EPA Water Quality Planning Blog : Coming Together for Clean Water

EPA. Office of Water http://blog.epa.gov/waterforum/ [From press release] For a two- week period, EPA is holding a Web discussion forum on how the nation can better manage some of the most significant water pollution problems facing our nation. The feedback received on the online forum will help shape the discussion at EPA’s upcoming conference in [...]

Our Nation’s Air : Status and Trends through 2008

EPA. Of f ice of Air Quality Planning and Standards (EPA -454/R -09-002) http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/2010/index.html [From press release] Since 1990, nationwide air quality has improved significantly for the six common air pollutants: ground-level ozone, particle pollution, lead, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. Emissions of toxic air pollutants, such as benzene, have declined about 40 [...]

Price Levels and Economic Growth : Making Sense of the PPP Changes Between ICP Rounds

World Bank / by Martin Ravallion (Policy research working paper no. WPS 5229) http://tinyurl.com/yc528sj [Summary] To the surprise of many observers, the 2005 International Comparison Program (ICP) found substantially higher purchasing power parity (PPP) rates, relative to market exchange rates, in most developing countries. For example, China’s price level index — the ratio of its [...]

Climate Cost Uncertainty, Retrofit Cost Uncertainty, and Infrastructure Closedown : a Framework for Analysis

World Bank / by Jon Strand and Sebastian Miller (Policy Research Working Paper ; no. WPS 5208) http://tinyurl.com/ygpvmxu [Summary] Large and energy-intensive infrastructure investments with long life times have substantial implications for climate policy. This study focuses on options to scale down energy consumption and carbon emissions now and in the future, and on the [...]

Globalisation, Transport and the Environment

OECD. This book is available to RFFers through OECD iLibrary. Our user ID and password are available on the library’s landing page, top left. http://www.oecdilibrary.org/oecd/content/book/9789264072916-en [Abstract] What impact has globalisation had on transport? And what have been the consequences for the environment? This book aims to answer these questions and more. It looks in detail [...]

Eco-Innovation in Industry : Enabling Green Growth

OECD. This book is available to RFFers on OECD iLibrary. Username and password are on the library’s landing page on the top left. http://www.oecdilibrary.org/oecd/content/book/9789264077225-en [Abstract] Eco-innovation will be a key driver of industry efforts to tackle climate change and realise “green growth” in the post-Kyoto era. Eco-innovation calls for faster introduction of breakthrough technologies and [...]

Sustainable Production of Second Generation Biofuels : Potential and Perspectives in Major Economies and Developing Countries

International Energy Agency / by Anselm Eisentraut http://www.iea.org/papers/2010/second_generation_biofuels.pdf Second-generation biofuels can play a crucial role in the transport sector says Sustainable Production of Second-Generation Biofuels.

The Taxation of Motor Fuel : International Comparison

World Bank / by Eduardo Ley and Jessica Boccardo (Policy Research Working Paper ; no. WPS 5212) http://tinyurl.com/yzxghzn [Summary] This paper assesses whether the level of taxation of motor fuel is broadly appropriate in a group of countries (OECD, BRICs and South Africa) accounting for more than 80 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions. The [...]

The Economics of Renewable Energy Expansion in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa

World Bank / by Uwe Deichmann, Craig Meisner, Siobhan Murray and David Wheeler (Policy Research Working Paper ; no. WPS 5193) http://tinyurl.com/yfzlk4e [Summary] Accelerating development in Sub-Saharan Africa will require massive expansion of access to electricity — currently reaching only about one-third of households. This paper explores how essential economic development might be reconciled with [...]

A Note on the Economic Cost of Climate Change and the Rationale to Limit it Below 2°C

World Bank / by Stephane Hallegatte, Patrice Dumas and Jean-Charles Hourcade (Policy Research Working Paper ; no. WPS 5179) http://tinyurl.com/yl95cb2 [Summary] This note highlights a major reason to limit climate change to the lowest possible levels. This reason follows from the large increase in uncertainty associated with high levels of warming. This uncertainty arises from [...]