Environmental Economics

Back to Square 1...or worse

BP's containment cap over a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well was removed Wednesday after a robotic vehicle apparently bumped into a cap vent and closed it, raising the possibility of hydrates forming, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's response manager.

via www.cnn.com

You're hot then you're cold*

June 23, 2010, Columbus, OHIO!

*Yes, I just quoted a Katy Perry song.  I have teenage girls.

Political Calculations: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

In a recent edition of our weekly best-of-the-business-blogosphere wrap up, On the Moneyed Midways, we featured a video of Dan Pink speaking at TED about what has been learned by behavioral researchers on how to effectively motivate people in business, calling it "the most potentially rewarding use of 18 minutes and 40 seconds of your time today."

Today, we're presenting an animated discussion of another Dan Pink performance, which covers very similar material in just 10 minutes and 48 seconds. It's even better.

via politicalcalculations.blogspot.com

I watched the lecture and it is interesting, but what is really striking is that the guy has totally captured my lecture style, right down to the cartoons. It is really weird when you see a mirror image performance of yourself in the classroom. Eerie.

An appropriate assumption

A federal judge in New Orleans has blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects that was imposed in response to the massive Gulf oil spill.

Several companies that ferry people and supplies and provide other services to offshore drilling rigs had asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans to overturn the moratorium.

President Barack Obama's administration has halted the approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling at 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.

Feldman says in his ruling that the Interior Department failed to provide adequate reasoning for the moratorium. He says it seems to assume that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling pose an imminent danger.

via www.nytimes.com

It seems that all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling probably have received the same lax monitoring and enforcement of environmental regs from the MMS as Deepwater Horizon. The over/under on the number of days that this ruling is overturned is 16. I'm taking the under (in complete ignorance of the judicial system).

RE: book progress

Putting the BP oil spill out of context

For every gallon of oil that BP's well has gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, more than 5 billion gallons of water are already in it. And the mighty Mississippi adds another billion gallons every five minutes or so, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

So BP chief executive officer Tony Hayward was factually correct last month when he said the spill was "relatively tiny" compared to what he mischaracterized as a "very big ocean."

via www.charlotteobserver.com

My fav: the oil spill could fill 15 Washington Monuments. At least now we have a plan for storing all of the oil from the skimmers.

Having your cake and eating it too

Overwhelmingly, Americans think the nation needs a fundamental overhaul of its energy policies, and most expect alternative forms to replace oil as a major source within 25 years. Yet a majority are unwilling to pay higher gasoline prices to help develop new fuel sources.

via www.nytimes.com

From Wikipedia: "It is most often used negatively, meaning an individual owning a thing, and still attempting to benefit from or use it. It may also indicate having or wanting more than one can handle or deserve, or trying to have two incompatible things."

Are sin taxes good for a state's health, or bottom line?

When teaching the basics of supply and demand and taxes in my principles of econ classes, I ask the question:  Why do governments tax cigarettes, alcohol and gas?  Invariably someone answers something along the lines: "To reduce consumption of things that are bad for us?" 

"WRONG! You fool!," I scream with a self-satisfying grin and evil cackle.

OK, maybe a little right, but the real reason is that these goods have inelastic demand.  That's fancy-speak for saying that consumers don't react much to price changes.  If consumers don't react much to price increases, then the government can raise the price through taxes, consumers will still consume roughly the same amount, and government revenues rise.  That's right, so-called sin taxes don't reduce the sin, they raise revenues. 

The official line is that taxes on tobacco and soda are principally health measures; the extra revenue for the state is but a pleasant side benefit. Sure it is.

No doubt, we would all be better off if no one smoked or consumed junk food and drinks*. Should grocery stores lose income in the process, so be it. But make no mistake: improved health is the side benefit in this situation. The goal is to raise money any way possible so Albany can avoid having to take a deep breath and end its cherished habit of living beyond its means.

If these taxes were really about public health, the politicians would have acted long ago instead of waiting till now, when the state is broke and they are desperate.

via www.nytimes.com

*Actually, I have much doubt that we would all be better off.  We may be healthier, but personally I am willing to sacrifice a little health every once in a while for a bag of Doritos and a beer or two**.

**By "every once in a while" I mean daily, and by "a beer or two" I mean...

Another Father's Day prank

WBTV:

A man says he found oil inside his oysters while eating at a restaurant located north of Charlotte this weekend.

Matthew Robertson is fascinated at the thought that an oyster from the Gulf Coast that was possibly soaked in oil made it onto his dinner plate.

"I rubbed it on my napkin and I said 'Hey, Dad look, there's oil on my oysters,'" said Robertson.

via www.wbtv.com

What joke did you play on your dad this weekend?

Submit a claim for damages: (800) 440-0858

WASHINGTON - The Obama Administration today sent a third bill for $51.4 million to BP and other responsible parties for response and recovery operations relating to the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

As a responsible party, BP is financially responsible for all costs associated with the response to the spill, including efforts to stop the leak at its source, reduce the spread of oil, protect the shoreline and mitigate damages, as well as long term recovery efforts to ensure that all individuals and communities impacted by the spill are made whole. 

via www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com