Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, Including Socio-economic Aspects: the “Assessment of Assessments”

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO http://unhq-appspub-01.un.org/LIB/DHLRefWeblog.nsf/dx/31072009103719AMSLKK6W.htm Despite progress achieved, regulation of the high seas or trans-zonal fisheries remains a major challenge. There is an increasing concern that many fisheries practices are unsustainable and that global fisheries face a major crisis. Many special habitats are threatened by unsustainable uses, especially in the coastal environment. Mangroves, estuaries, coral [...]

Weathering the Storm : Measuring Household Willingness-to-Pay for Risk-Reduction in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Department of Economics, Appalachian State University / by Craig E. Landry, Paul Hindsley, Okmyung Bin, Jamie B. Kruse, John C. Whitehead and Kenneth R. Wilson http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/aplwpaper/09-18.htm Abstract: The city of New Orleans suffered extensive damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina overwhelmed the natural and built environment, inundating the city. As rebuilding proceeds, decisions [...]

Shaping Tomorrow Today : Near-Term Steps Towards Long-Term Goals

Rand Corp. / edited by Robert J. Lempert, Steven W. Popper, Endy Y. Min, James A. Dewar ; Contributors: Robert J. Lempert, Paul C. Light, Lant Pritchett, Gregory F. Treverton http://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF267/index.html In March 2009, the RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition hosted a workshop called “Shaping [...]

Distribution of Allowances under the ACES Act

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change http://www.pewclimate.org/policy-memo/allowance-distribution-under-waxman-markey The Pew Center offers a concise explanation of the distribution of emission allowances under the House-passed Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill. The new policy memo includes graphs that illustrate the extent to which allowances are auctioned or freely allocated under the bill and the policy objectives achieved [...]

Mercury in Fish, Bed Sediment, and Water from Streams Across the United States, 1998–2005

USGS / by Barbara C. Scudder, Lia C. Chasar, Dennis A. Wentz, Nancy J. Bauch, Mark E. Brigham, Patrick W. Moran, and David P. Krabbenhoft http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5109/ Scientists detected mercury contamination in every fish sampled in 291 streams across the country, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study released today.

Preliminary Toxics Release Data from EPA

Toxics Release Inventory Program, US EPA http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri08/early_data/indexearlyhome.html [Website]  EPA has a new strategy to speed up public access to information on the release of toxic chemicals in communities across the United States. The Agency is providing access to the most recent Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) information. The annual reporting deadline was July 1, 2009. The [...]

Climate Change Compass: The Road to Copenhagen

EIRIS (Experts in Responsible Investment Solutions) http://www.eiris.org/files/research%20publications/ftse300climatechangepaper09.pdf [SRIadvisor.com] A new report compares corporate responses to climate change from among the 300 largest companies in the FTSE All World Index to its 2008 analysis. The report found that of the 300 companies analyzed, 55% have short-term targets on climate change, up from 48% in 2008. In [...]

Why Clean Energy Public Investment Makes Economic Sense – The Evidence Base

Management Information Services http://sev.prnewswire.com/oil-energy/20080923/DC3467323092008-1.html  [From press release]  The main beneficiaries of more than $700 billion of federal energy incentives over the past five decades have been the oil and natural gas industries, a new study reveals. The oil and natural gas industries together garnered 60 percent of federal incentives between 1950 and 2006, with 46 percent [...]

Carbon Emissions : Measuring the Risks — An Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Costs

NSF International http://www.nsf.org/business/sustainability/SUS_NSF_Trucost_Report.pdf [From E&E News article by Michael Burnham, subscription required]  Manufacturers of chemicals, beverages, automobiles and industrial goods would bear a large financial burden to comply with a proposed cap on U.S greenhouse gas emissions, relative to the companies’ peers in the less energy-intensive retail, health care and household goods sectors, according to a [...]

Technology-Based Sectoral NAMAs: a Preliminary Case Study of China’s Cement and Iron and Steel Sectors

The Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) / Daniel E. Klein, Haibing Ma, Ned Helme and Can Wang http://www.ccap.org/docs/resources/691/Technology-based%20sectoral%20NAMAs%20-%20FINAL%20July%208%202009.pdf [From press release]  One of the key components of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations leading up to the Conference of the Parties (COP) 15 in Copenhagen this December has been the design [...]