California State Parks: What’s the Real Scandal?
Make no mistake: the disclosure last week that the California State Parks Department was sitting on $54 million of excess funds while claiming that parks all over the state had to be closed is a real hit. Parks director Ruth Coleman -- actually, a talented and dedicated public servant -- did the right thing and immediately resigned, although as far as anyone can tell, she had no idea that the funds were there. The culprit appears to be one Manuel Lopez, a Parks Dep...
CONTINUE READINGThe Economist on Natural Gas: Slouching Toward Mediocrity
I was quite interested in finding last week that The Economist's most recent major survey is about natural gas. Given the explosion of natural gas resources (uh...so to speak) and the world's growing reliance on it, I needed to get up to speed. Besides, from a climate perspective, getting the fracking issue right is crucial. Natural gas combustion itself emits far less greenhouse gases than does coal. But natural gas itself is methane, a far more potent (althoug...
CONTINUE READINGRomney’s Advisers
As I've posted earlier, Romney's website is staunchly anti-regulatory and pro-fossil fuel. That's also the position of his foremost energy advisrr, Harold Hamm. Hamm is the 66-year-old founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Resources Inc. (CLR). CLR is an oil producer which is leading the charge for fracking. Not surprisingly, Hamm loves "Mitt’s goal of cheap, plentiful energy for the American economy." Also not surprisingly, Hamm is a big fan...
CONTINUE READINGDon’t Knock EPA’s Knack for NAAQS
On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit decided American Petroleum Institute (API) v. EPA, an interesting case dealing with nitrogen oxide (NO2) levels. The standard is supposed to include a margin of safety.Under the Clean Air Act, EPA sets National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for airborne substances that endanger human health or welfare. EPA set such a standard for NO2 in 1971 and finally got around to revising the standard in 2010. The innovation in the new NO2 st...
CONTINUE READINGDo “Green Homes” Sell for a Price Premium?
Yes. Nils Kok and I estimate a large 9% price premium for "Energy Star" certified California homes relative to similar homes that are not certified. If you like to read about the "green economy", here is a free copy. This study builds on my recent work estimating the price premium for solar homes. Econometric analysis should interest environmentalists!...
CONTINUE READINGWhat’s New on the Seven Seas?
The scientific journal Nature reports on two recent research findings. One is bad news. I think the other is good news, but not everyone will agree. The first report (the bad news) is a reminder that ecological harm is a cumulative process: The [new] study suggests that the cold weather was the first of three factors that weakened the dolphin population and contributed to the high death rate. The second was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that followed in April. ...
CONTINUE READINGHealth and Superfund
I belatedly happened across an interesting paper by Michael Greenstone. The Abstract summarizes the key finding: We are the first to examine the effect of Superfund cleanups on infant health rather than focusing on proximity to a site. We study singleton births to mothers residing within 5km of a Superfund site between 1989-2003 in five large states. Our “difference in differences” approach compares birth outcomes before and after a site clean-up for mothers who li...
CONTINUE READINGThe FDA Bans BPA in Baby Bottles
The details are reported here. Such bans on specific production inputs raise interesting economics issues related to "technology forcing" and industrial competition. I am an optimist that there are many different ways to make a relatively low cost baby bottle. In a a world with 7 billion people, if somebody can figure out a low cost method that imposes a lower pollution threat to young children then I would hope that this person's firm will grow rich. If consume...
CONTINUE READINGHigh Speed Rail’s A-Coming to California
http://youtu.be/7QXzQADUUlo With the California Legislature's recent approval of the sale of voter-approved state bonds to fund high speed rail, it looks like the bullet train is actually coming to the state. Since voters approved the bonds in 2008, the economy has collapsed, and the details of the proposed route has made enemies out of many communities in the path of the train. As a result, the system has lost its luster with the voting public and many key interest gro...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Strategies: “One Step at a Time” or “Don’t Jump the Gun”??
In some situations, voluntary efforts leads other people to join in, whereas in others, it encourages them to hold back. There's a similar issue about climate mitigation efforts at the national, regional, or state level. Do these efforts really move the ball forward? Or are they counterproductive, because other places increase their own carbon emissions or lose interest in negotiating? A common sense reaction is that every ton of reduced carbon emissions means one...
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