US Park Service http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum/nvum_national_summary_fy2009.pdf [Press release] Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the release of a report showing the economic importance of America’s National Forests and Grasslands to rural communities across the country. The updated National Visitor Use Monitoring Report reveals that recreation activities on national forests and grasslands have helped to sustain an estimated … Continue reading »
Posted on July 27, 2010 …
White House Forum on Energy Security
US Dept. of Energy http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2010/07/27/live-white-house-forum-energy-security At 2 PM EDT this afternoon high ranking officials from the Departments of Energy and Defense will come together with national security officials, business leaders, academics and other stakeholders for a discussion on the national security imperative of building a clean energy economy. You can watch Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Deputy … Continue reading »
Linkages Among Climate Change, Crop Yields and Mexico–US Cross-border Migration
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (July 27, 2010) 107 (30) / by Shuaizhang Feng, Alan B. Krueger and Michael Oppenheimer (open access article) http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/07/16/1002632107 [Abstract] Climate change is expected to cause mass human migration, including immigration across international borders. This study quantitatively examines the linkages among variations in climate, agricultural yields, and people’s … Continue reading »
FEMA’s Disaster Assistance Improvement Plan
Dept. of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_10-98_Jun10.pdf FEMA faces challenges in implementing a “one-stop” disaster assistance application system because of the inability of partner agencies’ systems to interface with DisasterAssistance.gov, and partner agencies’ reluctance to provide funding to support the program. FEMA was in the process of drafting internal control standard operating procedures … Continue reading »
The Importance of Research and Development (R&D) for U.S. Competitiveness and a Clean Energy Future
Brookings Institution / testimony of Michael Greenstone before the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress http://tinyurl.com/33yxhqw Michael Greenstone testified before the Joint Economic Committee on the need for expanded energy R&D investments to help combat our reliance on fossil fuels and promote our country’s future competitiveness in the global economy.
Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action
US EPA http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/resources/policy/ej-rulemaking.html [Announcement] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing an interim guidance document to help agency staff incorporate environmental justice into the agency’s rulemaking process. The rulemaking guidance is an important and positive step toward meeting EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priority to work for environmental justice and protect the health and … Continue reading »
A Field-Based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity in Central Appalachian Streams (External Review Draft)
National Center for Environmental Assessment, US EPA http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=220171 This report uses field data to derive an aquatic life benchmark for conductivity. This benchmark value may be applied to waters in the Appalachian Region that are dominated by salts of SO42- and HCO3- at circum neutral to mildly alkaline pH. This benchmark is intended to protect … Continue reading »
Five River’s Case Studies (Final Reports) Released to Support CADDIS Use
National Center for Environmental Assessment. US EPA http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=90004 [From CADDIS site] Thousands of water bodies in the United States are listed by states as biologically impaired. For many of these, the cause of the impairment is reported as “unknown”. Before the TMDL process can be used to formulate an appropriate management action, the cause of … Continue reading »
Optimal Border Policies for Invasive Species under Asymmetric Information
National Center for Environmental Economics. US EPA / by Linda Fernandez and Glenn Sheriff http://yosemite.epa.gov/EE/epa/eed.nsf/WPNumber/2010-03?OpenDocument [Abstract] This paper analyzes border protection policies for managing risk of unintended imports of invasive species. Previous work typically assumes invasive species risk to be exogenous and commonly known. Here, we examine cases in which endogenous actions (exporter abatement) affect … Continue reading »
