Atrazine in drinking water
Atrazine is suddenly very much in the news. Today's New York Times features a major story about whether the EPA's current standard for acceptable levels of atrazine in drinking water is tight enough to protect human health. Yesterday's Peoria Journal carried a story about a class action lawsuit filed in Illinois state court against Syngenta, the primary manufacturer of atrazine. And NRDC has just issued a report accusing EPA of ignoring the atrazine problem (summary here...
CONTINUE READINGSurprise! This Was World Water Week
I have to admit that World Water Week slipped by me unnoticed. (I guess I "didn't get the memo.") But it's not too soon to start thinking about next year: The 2010 World Water Week theme will deal with the consequences of water use on the status of the resource itself. Water quality and water quantity are affected by how water and land are used in different sectors. Pollution and water scarcity are two examples of consequences having wide ramifications for society as a w...
CONTINUE READINGRecent Work in Environmental Economics
What are environmental economists thinking about these days? Mostly energy and clmate change, it would seem. Here's a roundup of the most significant recent papers posted at SSRN's environmental economics journal. I've included links to those with free downloads: "Airline Emission Charges: Effects on Airfares, Service Quality, and Aircraft Design" JAN K. BRUECKNER and ANMING ZHANG This paper explores the effect of airline emissions charges on airfares, airline serv...
CONTINUE READINGBisphenol-A in baby bottles . . . and in Sigg bottles (!)
The chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), commonly found in polycarbonate plastics and other household containers, is the subject of a new bill in California because of its potential adverse health effects. BPA hasbeen linked through animal testing to serious health problemsinvolving behavior, brain development, reproduction and heart function. Environmental advocacy groups such as the Environmental Working Group, have been campaigning for a banon the chemical's use in bottles i...
CONTINUE READINGPavley-Waxman Hearing at UCLA
As Cara posted yesterday, California State Senator Fran Pavley and Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) hosted a joint Climate Change forum today at UCLA. As predicted, protesters gathered outside the event but the anti-cap and trade crowd was quite small. Here are photos showing a few protesters: In contrast to the small number of Waxman opponents, a larger crowd turned out to support a public option for health care. Here's a photo of the public option c...
CONTINUE READINGAll Natural Gas Is Not Created Equal
In a recent blog, Dan Farber reports on a deal between ExxonMobil and a division of the China Natural Petroleum Corporation to bring Australian natural gas to China. Dan expresses the hope that the introduction of so much natural gas will produce multiple benefits – carbon reductions since natural gas is better than coal, less air pollution in China and the U.S., and a potential boost to the U.S. economy, since some of the profits will come back to the U.S. While w...
CONTINUE READINGStill more on climate engineering
There's a lot of enthusiasm in some circles for "geo-engineering" as a response to anthropogenic climate change, and a lot of skepticism about it in others. The appeal is obvious -- controlling greenhouse gas emissions looks difficult, since our economies and many of our daily habits (at least in the developed nations, which are providing role models for the developing world) have been built on profligate fossil fuel use. For those with faith in human ingenuity, a techno...
CONTINUE READINGA prospective time-out on Arctic fisheries
Just as it did with krill in the Pacific, NMFS has gotten ahead of the curve in regulating potential new commercial fisheries in the U.S. arctic. Global warming, by reducing the extent of sea ice, promises to open new areas to fishing vessels. At the same time, changing ocean temperatures and currents are expected to affect the distribution and abundance of fish stocks in ways that are not easily predictable. Its clear that there will be pressures on the newly avai...
CONTINUE READINGNanoparticles Potentially Linked to Factory Worker Deaths in China
This week Reuters reported what are billed as the first documented clinical cases of human health effects from exposure to nanoparticles. Seven young women, two of whom died, suffered severe permanent lung damage following months of largely unprotected exposure to fumes and smoke containing nanoparticles in spray painting operation in China. The women all worked in the same small, windowless room without windows or ventilation. Their lung tissues and fluids found i...
CONTINUE READINGRep. Waxman, Sen. Pavley, and Mary Nichols talk climate change
For those of you interested in the relationship between federal climate legislation and California's landmark global warming laws, tune in tomorrow 10am-noon PDT for a public forum at UCLA. It will be live webcast here, and yes, we are apparently even twittering it. Rep. Henry Waxman will talk about his work in passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act through the House earlier this year; Sen. Pavley and Mary Nichols, Chair of the Air Resources Board, wi...
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