Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (August 23, 2011 v108 n34 p14031-14036) / by Juha Siikamaki http://www.pnas.org/content/108/34/14031.short [Abstract] Nature recreation in the United States concentrates in publicly provided natural areas. They are costly to establish and maintain, but their societal contributions are difficult to measure. Here, a unique approach is developed to quantifying nature … Continue reading »
Posted on August 23, 2011 …
The Effect of a Protected Area on the Tradeoffs between Short-run and Long-run Benefits from Mangrove Ecosystems
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (August 23, 2011 v108 n34 p13945-13950 ) / by Catherine G. McNally, Emi Uchida and Arthur J. Gold http://www.pnas.org/content/108/34/13945.full.pdf+html (open access) [Abstract] Protected areas are used to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, protected areas can create tradeoffs spatially and temporally among ecosystem services, which can affect the … Continue reading »
Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Devonian Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin Province
USGS / By James L. Coleman, Robert C. Milici, Troy A. Cook, Ronald R. Charpentier, Mark Kirshbaum, Timothy R. Klett, Richard M. Pollastro, and Christopher J. Schenk http://bit.ly/pDIv3M (website) http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3092/pdf/fs2011-3092.pdf (fact sheet) [From Press Release] The Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of … Continue reading »
A Meta-Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion
PLoS ONE / by Karen C. Seto, Michail Fragkias, Burak Güneralp and Michael K. Reilly http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0023777 [Yale Environment 360 post] A new study says the explosive growth of urban areas worldwide over the next two decades poses significant risks to human populations and the global environment, from the loss of agricultural land and wildlife habitat … Continue reading »
Improving Our Regulations: Final Plan for Periodic Retrospective Reviews of Existing Regulations
US EPA http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulemaking/retrospective/index.html [Website] In summer 2011, EPA released a plan for periodic retrospective reviews of existing regulations, as called for by Executive Order (EO) 13563 (PDF) (3 pp, 141K, About PDF) . We intend to focus on 35 priority regulatory reviews for our initial review period, as listed below. Keep in mind, however, that … Continue reading »
European Union Emission Inventory Report, 1990–2009 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)
European Environment Agency http://bit.ly/q2pNud [Website] This document…includes information on the formal institutional arrangements that underpin the European Union’s emission inventory, emission trends for the EU‑27 and Member States, and the contribution of important individual emission sources to total emissions, sector group emission trends for key pollutants, information on recalculations and future planned improvements.
Environmental Accounting for Pollution: Methods with an Application to the United States Economy
Link to working paper version below. Also in American Economic Review (August 2011, v101, n5)/ by Nicholas Z. Muller, Robert Mendelsohn and William Nordhaus http://nordhaus.econ.yale.edu/documents/Env_Accounts_052609.pdf [Abstract] This study presents a framework to include environmental externalities into a system of national accounts. The paper estimates the air pollution damages for each industry in the United States. … Continue reading »
EPA Launches Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool
US EPA http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html [Press Release] Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching a new tool to allow 28 industrial sectors to submit their 2010 greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution data electronically. Prior to being finalized, more than1,000 stakeholders, including industry associations, states and NGOs tested the electronic GHG Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) to ensure clarity and … Continue reading »
Energy Efficiency Finance 101: Understanding the Marketplace
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy / by Joel Freehling, Shaw Environmental http://www.aceee.org/white-paper/energy-efficiency-finance-101 [Abstract] The number and diversity of energy finance programs have increased dramatically in recent years. Likewise, there is a growing interest among different types of financial institutions in participating in local initiatives. However, finding a financial partner that best fits a particular … Continue reading »
Avoiding a Train Wreck: Replacing Old Coal Plants with Energy Efficiency
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy / by R. Neal Elliott, Rachel Gold,and Sara Hayes http://www.aceee.org/white-paper/avoiding-a-train-wreck [Abstract] Changes in fossil fuel markets and updates to environmental regulations may result in the retirement of existing coal-fired electric power plants, putting on the order of 40,000 megawatts of generation at risk of retirement. This capacity is primarily … Continue reading »
