National Research Council http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12544&utm_source=feeds&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new_from_nap_rss [Description] A large area of coastal waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico experiences seasonal conditions of low levels of dissolved oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. Excess discharge of nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers causes nutrient overenrichment in the gulf’s coastal waters and … Continue reading »
Posted on August 13, 2009 …
Global Environmental Health: Research Gaps and Barriers for Providing Sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services : Workshop Summary
National Research Council http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12597&utm_source=feeds&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new_from_nap_rss [Summary] One of the objectives of the workshop was to think about the interdependence of environmental health and human health as connected through water. Organizations cannot discuss water without considering the interrelationship of sanitation and hygiene. It is the convergence of these strategies that promotes healthy outcomes for both individuals and … Continue reading »
America’s Energy Future : Technology and Transformation
National Research Council http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12710 (download available after free registration) [From press release] With a sustained national commitment, the United States could obtain substantial energy-efficiency improvements, new sources of energy, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through the accelerated deployment of existing and emerging energy technologies, according to America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation, the capstone … Continue reading »
The Positive Economics of Climate Change Policies : What the Historical Evidence Can Tell U
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy / John A. “Skip” Laitner http://www.aceee.org/pubs/e095.htm [From abstract] Most economic policy models now suggest a significantly negative impact on the economy if U.S. policymakers choose to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to any significant extent. There are a number of reasons for these inappropriate outcomes. Primarily, they are an artifact … Continue reading »
Green Drivers or Free Riders? An Analysis of Tax Rebates for Hybrid Vehicles
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia / by Ambarish Chandra, Sumeet Gulati, and Milind Kandlikar http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2009/mr-09-095.html?src=rss [From press release] Despite major costs to taxpayers in the U.S. and Canada, government programs that offer rebates to hybrid vehicle buyers are failing to produce environmental benefits, a new UBC study says. The study finds that … Continue reading »
Greenhouse Gases and the American Lifestyle : Understanding Interstate Differences in Emissions
EcoTrust / Stockholm Environment Institute / by Elizabeth A. Stanton, Frank Ackerman, and Kristen Sheeran http://www.e3network.org/papers/NRDC_state_emissions_report.pdf [From introduction] This report analyzes interstate variation in per capita emissions, seeking to explain why some states have much lower emissions than others. Some of the differences are based on objective factors beyond anyone’s control: for instance, the coldest … Continue reading »
Cap-and-Trade : A Fly in the Ointment?
Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard University / by Robert Stavins http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/analysis/stavins/?p=245 [From posting] But the transition from command-and-control regulation to market-based policy instruments has not always been easy. Sometimes policy can outrun basic understanding, and the claims made for the cost-effectiveness of cap-and-trade systems can exceed what can be reasonably anticipated. Among the factors that … Continue reading »
Short-Term Energy Carbon Dioxide Emissions Forecasts
Energy Information Admin., DOE http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/special/2009_sp_04.html [From summary] The economic downturn, combined with a significant switch from coal to natural gas as a source of electricity generation, is projected to lead to a 5-percent decline in fossil-fuel-based CO2 emissions in 2009 . An improving economy is expected to increase CO2 emissions from fossil fuels by 0.7 … Continue reading »
High Stakes in a Complex Game: A Snapshot of the Climate Change Negotiating Positions
Center for Global Development (Working paper 177) / by Jan von der Goltz http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1422602/ [Announcement] This working paper discusses the negotiating positions major developing country emitters are taking on core issues. Among the most vital unsettled questions are burden sharing between developed and developing countries, the role of the market in the international climate architecture, … Continue reading »
Cost Estimate : S. 787 Clean Water Restoration Act
Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/105xx/doc10507/s787.pdf [From summary] S. 787 would amend the Clean Water Act to establish federal jurisdiction over certain bodies of water. The Clean Water Act requires that any person seeking to discharge certain material into waters under federal jurisdiction obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps). The Supreme Court … Continue reading »
