Environmental Economics

Just got back and received this holiday message

Dear Dr. Whitehead:

On November 23, 2009 I sent you a paper to review for [journal]. The title of the paper is "Valuing ...."

I'm writing to inquire about the status of your review, and to know if you need more time. If so, please let us know and we will be happy to provide it. If you've already tried to submit your review, then we apologize for bothering you, and we would like to request that you send it to us again.

Er, I received the paper before Thanksgiving, dealt with the end-of-semester stuff, dug out of 2 feet of snow, took a snow-shortened trip to visit family and its Christmas Eve. I'm going to need a couple more days.

I just love these automated journal systems!

It's time for the Env-Econ Reader Airing of the Grievances

Happy Festivus everyone.  We're going to skip the formality of the Festivus Pole and Festivus Dinner and jump straight to the Airing of the Grievances.  Here are the ground rules from Wikipedia:

The celebration of Festivus begins with the "Airing of Grievances", which takes place immediately after the Festivus dinner has been served. It consists of lashing out at others and the world about how one has been disappointed in the past year.

The comments are open.  Let loose.

And I used to think the Grinch was scary

Build-a-Bear: Saving the world one overpriced stuffed animal at a time (start with the top video...it gets good in the 2nd).

More on my concern with scientists as advocates

At the end of last week, I posted my own thoughts and those of Alan Randall on the fine line between a scientist's role as truth-seeker versus advocate.  Over the weekend, I was doing some pleasure reading and I came across the following quote by Andre Maurois that sums up my concern over scientists staking out strong policy positions:

Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires seems true. Everything that is not puts us in a rage.  

My concern is not that scientists are biased.  Quite the contrary, most scientists I know are painstakingly objective.  Despite that, once a scientist publicly advocates a position--even if that position is founded in fact based on the current state of knowledge--that scientist is likely to succumb to the natural tendency to turn that position into desire and defend that position selectively and vehemently. 

That is where we are in the climate change debate.  Two sides, with ardently staked positions, selectively choosing 'facts' to support that predetermined position and raging against the 'facts' in disagreement.

Science is better than that.

Is the demand for indoor tanning elastic?

The package would rely on nearly $400 billion in new taxes, according to congressional tax analysts, including a new 10 percent tax on indoor tanning salons to be paid by the customer.

via www.washingtonpost.com

From the health care bill. I'm guessing the demand for indoor tanning is fairly elastic. If I'm right, then a 10% tax on tanning customers will be borne mostly by the salon.

Weather Update 2: My hometown

Winter Storm Warning in effect from 6 PM this evening to 6 am EST Sunday... For the greater Baltimore metropolitan area through 2 PM...snow...heavy at time...will continue. Snowfall rates of one half to one inch an hour are expected. Within heavier bands of snow...snowfall rates of two inches per hour are possible. Thunder is possible in the heavier snow bands. Winds will be north or northeast gusting to 35 mph. These winds combined with heavy snow will create whiteout blizzard like conditions at times... with visibilities below one quarter of a mile. Temperatures will remain well below freezing.

via www.wunderground.com

20-24 inches expected in Glen Burnie, MD. Mom and Dad are hunkered down with plenty of bread, milk and toilet paper.

Weather update

The big snow is over. Early snow reports are between 12" and 20" across the High Country. ... I'll spend some time this morning scanning weather archives for comparable events, but I'm thinking this is the largest event area-wide since 1997, and the biggest event for Western North Carolina regionally since the Blizzard of 1993.

via booneweather.com

What happened in Copenhagen?

I opened the PDF and failed to comprehend. This summary may be making some sense of it all:

In a late night press conference at the close of the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen, President Obama declared that a "meaningful deal" had been reached with major emitting nations ...

Breaking free from the auspices of the UN's 190+ nation negotiating framework, major emitters, including the U.S., China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, appear poised to move forward with or without the rest of the UNFCCC nations.

Under the new pending agreement, a timeline to achieve a "legally binding" international treaty has been dropped and the President said that reaching such an agreement "is going to be very hard and it's going to take some time."

President Obama also reminded the world that a "legally binding" international climate agreement is not, in the end, legally binding anyway, while repudiating the notion that "Science" can dictate and bind national economic and political decision-making.

... The framework of the deal appears to essentially be an agreement amongst major emitters to move forward with verifiable domestic actions to reduce carbon emissions and spur clean development, rejecting the abstract emissions targets and timetables that were the hallmark of the Kyoto protocol.

via theenergycollective.com

this sounds reasonable to me. The U.S. is now expected to pursue some sort of decent climate policy. Also, it seems promising that China and India are in agreement.

We're in his head*

From the Cleveland Fed interview with arch-rival Matt Kahn:

But to your question, UCLA has been suffering from high local real estate prices! A sign to economists of great quality of life is high real estate prices, but UCLA is having trouble recruiting faculty because of it. Faculty at an Ohio State or a university in Boston say, "UCLA is a great school, but I can't afford the housing nearby."

I've heard Tim say this sort of thing quite often.

If I were a mayor or governor in the states that comprise Appalachia, I think I would talk more to the 22-year-olds finishing Appalachian State University and West Virginia University, and ask them—are you staying? If they are going, what was the factor that pushed them out? Was it jobs? Was it that it's boring here?

I'd say that students at Appstate and WVU aren't bored living in Boone and Morganton. They chose those locations because of the amenities. The problem is there aren't enough jobs for college grads and they move to the big city.

*Other than UCLA, two of three universities mentioned in the interview are represented at this blog. I'm just saying ...

Tragedy of the Commons

A Licking County man fatally shot his sister and a neighbor yesterday after an argument over a water well, according to the sheriff's office.

Jerome Boyd Marcum, 69, was arrested about 4:30 p.m. yesterday when he tried to shoot a third person -- his brother, who lives in Mount Vernon, authorities said. Homer Clarence Marcum, 63, disarmed his brother when the gun did not discharge, officials said.

Jerome Marcum has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of Sonya Sue Marcum, 61, and John Walsh, 53. The sheriff's office said he confessed to the killings.

Deputies said the shootings might have been sparked by a dispute between Jerome and Sue Marcum over a water well that their homes shared in the 12000 block of Jug Street. They said Sue Marcum might have turned off the water to Jerome's house.

via www.dispatch.com