Environmental Economics

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

Yikes! From Grist, news about the namesake of the FCMA:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, has been indicted on seven charges related to a corruption probe involving oil-services company VECO. Check out our past coverage of the Stevens scandal.

Top 20 party schools

To the north is Indiana, to the south is Tennessee, what lies between is a serious institution of higher education from which you may obtain the economics PhD:

1. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
2. University of Mississippi, University, Miss.
3. Penn State University, University Park, Pa.
4. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.
5. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
6. Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.
7. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
8. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
9. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.
10. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
11. University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.
12. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
13. University of Colorado, Boulder, Co.
14. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
15. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
16. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.
17. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
18. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
19. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
20. Loyola University-New Orleans, New Orleans, La.

Source: IU No. 14 for ...

The catastrophic potential of climate change

Krugman reads EnvEcon...now?

See John, I knew* that bringing Gernot into the fold would pay huge dividends.  From Paul Krugman's New York Time's blog:

Away from the headlines, there’s a really important discussion going on about how to think about the economics of climate change. The key player is Marty Weitzman, who has made a simple point (albeit using very, very difficult math) that’s nicely summarized at Env-Econ...

*I had absolutely nothing to do with Gernot joining us.  But I'm glad I can use co-founders prerogative and claim to have thought of it.

What I just read

It's summer, school's out, vacations are in and our newest correspondent, Gernot, is doing an admirable job carrying the heavy lifting on posts.  So I thought I'd give you a non-economic book review.

I just finished a book that caught my eye a few years back.  I put it in the back of my mind along with the rest of the books I have on my to-be-read-someday list and then promptly forgot about it--until a couple of weeks ago.  The book?  Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. 

Because I truly care about you

Check out the teaching resources from the WSJ's Microeconomics Weekly Review, this time reviewing the article on Kyoto's offsets program ...

Economists for benefit-cost analysis

It tends to be tough to get more than two economists to agree on much of anything. That doesn't seem to be the case when it comes to benefit-cost analysis. No fewer than 34 signed this Clean Water Act Brief to the Supreme Court spanning the alphabet from A for Arrow to Z for Zeckhauser:

As economists, we believe that the Second Circuit's ruling, by not allowing the consideration of important information about the relationships between the benefits and costs of alternatives, is economically unsound. In particular, we believe that, as a general principle, regulators cannot make rational decisions unless they are allowed to compare costs and benefits and to use the results, along with other factors as appropriate, to choose among alternatives.

To the extent permissible under the statute and case law, EPA should be allowed to consider benefits and costs in establishing rules for implementing s316(b). The Court's allowing EPA to consider benefits and costs would improve both the decision making process - by making it more transparent - and the regulatory decisions by allowing important relevant information to be considered explicitly.

I just wonder who will use the full suggested citation:

Arrow, Kenneth J., Baumol, William J., Bhagwati, Jagdish, Boskin, Michael J., Crandall, Robert W., Cropper, Maureen L., Greenstone, Michael, Hahn, Robert W., Harrison, David, Hubbard, R. Glenn, Kahn, Alfred E., Litan, Robert E., Macavoy, Paul W., Miller, James C., Nichols, Albert L., Niskanen, William A., Noll, Roger G., Oates, Wallace E., Passell, Peter, Peltzman, Sam, Portney, Paul R., Rosen, Harvey S., Russell, Milton, Schelling, Thomas C., Schmalensee, Richard, Schultze, Charles L., Smith, V. Kerry Kerry, Smith, Vernon L., Stavins, Robert N., Viscusi, W. Kip, White, Lawrence J. and Zeckhauser, Richard J.,Clean Water Act Brief(July, 21 2008). Reg-Markets Center Brief No. 08-03

Drive Less! Quote of the Day

The anatomy of Drive Less!

"If you want to quickly reduce your commuting costs by 20%, leave your car at home one day a week; if you want to reduce your costs by 40%, leave your car at home two days," said [Chuck Wilsker, president and co-founder of The Telework Coalition], who telecommutes from his suburban Maryland home to Washington, D.C.

He added, "Y'see, 1/5=20% and 2/5=40%.  It's the new math."  Ok, not really.

"You know what I'm wearing?" said Wilsker. "I'm wearing shorts, sandals and a tank top. I'm sitting here working from home. My dry cleaning bill is none."

Hey! I resemble that remark.  Except I'm in a t-shirt and barefeet.  And drinking beer.  Ok, that's not true.

Yet.

Sandbag removal

There could be some dramatic changes in Nags Head, NC (Sandbags days are numbered ...):

First to go will likely be the beat-up, uncovered sandbags that block public access on the beach. Next could be the ugly bald bags piled willy-nilly in front of oceanfront houses.

Now that the state has inventoried all the exposed sandbags protecting properties in coastal counties, a priority list for removal is being made in preparation for sending notices to property owners.

... Nags Head is part of a federally approved Outer Banks beach nourishment project, but Congress has declined to fund all but the initial phase. In a 2007 referendum, taxpayers overwhelmingly voted against paying for a town project.

... Notices to property owners to remove the bags will be sent out in waves of 15 or 20 starting at the end of August, ...

Property owners have 30 days to respond after receiving the letter. If they do not comply, a formal notice of violation will be issued by the division.

The goal for Nags Head property owners, [Mack Paul, a partner with K & L Gates in Raleigh] said, is to give them enough time to keep the sandbags until the beaches can be widened.

"I think the homeowners would like to be more engaged with the town in pursuing beach nourishment," Paul said.

The thing to watch is whether homeowners will be engaged enough to foot more of the bill for nourishment.

A quibble with Kahn, for what it's worth

Gernot left a link to Matt Kahn's 6 big questions in environmental economics. Since I'm so narrow thinking (if I'm thinking) I gobble this type of big-think stuff up. So, In my opinion the first four questions are huge and are wonderful suggestions for future research for any economist between the ages of 23 and ... some arbitrary upper cutoff ..., say, 44*:

1. Learning by doing for renewable energy
2. Measuring the costs of climate change
3. The incidence of carbon pricing
4. The potential for substitution of technological capital for natural capital

But, I have a quibble with the last two:

1. What are the determinants of environmentalism?
2. What is the price differential for green products and how is it affected by #1 in this list?

Both questions are interesting but not society changing. Matt kicks butt with his research into these areas, but the market may already be cornered.

*Note: Above this age? Please continue with your narrow research agenda until all of the young guns give you funny looks and snicker during your presentations at the conferences. Then stop and start a blog.