Posted on May 12, 2011 …

America’s Climate Choices

National Research Council (download summary or by chapter with free registration) http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12781 Climate change is occurring. It is very likely caused primarily by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems. And these emissions continue to increase, which will result in further change … Continue reading »

Science and the Reasonable Development of Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Resources in Pennsylvania and New York

Energy Law Journal v35 p125 (2011) / by Ralph H. Johnson and Lynn Kerr McKay http://www.felj.org/docs/elj321/17_125_marcellus_shale.pdf [Synopsis]  A fair amount of controversy concerning the development of natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale formation has accompanied the return of significant oil and gas exploration and production to Pennsylvania. One need only look at the news … Continue reading »

Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America

Brookings Institution / by Adie Tomer, Elizabeth Kneebone, Robert Puentes, and Alan Berube http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0512_jobs_and_transit Against the backdrop of rising gas prices, growing suburban poverty, and continued sprawl, how well do transit systems in the 100 largest metropolitan areas connect people to jobs? A new report by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings reveals tremendous variation … Continue reading »

The Impact of Ethanol and Ethanol Subsidies on Corn Prices: Revisiting History

Iowa State Univ., Center for Agricultural and Rural Development / by Bruce A. Babcock, Jacinto F. Fabiosa http://www.card.iastate.edu/publications/synopsis.aspx?id=1155 [Abstract]  The rapid rise in corn prices that began in the fall of 2006 coincided with exponential growth in U.S. corn ethanol production. At about the same time, new ethanol consumption mandates were added to existing ethanol … Continue reading »

The Economic Benefits of a Green Chemical Industry in the United States

Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) for the BlueGreen Alliance http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/press_room/publications?id=0070 [From Press Release]  A new report demonstrates that the U.S. chemical industry shed 300,000 jobs since 1992, despite production increasing by 4 percent per year. Under the current scenario, the industry stands to lose approximately 230,000 jobs in the next 20 years. But contrary to … Continue reading »

Global Food Losses and Food Waste

UN FAO for the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) for Save Food!, an international congress being held in Düsseldorf 16-17 May at the trade fair of the international packaging industry Interpack2011 http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ags/publications/GFL_web.pdf [From Press Release] Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 … Continue reading »