OECD working paper / by Jean-Marc Burniaux, Jean Chateau http://bit.ly/kw3Ssw [Abstract] Quoting a joint analysis made by the OECD and the IEA, G20 Leaders committed in September 2009 to ?rationalize and phase out over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption?. This analysis was based on the OECD ENV-Linkages General Equilibrium … Continue reading »
Posted on May 11, 2011 …
Elements of Security: Mitigating the Risks of U.S. Dependence on Critical Minerals
Center for a New American Security http://www.cnas.org/node/6315 Reliable access to critical minerals is a matter of both economic and geostrategic importance to the United States. Indeed, concern about access to minerals is rising now due to increasing demand, new competitors capturing large market shares and other trends that defy easy prediction. These same trends can … Continue reading »
Ranking the Risks: The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations With The Greatest Burden On Public Health
Univ. of Florida, Emerging Pathogens Institute / by Michael B. Batz, Sandra Hoffmann and J. Glenn Morris, Jr http://bit.ly/mD0csi The starting point for implementing risk-based food safety systems is being able to identify where the greatest food safety problems lie. For foodborne illness, the starting point is the question: which pathogens in which foods cause … Continue reading »
Spatial Patterns of Land Cover in the United States: a technical document supporting the Forest Service: 2010 RPA Assessment
US Forest Service / by Kurt H. Riitters http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs136.pdf Land cover patterns inventoried from a national land cover map provide information about the landscape context and fragmentation of the Nation’s forests, grasslands, and shrublands. This inventory is required to quantify, map, and evaluate the capacities of landscapes to provide ecological goods and services sustainably. This … Continue reading »
Sustainable Cities: Oxymoron or the Shape of the Future?
Harvard Business School Working Papers / by Annissa Alusi, Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson and Tiona Zuzul http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-062.pdf [Abstract] Two trends are likely to define the 21st century: threats to the sustainability of the natural environment and dramatic increases in urbanization. This paper reviews the goals, business models, and partnerships involved in eight early … Continue reading »
USGS Economic Analysis Updated for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)
US Geological Survey http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2784 This economic analysis is based on a 2010 USGS resource assessment that determined how much undiscovered, conventional oil and gas in the NPRA is technically recoverable. These reports provide updates from the USGS 2003 economic analysis and 2002 resource assessment of the NPRA. This report summarizes the economic analysis of the … Continue reading »
Proceedings, 21st U.S. Department of Agriculture Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species 2010
US Forest Service / by Katherine A McManus and Kurt W. Gottschalk http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/37516 Contains abstracts and papers of 95 oral and poster presentations on invasive species biology, molecular biology, ecology, impacts, and management presented at the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species. [H/T: Full Text Reports]
Reducing The Staggering Costs Of Environmental Disease In Children, Estimated At $76.6 Billion In 2008
Health Affairs (May 2011; published online before print May 2011, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.1239 ) http://bit.ly/lZaCrr [Abstract] A 2002 analysis documented $54.9 billion in annual costs of environmentally mediated diseases in US children. However, few important changes in federal policy have been implemented to prevent exposures to toxic chemicals. We therefore updated and expanded the previous analysis and … Continue reading »
U.S. Global Climate Change Policy: Evolving Views on Cost, Competitiveness, and Comprehensiveness
Congressional Research Service http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL30024_20110224.pdf [From Summary] The nature of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions) makes their control difficult to integrate with the U.S economy and traditional U.S. energy policy. Despite the obvious interrelationship between energy policy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the United States has struggled to integrate the two. For … Continue reading »
Energy and Water Development: FY2011 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R41150_20110225.pdfInfrastructure, Water Resources, [From Summary] The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies. Key budgetary issues for FY2011 involving these programs … Continue reading »
