The Impact of Air Quality on Hospital Spending

Rand Corporation / by John A. Romley, Andrew Hackbarth, Dana P. Goldman http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR777/index.html [Abstract] Air pollution is harmful to human health, but little is known about the costs of pollution-related health care. If such care imposes a significant burden on insurance companies and employers, they would have substantial stakes in improving air quality. Reduced medical [...]

Do Green Products Make Us Better People?

University of Toronto working paper in process at Psychological Science http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/facbios/file/Green%20Products%20Psych%20Sci.pdf [Abstract] Consumer choices not only reflect price and quality preferences but also social and moral values as witnessed in the remarkable growth of the global market for organic and environmentally friendly products. Building on recent research on behavioral priming and moral regulation, we find [...]

2006 Energy Consumption by Manufacturers — Data Tables

US DOE. EIA http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/mecs2006/2006tables.html [From press release] The distribution of major end-uses was remarkably similar to what it was in 2002. In 2006, Boiler Fuel accounted for 29 percent of the fuel consumption, direct process 57 percent, and direct nonprocess use 11 percent. In the next two weeks, EIA will release tables on energy management [...]

Nuclear Power Development : Removing Roadblocks

National Center for Policy Analysis http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba700 [Press release] Although President Obama said he’d like to triple the amount of loans the federal government guarantees to jumpstart seven to 10 new nuclear power projects over the next decade, only a fraction of those new nuclear reactors will likely be built, according to a new analysis by [...]

Federal Climate Change Programs : Funding History and Policy Problems

Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/112xx/doc11224/03-26-ClimateChange.pdf [From Director's Blog]  As awareness of global climate change has expanded over past decades, Congresses and Administrations have committed several billion dollars annually to studying climate change and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide. Most of that spending is done by the Department of Energy (DOE) and by [...]

Review of State Soil Cleanup Levels for Dioxin

US. EPA. National Center for Environmental Assessment http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=217926 [Website] Information on soil dioxin cleanup levels was pursued for all 50 states, as well as DC, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and four Pacific islands. Nearly half have established cleanup levels, and another quarter have identified screening levels. A number of states have not identified generic [...]

Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide : Final Report

US EPA> National Center for Environmental Assessment http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=218686 [Website] This is EPA’s latest evaluation of the scientific literature on the potential human health and welfare effects associated with ambient exposures to carbon monoxide (CO). The development of this document is part of the Agency’s periodic review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for [...]

A Framework for Categorizing the Relative Vulnerability of Threatened and Endangered Species to Climate Change (External Review Draft)

US EPA. National Center for Environmental Assessment http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=203743 [Website] NCEA/ORD has developed an evaluative framework that may be used to categorize the relative vulnerability of species to climate change. This framework is intended to provide information to ecosystem and resource managers to support their decision making about management actions that reflect consideration of those threatened [...]

EPA’s HERO Database — Health and Environmental Research Online

US EPA http://www.epa.gov/hero [From press release]  EPA is releasing the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database, a milestone in transparency.  HERO provides access to the scientific studies used in making key regulatory decisions, including EPA’s periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major pollutants.  It is part of the [...]

Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Agriculture

OECD (RFFers can access full text through OECD iLibrary. Our user ID and password are on the library’s landing page, left hand side) http://www.oecdilibrary.org/oecd/content/book/9789264083578-en [Summary] Agriculture is the major user of water in most countries. It also faces the enormous challenge of producing almost 50% more food by 2030 and doubling production by 2050. This [...]