Federal Reserve Board of Governors / by Joseph W. Gruber , Filippo di Mauro, Bernd Schnatz, and Nico Zorell http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2011/1017/ifdp1017.pdf [Abstract] Global and U.S. trade declined dramatically in the wake of the global financial crisis in late 2008 and early 2009. The subsequent recovery in trade, while vigorous at first, gradually lost momentum in 2010. … Continue reading »
Posted on March 25, 2011 …
National Water Resources Challenges Facing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
National Research Council http://download.nap.edu/cart/deliver.cgi?record_id=13136 [free PDF with registration] [From Summary] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is responsible for construction, operations, and maintenance of much of the nation’s water resources infrastructure. This infrastructure includes flood control levees, multi-purpose dams, locks, navigation channels, port and harbor facilities, and beach protection infrastructure. The Corps of Engineers … Continue reading »
Understanding and Managing Risk Security Systems for the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex
National Research Council http://download.nap.edu/cart/deliver.cgi?&record_id=13108 [free PDF with registration] [From Preface] This study was requested by the Senate Appropriations Committee in response to what that committee saw as unsustainable rates of increase in the cost of security at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In current-year dollars, security costs have increased from $550 million in 2002 … Continue reading »
Towards E-Mobility: The Challenges Ahead
Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, European Bureau http://www.fiabrussels.com/download/emobility/emobility_full_text_fia.pdf [From Press Release] Consumers will not automatically make the switch to electric vehicles if running costs are high, a recharging station network is not in place, or if new technologies are not user-friendly, according to a new policy paper by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) European Bureau…. … Continue reading »
Land Use-SOER 2010 Thematic Assessment
European Environment Agency http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/europe/land-use/at_download/file [Abstract] Land use shapes our environment in positive and negative ways. Productive land is a critical resource for food and biomass production and land use strongly influences soil erosion and soil functions such as carbon storage. Land management largely determines the beauty of Europe’s landscapes. It is important therefore to monitor … Continue reading »
Reassessing Renewable Energy Subsidies
Bipartisan Policy Center / by Nate Gorence and Sasha Mackler http://tinyurl.com/46ozmzx [From report website] This Issue Brief…examined the tax incentives for renewable electricity development. Recognizing the renewable energy tax credits have been an enormously important mechanism for growing the industry, the primary goal of this analysis was to explore how they could be improved to … Continue reading »
EPA Promoted the Use of Coal Ash Products With Incomplete Risk Information
US EPA / Office of Inspector General http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2011/20110323-11-P-0173.pdf [From Introduction] We initiated this review to determine whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) followed accepted and standard practices in determining that coal combustion residuals (CCRs) are safe for the beneficial uses it had promoted on its Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2) program website…. EPA did … Continue reading »
