Environmental Economics

Yeah, but can he pat his head and rub his tummy at the same time?

Just thought this was cool...

Ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte threw with both arms for the New York Yankees* on Tuesday, giving up one run in 1 1-3 innings during a 9-6 split-squad loss to the Atlanta Braves.

One time I told someone I might or might not be ambidextrous.  Turns out I was just ambiguous. Thank you! I'll be here all week.

Making his first appearance for the Yankees, Venditte took over for CC Sabathia with two outs in the fifth inning and tossed four warmup pitches with each hand. Venditte switched back and forth, depending on whether he was facing a righty or lefty, and gave up two hits and a walk.

The 24-year-old reliever, who uses a six-finger glove, pitched for two teams in Class A last season and went a combined 4-2 with 22 saves and a 1.87 ERA. He is scheduled to begin the season at Class A Tampa.

...

Venditte started out as a righty in the fifth and retired Yunel Escobar on a grounder to end the inning.

In the sixth, Venditte pitched right-handed to Matt Diaz and gave up a single. Venditte shifted to a lefty and fielded Nate McLouth's sacrifice bunt.

Later in the inning, switch-hitter Brooks Conrad came to the plate and by rule Venditte had to declare in advance how he would pitch. He went righty, Conrad batted lefty and grounded out.

*As a native of Baltimore I'm required to restate my allegiance: I hate the Yankees.

The definitive scientific explanation for the past 5 years of my career

Click here.

Hat Tip: Alan Dove

Thank goodness they aren't saying it will reduce gas prices

Because it won't (Obama to open offshore areas ...):

The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday [ed: new areas in red to the right].

The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean. ...

The proposal is intended to reduce dependence on oil imports, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation. ...

But even as Mr. Obama curries favors with pro-drilling interests, he risks a backlash from some coastal governors, senators and environmental advocates, who say that the relatively small amounts of oil to be gained in the offshore areas are not worth the environmental risks. ...

In many of the newly opened areas, drilling would begin only after the completion of geologic studies, environmental impact statements, court challenges and public lease sales. Much of the oil and gas may not be recoverable at current prices and may be prohibitively expensive even if oil prices spike as they did in the summer of 2008.

Here is what I concluded back in September 2008: 

... the net benefits of offshore drilling are way, way positive (even considering climate change) so the official Environmental Economics blog position is in favor.

I'm going to Hawaii

From the inbox:

Dear Colleagues,

The Board of Directors of the North American Association of Fisheries Economists (NAAFE) is pleased to announce that dates for our sixth biennial Forum have been selected.

NAAFE Forum 2011 will be held Wednesday through Friday May 11-13, 2011, at the East-West Center on the campus of the University of Hawaii, in Honolulu.

Or not. I'll likely talk big about the conference for several months, start working out, buy some shorts that are a little too short, grow a mustache*, submit a crappy paper and then make a spectacle of myself by getting the dang thing rejected.

*Was Higgins really Robin Masters? Place your theories in the comments section.

The Popcorn Corollary to Drive Less

An Israeli lawmaker is hoping to butter up voters and pass a law that would limit outrageous popcorn prices at the movies.

Carmel Shama, from the governing Likud party, plans to bring the "popcorn law" for a vote when parliament returns from its Passover break next week, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported Wednesday.

"We have to put an end to this. The public should not have to mortgage their houses for a soft drink and a snack," Shama told the paper.

via www.breitbart.com

Drive Less: The answer to the question "What can the public do to avoid high gas prices?"

Eat Less: The answer to the question "What can the public do to avoid high popcorn prices at the movies?"

To quote a post from last week "There's really not a need for government to be in it."

Trade-offs are everywhere

But even as Mr. Obama curries favors with pro-drilling interests, he risks a backlash from some coastal governors, senators and environmental advocates, who say that the relatively small amounts of oil to be gained in the offshore areas are not worth the environmental risks.

via www.nytimes.com

Quote of the Day

From 'Economists Do it With Models':

The guys over at Environmental Economics are becoming two of my favorite economists…which is interesting since I’ve never been particularly into the whole environmental thing.

That's a coincidence, we're two of my favorite economists too.

An Open Letter to Authors on Peer Reviewing

Dear Authors of the Papers I Review:

Get to the point! Stop wasting my time. I'm getting older, more impatient and my time is getting more valuable (at least in perception).  If I wanted to read 50 pages of nonsensical, dense, misdirected, overly complicated research, I would go back and read my earlier work. 

In the future, please adhere religiously to the following general guidelines when submitting a paper for review:

• If your paper is more than 30 pages (double-spaced), hurry up and get to the point. 
• If your paper is approaching 40 pages, it will not be accepted  (you might get a recommendation for a revision that says "Get to the point.")
• If your paper is over 50 pages, you've pissed me off.  Your paper will be rejected.  That may sound harsh, biased, whatever, I don't care, you will not get a nice review.   I will find everything I can wrong with the paper and make sure I never see it again.  For craps sake, you're not going to win a Nobel for volume.  If you can't make your point in 30 pages, take a damn writing class. 
• If you really have more to say than you can say in 30 pages, congratulations, you have two papers.  Split them and get tenure. 

Thanks for listening.

Signed:

Frustrated in the Academy

Recessions and carbon markets

The current recession brought with it a slow down in industrial production, and that has translated into far fewer greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 than in previous years.

...

A more immediate question is how the downturn will affect the price of permits representing tons of carbon dioxide traded on markets like the European Climate Exchange in London and BlueNext in Paris.

A decline in emissions greater than forecast could mean even more surplus permits trading on those markets, driving the price of permits even lower than is already the case. (European permits have been trading around 13 euros for the past few months).

A decline in emissions lower than forecast would still mean large numbers of surplus permits on the market, but that could lift prices somewhat.

via greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com

Micro vs Macro?

Climatologists, who study weather patterns over time, almost universally endorse the view that the earth is warming and that humans have contributed to climate change. There is less of a consensus among meteorologists, who predict short-term weather patterns. More than a quarter of the weathercasters in the survey agreed with the statement “Global warming is a scam,” the researchers found. ...

The split between climate scientists and meteorologists is gaining attention in political and academic circles because polls show that public skepticism about global warming is increasing, and weather forecasters — especially those on television — dominate communications channels to the public. A study released this year by researchers at Yale and George Mason found that 56 percent of Americans trusted weathercasters to tell them about global warming far more than they trusted other news media or public figures like former Vice President Al Gore or Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate. ...

Yet, climate scientists use very different scientific methods from the meteorologists. Heidi Cullen, a climatologist who straddled the two worlds when she worked at the Weather Channel, noted that meteorologists used models that were intensely sensitive to small changes in the atmosphere but had little accuracy more than seven days out. Dr. Cullen said meteorologists are often dubious about the work of climate scientists, who use complex models to estimate the effects of climate trends decades in the future. ...

Resentment may also play a role in the divide. Climatologists are almost always affiliated with universities or research institutions where a doctoral degree is required. Most meteorologists, however, can get jobs as weather forecasters with a college degree.

via www.nytimes.com