Environmental Economics

An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could not have hurt

From the inbox:

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wed, April 28, 2010 -- 12:23 PM ET
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Regulators Approve First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S.

After nine years of regulatory review, the federal government gave the green light Wednesday to the nation's first offshore wind farm, a sprawling project off the coast of Cape Cod.

The approval of the 130-turbine farm gives a significant boost to the nascent offshore wind industry in the United States, which has lagged behind far Europe and China in harnessing the strong and steady power of ocean breezes to provide electricity to homes and businesses.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/29wind.html?emc=na

Blow Baby Blow

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday approved the nation's first offshore wind farm, signing off on a project that has split Cape Cod over the last nine years.

The 130 turbines are to be located several miles from the Massachusetts shore in the iconic waters of Nantucket Sound.

"I am approving the Cape Wind project," Salazar told reporters in Boston. "This will be the first of many projects up and down the coast."

via www.cnn.com

Burn Baby Burn

The U.S. Coast Guard could begin burning off portions of a Gulf of Mexico oil slick as early as Wednesday as the pool of crude began to encroach on sensitive ecological areas in the Mississippi River Delta.

The option is one of several that Coast Guard officials were considering as the oil slick moved to within 20 miles of the Louisiana coastline.

Officials said the oil spill has the potential to become one of the worst in U.S. history. Oil is leaking at a rate of about 42,000 gallons a day from the well, some 50 miles off Louisiana.

via www.cnn.com

Snow Atop Beech Mountain

Even though the calendar may say it’s springtime, Old Man Winter is hanging on as long as possible.

John Hoffman at Fred’s Mercantile atop Beech Mountain said it is 35 degrees and snowing this afternoon.

via www.goblueridge.net

Top 25% US Economics Departments, as of March 2010

From RePEc:

This page shows one of the many rankings computed with RePEc data. They are based on data about authors who have registered with the RePEc Author Service, institutions listed on EDIRC, bibliographic data collected by RePEc, citation analysis performed by CitEc and popularity data compiled by LogEc. To find more rankings, historical data and detailed methodology, click here. Or see the ranking FAQ. These rankings take only into account institutions registered in EDIRC and authors registered with the RePEc Author Service and the institutions they claimed to be affiliated with. For US Economics Departments, these are 441 institutions. Institutions need satisfy the following criteria to be included: Institutions having the following words in its name or its name translation on EDIRC: Economics and one of School, Department, Division or Faculty; be located in the United States.

The top 20 or so departments includes the usual suspects (Harvard, etc), but then towards the end of the top 25% are some surprises. Here is one:

91        Department of Economics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
92        Department of Economics, State University of New York-Buffalo (SUNY), Buffalo, NY
93        Department of Economics, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina
94        Department of Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
95        Economics Department, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Just saying.

I predict that this announcement will do little to assuage any negative seafood demand effects from the Gulf oil spill

As a sunken rig continues to spew 42,000 gallons of oil a day off the Louisiana coast, health and fishing industry experts say seafood will remain safe to eat.

"No one should be worrying about whether the shrimp they're having for dinner is going to have oil on it," said Mike Voisin, the past president of the National Fisheries Institute, a nonprofit organization that tracks the fishing industry and advocates seafood safety regulations.

There is the possibility, though, that the slick could move inland, threatening sea life in estuaries and seriously damaging the ecosystem.

via www.cnn.com

Warning repost below: 

A few years ago, John and I along with colleagues at the University of Delaware (George Parsons), the University of Maryland (Doug Lipton) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Jim Kirkley) found that Mid-Atlantic consumers are willing to pay significant amounts of money--up to $2.8 billion annually--to ensure that seafood meals were safe from outbreaks of Pfiesteria Piscicida*--a toxic dinoflagellate that attacks fish in warm brackish waters.  The catch?  There is no scientific evidence that Pfiesteria consumed through seafood has any adverse health effects on humans...

One of the things John and I found in the Pfiesteria study is that government pronouncements of food safety, after a negative event, have almost no impact on consumer demand.  That is, once there is a negative demand shock, a simple government statement that 'food is safe again' doesn't work.

Lipstick on a pig

From the inbox: 

I have attached a Word document with general information about the window replacement project.  We will forward additional information as it becomes available...

During the window replacement project, occupants will be relocated for approximately 3-4 weeks, during which time you will not have access to your office... 

NOTE:  If your office is on a central air system [Ed. Note: I'm not], your window will open [Ed. Note: mine won't].  If you currently have a window air conditioning unit [Ed. Note: I do], your window will not open.  All existing window air conditioning units will be replaced with new, energy efficient models and will be mounted at sill level.

Sidebar: Our building is old.  The heat (boiler) is finicky. In the winter it is not uncommon for my office to be over 85 degrees when I arrive in the morning.  Old solution: open the window.  New solution: Windows won't open.  Run the air conditioner...in the winter. But hey, at least it will be energy efficient.

Finding space for relocations will be extremely difficult.  Traditionally, we have less personnel during the summer months since many faculty are on 9-month appointments [Ed. Note: I am].  If you are able to work from home or another location outside of Ag Admin (and it is agreeable with your supervisor), please do so. 

Apparently I can take a 3 month break since I'm on a 9-month appointment.  Who knew?

Required ... er, recommended reading on climate economics

How to tell a good climate bill from a bad one? This series will guide you through the main issues that are likely to arise in the coming weeks as the Senate takes on climate change. In this post, we identify the essential ideas that need to be enshrined in any climate bill. These are the provisions that no good climate policy can do without.

via www.progressivefix.com

We'd make it required but, er, we were shocked to learn this morning that Washington is chock full of cynical political ploys. Shocked.

Stavins on climate Federalism

While I was busy refining Whitehead's Law, other folks were thinking big about climate change legislation. Rob Stavins, in the Boston Globe, says that state cap-and-trade bills should back off if the Feds get it in gear (but, it is hard to imagine Stavins saying it like that!):

But for the core of climate policy — which is carbon pricing — the simplest, cleanest, and best way to avoid unnecessary costs and unnecessary actions is for existing state systems to become part of the federal system. California’s leaders and those in the Northeast may take great pride in their state and regional cap-and-trade systems.

But if they accomplish their frequently-stated goal — helping to bring about the enactment of a meaningful national climate policy — they will better serve their states and the country by declaring victory and getting out of the way.

How can we relieve the pressure?

Political pressure continues to build on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as he prepares to announce his decision this week on the fate of a proposed wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., that has been stalled for nine years.

The governors of six East Coast states called on Mr. Salazar last week to approve the project, which is proposed by Cape Wind Associates and would be the nation’s first offshore wind farm. Turning it down, they said, especially on the grounds that it would harm the view from historic sites, “would establish a precedent that would make it difficult, if not impossible, to site offshore wind projects anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard.”

Their states — Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island — all have offshore wind projects in the works. Four of the governors are Democrats and two, in New Jersey and Rhode Island, are Republicans, showing that views of Cape Wind do not break down along political lines.

Source: Pressure is building on disputed wind farm.

My suggestion, use a relief valve: