International Monetary Fund / by Serhan Cevik and Tahsin Saadi Sedik http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2011/wp1101.pdf [Abstract] This paper investigates the causes of extreme fluctuations in commodity prices from 1990 to 2010. Analyzing two very distinct commodities—crude oil and fine wine, we find that macroeconomic factors are the main determinants of commodity prices. Although supply constraints have the expected … Continue reading »
Posted on January 18, 2011 …
Methanol as an Alternative Transportation Fuel in the US: Options for Sustainable and/or Energy-Secure Transportation
L. Bromberg and W.K. Cheng / Plasma Science and Fusion Center, MIT http://www.psfc.mit.edu/library1/catalog/reports/2010/10rr/10rr012/10rr012_full.pdf [Abstract] Methanol has been promoted as an alternative transportation fuel from time to time over the past forty years. In spite of significant efforts to realize the vision of methanol as a practical transportation fuel in the US, such as the California … Continue reading »
Advancing Adaptation Through Climate Information Services: Results of a Global Survey on the Information Requirements of the Financial Sector
United Nations Environment Programme, Finance Initiative | Sustainable Business Institute (Germany) | Federal Republic of Germany, Federal Ministry of Education and Research http://www.unepfi.org/events/2011/frankfurt/index.html [From a Climate Wire article by Evan Lehmann, subscription required] Insurance companies expect damages to rise from climate change, but questions about the characteristics of catastrophes over decades is limiting their ability … Continue reading »
Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions for Environmental Policy: A White Paper
National Center for Environmental Economics, US EPA http://yosemite1.epa.gov/ee/epa/eerm.nsf/vwAN/EE-0563-1.pdf/$file/EE-0563-1.pdf [From publication website] The valuation of human health benefits is often a crucial, but sometimes controversial, aspect of the application of benefit-cost analysis to environmental policies. Valuing the reduced risks of mortality, in particular, poses a special set of conceptual, analytical, ethical and empirical challenges for economists … Continue reading »
UK Deepwater Drilling—Implications of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
Energy and Climate Change Committee / House of Commons http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmenergy/450/450i.pdf [From Summary] On 20 April 2010, a blowout of BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico led to the deaths of 11 workers on Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and the release of an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil. The wellhead was located … Continue reading »
Measuring the Impacts of Climate Change on North Carolina Coastal Resources
Okmyung Bin, Chris Dumas, Ben Poulter, John Whitehead http://econ.appstate.edu/climate/NC-NCEP%20final%20report.031507.pdf [From publication website] Global warming is projected to have significant impacts on North Carolina coastal resources as sea level rises and hurricanes become more intense. Extensive development in the coastal zone in recent decades has put more people and property at risk for these impacts. In … Continue reading »
The Private Market for Brownfield Properties
Marie Howland/ University of Maryland http://www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol12num3/ch2.pdf [Abstract] This study examines land sales over a 10-year period—1990 to 2000—in one southwest Baltimore industrial district—Carroll Camden—to determine the effect of land contamination on property sales and sales price. I tracked all sales, selling price, time on the market, and the presence of land contamination in the 5,580-acre … Continue reading »
