World Bank data.worldbank.org [From Announcement] The open data announcement coincides with the launch of the World Development Indicators (WDI) 2010, the Bank’s popular statistical resource. Apart from giving open access to the WDI, with nearly 1000 indicators, the initiative also opens up the Global Development Finance (GDF), Africa Development Indicators (ADI), Global Economic Monitor (GEM), and indicators … Continue reading »
Posted on April 20, 2010 …
2009 Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) Annual Report and Efficiency Program Report
Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) http://www.cee1.org/files/2009CEEAnnualReport.pdf [Docuticker] U.S. utilities increased their spending on energy efficiency programs by 43% in 2009, according to a new report from the nonprofit Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), which represents energy efficiency program administrators from across the United States and Canada. U.S. utility spending on energy efficiency programs reached $5.3 … Continue reading »
Intermediate-Level Blends of Ethanol in Gasoline, and the Ethanol “Blend Wall”
Congressional Research Service http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40445_20100128.pdf [From Summary] On March 6, 2009, Growth Energy (on behalf of 52 U.S. ethanol producers) applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver from the current Clean Air Act limitation on ethanol content in gasoline. Currently, ethanol content in gasoline is capped at 10% (E10); the application requests an … Continue reading »
Catastrophe Risk Management in the Public Sector
Rand Corporation / Keynote speech by Michael Rich at the Inaugural International Symposium on Catastrophe Risk Management, Jan. 22 2010 http://www.rand.org/pubs/corporate_pubs/2010/RAND_CP598.pdf [Docuticker] In January 2010, RAND executive vice president Michael Rich spoke at the first International Symposium on Catastrophe Risk Management, commemorating the establishment of the Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management (ICRM) at Nanyang Technological … Continue reading »
Understanding Climate’s Influence on Human Evolution
National Research Council (Free registration required) http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12825 [From summary] Understanding Climate’s Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative … Continue reading »
The National Commission on Children and Disasters : Overview and Issues
Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/R41080/2010-02-22/download/1013/ [Summary] The National Commission on Children and Disasters (the Commission) is authorized under the provisions of the Kids in Disasters Well-being, Safety, and Health Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-161) and given federal advisory committee statutory authority under the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009 (P.L. 110-329). The … Continue reading »
Financial Innovations for Infrastructure Finance : The Grid, Renewables and Beyond
Milken Institute (Free registration required) http://tinyurl.com/y7w679y [Docuticker] The U.S. electrical grid is suffering from more than 25 years of declining investment, and although last year’s federal stimulus bill was a step in the right direction, the $11 billion in authorized funding can’t begin to meet the estimated costs of overhauling this critical infrastructure, says a … Continue reading »
Environmental Federalism in the European Union and the United States
Harvard Business School / by David Vogel, Michael Toffel, Diahanna Post and Nazli Z. Uludere Aragon http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-085.pdf [Abstract] The United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) are federal systems in which the responsibility for environmental policy-making is divided or shared between the central government and the (member) states. The attribution of decision-making power has … Continue reading »
