Environmental Economics

After all, Al Capone was arrested for tax evasion...

Wouldn't it be slightly ironic if the impetus for a solution to the illegal immigration issues in the U.S. turned out to be the environmental impacts illegal immigrants--sorry, undocumented workers--have on the southwest deserts?  From the Arizona Daily Star:

After three years of cleanups, the federal government has achieved no better than a 1 percent solution for the problem of trash left in Southern Arizona by illegal border-crossers.

Cleanup crews from various agencies, volunteer groups and the Tohono O'odham Nation hauled about 250,000 pounds of trash from thousands of acres of federal, state and private land across Southern Arizona in 2002 to 2005, says the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

But that's only a fraction of the nearly 25 million pounds of trash thought to be out there.

The right kind of development aid

As a follow up to my piece on Rethinking Development Aid today's NYT has a great article on one of my favorite new organization's, One World Health, doing exactly what should be done to help cure diseases for the poor in an efficient and intelligent manner. Check it out, and remember, poverty is the worst form of pollution.

J.S.

Missing happiness data

Here is the third installment of my self-important "series" on happiness and the environment (here are the first and second). This post considers the missing data for Vanuatu and other countries that are included in the happy list.

Kelo has a challenger

On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled:

Economic benefit to the community alone isn't enough to satisfy the "public use" requirement for eminent domain.

This is the first direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo v New London ruling that argued (from Wikipedia):

...the general benefits a community enjoyed from economic growth qualified such redevelopment plans as a permissible "public use" under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Here's the whole story.  I'll keep you posted on developments.

A new happy-meter

To jump in on John's posts on happiness (here and here), CNN.com reports on a new study ranking countries' happy levels.  Not surprising, Vanuatu is not first.

Bonner Bridge

Bonner Bridge is how you get across Oregon Inlet in NC. Like I said, hmmm, day before yesterday (I have the OB on my mind after a vacation in Buxton):

Oregon Inlet separates Bodie Island from Hatteras Island in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina [map]. It is the primary gateway to the Atlantic Ocean for a significant portion of the NC commercial fishing fleet and recreational boaters.

Turns out, Bonner Bridge is falling apart and a new bridge is needed. The trouble is that as you finish up your ride on the bridge on Hatteras Island you hit the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge (yep, that is an island within an island ... something about a closed inlet).

Measuring Happiness

Here is the second installment of my self-important "series" on happiness and the environment (here is the first). This post provides some background into what economists think happiness is all about.

Whose fault are high gas prices?

Since it's back in the news, I can jump back on the high gas price kick.  Here are two related stories:

1)  From Breitbart:  OPEC can't bring down prices: cartel president

OPEC is unable to do anything to stop surging oil prices, the cartel's president Edmund Daukoru has said.

"There is no shortage in oil supply. The current geopolitical conditions are out of OPEC's hands," the visiting Nigerian petroleum minister was quoted as saying by the Iranian oil news agency Shana Thursday.

2) Again from Breitbart: Exxon Mobil 2Q Profit Jumps 36 Percent

Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday it earned $10.36 billion in the second quarter, the second largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.

The earnings figure was 36 percent above the profit it reported a year ago. High oil prices helped boost the company's revenue by 12 percent to a level just short of a quarterly record.

So who's to blame for high gas prices?

Oregon Inlet

From the Outer Banks Sentinel, here is a report on a study that I worked on (Oregon Inlet Impact Study Shows Value):

The results in-depth study on the value of Oregon Inlet to Dare County's economy was presented at the Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting last Monday.

"The study reveals that the effect of losing Oregon Inlet as a navigable waterway for commercial and private boaters could be devastating," states a release from the Dare County public relations office. "The overall losses for Dare County could reach an estimated $682 million in revenue and directly or indirectly affect over 9800 jobs."

Last year, only $7.1 million was budgeted for limited dredging of Oregon Inlet. It is estimated that $10 million will be needed to keep the inlet passable. While the upcoming federal budget is being negotiated, the Senate version includes $10 million for dredging but the House version includes no funding for the project.

#1 Headline Coming True

Yesterday, I said the #1 environmental economics headline I would like to see is:

Gas prices too high?  DRIVE LESS!

Well...close enough:

US gasoline at $3 drives people onto buses, trains

I'm patting myself on the back.