Estimating Marginal Cost of Quality Improvements: The Case of the UK Electricity Distribution Companies

University of Cambridge, Electricity Policy Research Group / Tooraj Jamasb, Luis Orea and Michael G. Pollitt http://tinyurl.com/39c7c6w Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to develop an econometric approach to estimation of marginal costs of improving quality of service. We implement this methodology by way of applying it to the case of the UK … Continue reading »

EPA Toxics Release Inventory Program: 2009 Inventory

EPA Toxics Release Inventory Program http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/preliminarydataset/index.html From program homepage and dataset website:  The Toxics Release Inventory Program compiles the TRI data on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities and makes it available through downloadable files and several data access tools. The goal of the … Continue reading »

Novel Indicators of the Trade and Welfare Effects of Agricultural Distortions in OECD Countries

World Bank Policy Research Paper WPS 5404 / Kym Anderson and Johanna Croser http://tinyurl.com/2vzfzys Summary:  Agricultural markets in OECD countries have long been highly distorted by government policies. Traditional weighted average aggregates of the price distortions involved, such as producer and consumer support estimates can be poor indicators of the trade restrictiveness and economic welfare … Continue reading »

Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey: Commercial Energy Uses and Costs

DOE, Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/contents.html From report home page:  The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, their energy-related building characteristics, and their energy consumption and expenditures. Commercial buildings include all buildings in which at least half of the floorspace is … Continue reading »

Census of Marine Life

Census of Marine Life, Office of Marine Programs, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography http://tinyurl.com/3ypd7ze In the late 1990s, leading marine scientists shared their concerns that humanity’s understanding of what lives in the oceans lagged far behind our desire and need to know. Some emphasized the question,“What kinds of life inhabit the oceans?” … Continue reading »

Transportation Revenue Options: Infrastructure, Emissions, and Congestion

Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ. / Henry Lee, Jose Gomex-Ibanez, C. Edward Huang, Grant Lovellette http://tinyurl.com/35hqjud From preface:  Over the past sixty years, the United States has taxed gasoline and diesel consumption to pay for the costs of building and maintaining its highway infrastructure. There is mounting evidence that this mechanism may be insufficient … Continue reading »

EPA Proposes to Cut Mercury Emissions from Sewage Sludge Incinerators

US Environmental Protection Agency Sludge Incinerator Toxic Control Fact Sheet: http://tinyurl.com/24bjjn3 Sludge Incinerator Toxic Control Proposed Rule: http://tinyurl.com/2dpatoa From press release: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to cut emissions of mercury, particle pollution and other harmful pollutants from sewage sludge incinerators, the sixth-largest source of mercury air emissions in the United States. … Continue reading »