Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/119xx/doc11940/11-17-Infrastructure.pdf [From Summary] In fiscal year 2007—the most recent year for which data on combined spending by the federal government and by state and local governments are available—total public spending for transportation and water infrastructure was $356 billion, or 2.4 percent of the nation’s economic output as measured by its gross domestic … Continue reading »
Posted on November 22, 2010 …
Residential Insurance on the U.S. Gulf Coast in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: A Framework for Evaluating Potential Reforms
RAND Corporation / James W. Macdonald, Lloyd Dixon, and Laura Zakaras http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2010/RAND_OP284.pdf The hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 brought devastating losses of life and property; they also threw the residential insurance market in the Gulf States into turmoil. Insurance premiums skyrocketed, a number of private insurers retreated from coastal regions, government insurance programs stepped … Continue reading »
Implications of Energy and Carbon Policies for the Agriculture and Forestry Sectors
University of Tennessee / Burton C. English, Daniel G. De La Torre Ugarte, Chad Hellwinckel, Kimberly L. Jensen, R. Jamey Menard, Tristram O. West, and Christopher D. Clark http://beag.ag.utk.edu/pp/UTREPORTNov10.pdf [Abstract] Energy and carbon policies could have considerable sector wide impacts on agriculture and on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. With this policy consideration, key questions … Continue reading »
Biomass: Comparison of Definitions in Legislation Through the 111th Congress
US Congressional Research Service / Kelsi Bracmort and Ross W. Gorte http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40529_20101028.pdf [Summary] The use of biomass as an energy feedstock is emerging as a potentially viable alternative to address U.S. energy security concerns, foreign oil dependence, rural economic development, and diminishing sources of conventional energy. Biomass (organic matter that can be converted into energy) … Continue reading »
Updated Capital Cost Estimates for Electricity Generation Plants
US Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/beck_plantcosts/pdf/updatedplantcosts.pdf [From Summary Page] The current and future projected cost of new electricity generation capacity is a critical input into the development of energy projections and analyses. The cost of new generating plants plays an important role in determining the mix of capacity additions that will serve growing loads in the … Continue reading »
