Environmental Economics

More on China's New Environmental Taxes

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on China's push towards environmental taxes, the Washington Post today has a story on the differential taxes on large cars. 

The upshot:

In the measure expected to have the widest impact, the ministry said sales taxes on passenger cars with an engine displacement of more than two liters will rise April 1 from 8 percent of the car's value to a range of 9 to 20 percent, depending on the size of the engine. The tax on cars with an engine displacement below 1.5 liters will be cut from 5 percent to 3 percent, it added, and the rate for cars between 1.5 and 2 liters, which covers most big-city taxis, will remain at 5 percent.

Read the details here.

'Free Willy' expensive to farmers and developers

The Farm Bureau and Building Industry Association are suing to remove Puget Sound Orcas (the 'Free Willy' type whale) from the endangered species list.  To understand why, follow the food chain.  The Endangered Species Act prohibits anyone from messing with listed species' habitats.  If farmers or developers do anything near a river that might harm salmon--the fish that Orcas like to eat--then the offending farmer or developer would be subject to fines and penalties under the ESA.

"enormous, fuel-hogging luxury SUVs"

I'm not editorializing, I just think this is too funny not to place it somewhere I can find it easily. From the Daily Grist:

So 2003
Luxury SUVs are losing their cool

The jerk-offs who drive enormous, fuel-hogging luxury SUVs between their gated McMansions, plastic surgeons, and corporate-whore jobs -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- are slowly but surely realizing that they are, in fact, jerk-offs. Sales of all SUVs have dropped, but luxe behemoths like the Hummer H2 are taking a particularly big hit; more than half the folks who bought them and their like are opting for something a little less jerk-offy when they return to the dealer lot. Don't blame high gas prices -- if you can afford a $60,000 personal vehicle, you can afford gas. Instead, status flaunters are starting to detect the one thing that can change their behavior: the disapproval of their peers. It seems contributing to global warming, conflict in the Middle East, and aesthetic pollution is no longer cool.

And this plain sucks: I just now noticed that Environmental and Urban Economics is on the Gristmill Blogroll but not Environmental Economics. David, what's up with that?!?

I'm going to hold my breath until I get my market based environmental policy!

In 2nd grade, John used his ageless confidence to rule as king of the playground...me?  I cried for my Mommy daily. What's this have to do with anything?

Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.

At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.

So here's my take...I like market-based environmental policies because I whined confidently as a child.  But here's my question.  Isn't a conservative in Berkeley, a radical tree-hugger anywhere else?  Just wondering.

What's next... a toothpick tax?

A classic economic solution to reduce environmental damages calls for a tax on the consumption or production of the offending product.  Here's a recent example from China: 

China will slap a tax on chopsticks and a range of goods ranging from yachts to petrol in a bid to save trees and protect the environment.

Plans to impose a 5 percent consumption tax on both disposable wooden chopsticks and wooden floor panels would help curb the plundering of timber resources and efforts to protect the environment, the Ministry of Finance said.

But it's not just chopsticks and hardwood floors...

In 9 years a nucular plant 3 hours from my house

From the Charlie O! (Duke Powers Goal):

The country's first new nuclear power plant in decades could be rising 50 miles southwest of Charlotte near Gaffney, S.C.

Duke Power said Thursday it picked Cherokee County off the Broad River as the site for what could be its fourth nuclear plant in the Carolinas.

The announcement pulls the national spotlight to the Carolinas, as utilities work to be among the first to build the next generation of nuclear plants -- and secure some of the billions in government incentives that come with that. Two of the furthest along are Duke, the Carolinas' largest utility, and Raleigh-based Progress Energy Inc.

Feel free to sit on the tracks...twice

From CNN.com:

All New Orleans residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina should be allowed to rebuild if they choose, and the city will not stand in the way of reconstruction in areas considered vulnerable to flooding in future storms, Mayor Ray Nagin announced Monday. [emphasis added]

I'm speechless...ah, who am I kidding?  Watch here--on April 1--for John's and my take on the National Flood Insurance Program as it relates to NOLA rebuilding.

Special Guest Book Review

A couple of years ago, I started reading some of Carl Hiaasen's novels.  I think Hiaasen's novels are best described as off-beat, pro-environment, anti-development comic fiction.  Or as Cosmopolitan once described them "unbelievably funny -- tears-running-down-your-cheeks funny in spite of some pretty weighty themes like the destruction of the environment and the cut-throat ways of developers." 

While browsing a mega-book store with my daughters I found that Hiaasen has recently--well if 2003 is recent-- taken on writing books for young teens.  His first, Hoot,--winner of the 2003 Newbery Medal-- "plunges readers right into the middle of an ecological mystery, made up of endangered miniature owls, the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House scheduled to be built over their burrows, and the owls' unlikely allies--three middle school kids determined to beat the screwed-up adult system. Hiaasen's tongue is firmly in cheek as he successfully cuts his slapstick sense of humor down to kid-size. Sure to be a hoot, er, hit with middle school mystery fans."

SInce Hoot deals with development and endangered species I thought it appropriate to review it here, but since it is aimed at young teens I decided to bring in guest reviewer:  9-year old Abby Haab.  Abby, an active 4th grader, enjoys reading and playing soccer and softball.  Since I failed to read a complete book until I was out of high school--thank goodness they made a movie out of Catch-22 or I would have never graduated--Abby obviously gets her brains from her Mom. 

Here's Abby's review:

Water conservation follow up II

Back in the fall we suggested a pricing strategy for conserving water in Raleigh (Water conservation follow up). The Mayor and other leaders, somewhat surprisingly, ignored our suggestions. Now, their preferred policy of water usage bans and fines are getting old (Weather will test water ban):

Four months into mandatory water restrictions for the city's water customers, some are getting antsy, especially as the weather gets warmer. ... Car lovers wonder why they can't wash their cars at home. Sprinklers are pulled out during forbidden hours.

The 100,000 visit milestone

We hit 100,000 visits tonight at 10:34:15 pm EST. Our 100,000th visitor is from Santa Barbara, CA who checked out 2 pages and scrammed in 0 seconds (how do they do that?). e-mail me at [email protected] to claim your free env-econ ballcap autographed by Tim Haab!

Our 100,001st visitor hit at 10:34:18. I was refreshing sitemeter every few seconds trying to get a screenshot of 100,000 and missed it (click on the thumbnail). Crap.

What does this mean, other than Spring has officially arrived (oops, wait a sec, snow is on the ground in Boone, NC)? Nothing really, except that now, finally, we can add links to gambling and other shady websites and make a little jack off this endeavor.