Environmental Economics

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Photo Credit: MC

Breaking news: National Research Council says Ohio State has the #1 graduate program in Agricultural and Resource Economics...sort of

According to the 1:00 PM ET release of the NRC Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States here are the top 10 graduate programs in Agricultural and Resource Economics using a regression based method for assigning program characteristic weights:

1. OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS
2. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
3. CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
4. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS
5. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK
6. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES
7. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON - Agricultural and Applied Economics
8. PURDUE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS
9. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
10. VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

Here are the top 10 programs using an alternative survey based weighting scheme

1. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
2. OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
3. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS
4. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK
5. CORNELL UNIVERSITY
6. KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
7. COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
8. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON - Agricultural and Applied Economics
9. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
10. OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS

I prefer the regression based rankings.

Sports quote of the day

Mr. Blanda threw for 26,920 yards in his career and held the pro football record with 277 interceptions until Brett Favre passed him in 2007. He retired with the most points in history before the total was topped by several players in recent years.

"It certainly doesn't bother me," Mr. Blanda said about losing the scoring record. "The one record I was happy to get rid of was the one for the most interceptions, when Brett Favre got that one."

via www.kentucky.com

Basketball rules allow me to dunk, but it has never been done

From the Raleigh paper:

Alcoa, which has operated a hydroelectric project on the Yadkin River for nearly a century, is seeking renewal of its federal license. Stanly County is fighting the relicensing.

...

Alcoa had used the electricity to run an aluminum smelter in Badin, a plant that is now closed. The company sells the electricity it produces.

[Gov.] Perdue and some legislators want the state to take over the dams, arguing the revenue could be used for environmental cleanup and job creation.

Federal law allows licenses to be "recaptured" by federal authorities, but it has never been done. Congress would have to approve the state taking control of the dams.

via www.newsobserver.com

My guess is that Alcoa gets their permit even though it seems that they have seriously fouled Badin Lake.

R.I.P. George Blanda

The Oakland Raiders say Hall of Fame quarterback George Blanda has died. He was 83. A Raiders' spokesman confirmed the death Monday. The team is expected to release a statement later Monday.

Blanda also was a quarterback and kicker at the University of Kentucky. He was the starting quarterback under coach Bear Bryant in 1947 and ’48.

Blanda spent 26 seasons in the NFL as a quarterback and kicker while playing for three different teams. He spent 10 seasons with Chicago, seven with the Houston Oilers and nine with the Raiders before retiring in 1976 at the age of 48.

Blanda was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame of Fame on Aug. 1, 1981.

via www.courier-journal.com

Blanda was one of my all-time favorites. While I barely missed his UK years (the first game I attended was 1975, I think), I thought the old guy kicking for the Raiders was so cool.

Best paper awards from the National Marine Fisheries Service's Economics and Social Science Workshop

I worked on my 1 pm presentation all morning and avoided the best paper awards and presentations. For some reason I didn't think it would be a big deal to miss the talks but they look really good:

Research

Common property, information, and cooperation: Commercial fishing in the Bering Sea, Alan C. Haynie, Robert L. Hicks, Kurt E. Schnier

External Tests of Scope and Embedding in Stated Preference Choice Experiments: An Application to Endangered Species Valuation, Daniel K. Lew and Kristy Wallmo

An Economic Framework to Reallocate Multispecies Fisheries, Juan Agar and Jim Waters

Policy

Defining Social and Economic Performance Measures for Catch Share Systems in the Northeast U.S., Patricia Clay, Patricia da Silva and Andrew Kitts

Productivity Change Under a Cap and Trade Management System, John Walden and Jim Kirkley

Valuing Improvements to Threatened and Endangered Marine Species, Kristy Wallmo and Dan Lew

Congrats to the authors!

Best undergraduate environmental economics textbook?

From a former student (Kate Snipes) who is now teaching at Denison University (home of the fighting Walnuts--OK, I made that up.  I have no idea what their mascot is.  But is a walnut any less intimidating than a Buckeye?):

I've been asked to teach a 400-level senior seminar on Environmental Economics next semester...I'm looking for a good undergraduate-level text to supplement some of the articles that I will be using.  Do you have any suggestions?  Or do you know of anyone that might have some suggestions?

I have some ideas, but I also know we have some readers who either are taking , or have recently taken an undergraduate course in env-econ.  So what are your thoughts? What good Env-Econ books have you used?

Does anyone know who I should contact to obtain a copy of this study?

Climatewire:

An upcoming study by economists at University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Santa Barbara; and San Francisco State University modeled 15 miles of California beaches and found large differences in the costs and benefits of shoring up eroding coastlines.

Assuming a low-end estimate of 1 meter sea-level rise, a 100-year flood at San Francisco's Ocean Beach would cause $285 million in property damage, compared to $107 million in 2000.

At Venice Beach in Los Angeles, damages would rise from $10 million to $131 million. Damages from tourists choosing to spend their dollars elsewhere would also have outsize impact on Venice Beach; the popular stretch of boardwalk would lose up to $7 billion by 2100, compared to $385 million at Ocean Beach if sea levels rise 2 meters, the highest level the researchers analyzed.

Such results would inform policymakers, homeowners and insurers' decisions on what to do to protect their property: erect seawalls or other barriers, try beach "nourishment" (dumping sand to counteract erosion), or give up entirely and relocate.

To calculate the damages, the researchers took sea-level rise estimates developed by the Pacific Institute last year and applied them to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers "stage-damage curves," which estimate property damages at various levels of water.

Damage risks become untenable

The economists are also trying to quantify the value of ecological benefits like protecting endangered species, and even the benefit of a day at the beach.

"I might never go to Madagascar, but the fact that it's there makes me feel good," explained study co-author Aaron McGregor of UCLA.

via www.nytimes.com

Happy: This looks really interesting and related to something I'm working on. I'd like to see what they are doing.

Surprised: There are no links in the blog post to take me to a study website.

Disappointed: So I google "'Aaron McGregor' UCLA" and get nothing that looks like anything official. There is a LinkedIn profile but you're not supposed to bother LinkedIn people if you don't know them.

Irritated: I don't doubt that there is a real study but it shouldn't be so hard to find (i.e., it shouldn't take more than 2 minutes to find someone to contact about it) these days.

(I'll feel) Stupid: If a reader points out some obvious lead that I missed.

"Romance in the ivory tower"

Matt Kahn:

For those of you who believe in love and romance,  here is a wonderful story .   Mary and J.R look so happy. 

via greeneconomics.blogspot.com

Friday Beer Post

Alcohol abuse is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., and it contributes to countless diseases, car crashes, injuries, and crimes.

How can we solve these thorny problems? Making booze more expensive might be a good start, a new study suggests.

Doubling the current state taxes on alcohol -- which would tack on as much as 50 cents to the price of the average six-pack or bottle of wine -- could be expected to reduce alcohol-related deaths by 35 percent, fatal car crashes by 11 percent, and the rates of sexually transmitted disease by 6 percent, according to the study.

Higher taxes on booze would also lead to 2 percent less violence and 1.4 percent less crime, the researchers estimate.

via www.cnn.com

I think these authors need to talk to these authors because I'm getting mixed signals.  Beer shortens my life, beer lengthens my life....sheesh, I need a drink.