take a Drink Every Time He Says "Nucular"
Bush will talk up nuclear, hydrogen, and ethanol in State of the Union

"We've got to wean ourselves off hydrocarbons, oil," said President Bush on Friday. Yup, you read that right. In an interview aired on CBS, the president said he would use this Tuesday's State of the Union address to decry "foreign oil" and offer up initiatives on alternate energy sources and fuel-saving technologies. (Global warming? Didn't come up.) "I want to see different kinds of cars on our road that don't require upon crude oil from overseas," he said with his trademark folksy charm. He was quick to add, however, that he opposes a gas tax. Bush and his aides forecast a speech that would push for expanded nuclear power (a boon to the nuclear industry), expanded use of corn-based ethanol (a boon to the agribusiness industry), and expanded hydrogen fuel-cell research, which should produce a marketable car in, oh, about 15 years.

One source: Bush speech ...

A breakdown of the U.S. EPI 2006 performance

Last week I tried to adjust the raw U.S. rating on the EPI for GDP per capita and region of the world (How is the U.S. really doing on the 2006 EPI). I found that the U.S. ranking of 28th overall is about right. Based on these predictive factors the U.S. ranking should be 29th.

It turns out that the U.S. performance is all over the place when broken down by category (click on the thumbnail). There are two main categories in the overall EPI: Environmental Health and Ecosystem Vitality and Natural Resource Management. The U.S. is doing just fine in the former category (and so are most rich countries) and surprisingly lousy in the latter.

Using the same methodology as before, the predicted ranking for Environmental Health is 29th when the actual ranking is 12th. The predicted ranking for Ecosystem Vitality and Natural Resource Management is 74th and the actual ranking is 98th (out of 133: OUCH).

Property Rights and Second-Hand Smoke

Most debates over the regulation of pollution revolve around the definition of property rights:  Do polluters have the right to pollute or do non-polluters have the right to clean air?  In my view, the smoking debate has always been the same type of debate:  Do smokers have the right to smoke or do non-smokers have the right to smoke-free air?  California has now made it possible to combine the pollution and smoking debate:  Do smokers have the right to pollute or do non-smokers have the right to pollution-free air?

Does this mean you shouldn't take anything I say seriously?

On December 15, John challenged me to go on record with a prediction for 4th quarter and beyond GDP growth.  I did and here is what I wrote:

...here are my predictions of the % change in GDP for the next 4 quarters**, starting with 2005 q4: 4.3%, 3.5%, 3.5%, 3.5%. 

From today's CNN.com:

The nation's economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the fourth quarter, according to the government's gross domestic product report Friday, which came in far weaker than economists' forecasts.

The broad measure of the nation's economic activity showed an annual growth rate of 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter, down from the 4.1 percent growth rate in the final reading of third-quarter growth.

Doh!

User fees: state parks are like libraries?

Economists like user fees. Those that benefit from an activity pay for it. If the park/road/etc suffers from congestion, cromulent user fees weed out those who aren't willing (and able) to pay. We also tend to like them when they replace revenue raised from distortionary taxes (i.e., income taxes reduce the incentive to work). So check out what I heard on the radio this week:

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation requested more money for next year’s budget in part because both the department and Governor Phil Bredesen want to get rid of all fees at state parks.

Mountaintop removal

From my hometown* paper (Pikeville hopes mountaintop mining will aid expansion):

The towering mountains that frame this Appalachian town have been a hindrance to growth, forcing homes and businesses to crowd side by side on precious little flat land.

That could change under a plan by Pikeville leaders who have recruited a coal company to flatten two mountaintops to expand with new homes, businesses, athletic fields and factories in the town of 6,300.

Wetlands are a hindrance to the growth of coastal areas. Should we fill them in? Uh, OK, bad example. Some places just weren't meant to grow in certain directions. If growth in Pikeville is so vital, why don't they build 10 story condos? Pikeville is a nice town, but if you've ever driven through it, you might recognize that growth there isn't vital.

An Alternative to the Gas Tax?

The Brit down the hall--he loves when I call him that, he claims to be "English"--pointed me towards this story in The Guardian:

In a few years from now you will have another plastic card in your wallet - your carbon card. You will start the year with 1,000 points on it and each time you fill up your car, you put the card in a slot on the pump and it will deduct a few points.

Each time you buy an airline ticket, it will cost you a minimum of 100 points. If you fly regularly, you may have to buy more points through the carbon market - but since it is all in the cause of reducing greenhouse gas emissions you do not mind so much.