Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released a new rule to clarify how to provide compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to the nation's wetlands and streams. The rule will enable the agencies to promote greater consistency, predictability and ecological success of mitigation projects under the Clean Water Act.

"This rule greatly improves implementation, monitoring, and performance, and will help us ensure that unavoidable losses of aquatic resources and functions are replaced for the benefit of this Nation. This is a key step in our efforts to make the Army's Regulatory Program a winner, and the best it can be for the regulated community we serve and those interested in both economic development and environmental protection," said John Paul Woodley, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

"This rule advances the president's goals of halting overall loss of wetlands and improving watershed health through sound science, market-based approaches, and cooperative conservation," said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, Benjamin H. Grumbles. "The new standards will accelerate our wetlands conservation efforts under the Clean Water Act by establishing more effective, more consistent, and more innovative mitigation practices."

Benefits of the compensatory mitigation rule include:

* Fostering greater predictability, increased transparency and improved performance of compensatory mitigation projects
* Establishing equivalent standards for all forms of mitigation
* Responding to recommendations of the National Research Council to improve the success of wetland restoration and replacement projects
* Setting clear science-based and results-oriented standards nationwide while allowing for regional variations
* Increasing and expanding public participation
* Encouraging watershed-based decisions
* Emphasizing the "mitigation sequence" requiring that proposed projects avoid and minimize potential impacts to wetlands and streams before proceeding to compensatory mitigation

Each year thousands of property owners undertake projects that affect the nation's aquatic resources. Proposed projects that are determined to impact jurisdictional waters are first subject to review under the Clean Water Act. The Corps of Engineers reviews these projects to ensure environmental impacts to aquatic resources are avoided or minimized as much as possible. Consistent with the administration's goal of "no net loss of wetlands" a Corps permit may require a property owner to restore, establish, enhance or preserve other aquatic resources in order to replace those impacted by the proposed project. This compensatory mitigation process seeks to replace the loss of existing aquatic resource functions and area.

Property owners required to complete mitigation are encouraged to use a watershed approach and watershed planning information. The new rule establishes performance standards, sets timeframes for decision making, and to the extent possible, establishes equivalent requirements and standards for the three sources of compensatory mitigation: permittee-responsible mitigation, mitigation banks and in-lieu-fee programs.

The new rule changes where and how mitigation is to be completed, but maintains existing requirements on when mitigation is required. The rule also preserves the requirement for applicants to avoid or minimize impacts to aquatic resources before proposing compensatory mitigation projects to offset permitted impacts.

Wetlands and streams provide important environmental functions including protecting and improving water quality and providing habitat to fish and wildlife. Successful compensatory mitigation projects will replace environmental functions that are lost as a result of permitted activities.

For more information on the compensatory mitigation rule visit: http://www.usace.army.mil/cw/cecwo/reg/citizen.htm or epa.gov/wetlandsmitigation
Information about the importance of wetlands is available at: epa.gov/owow/wetlands/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Press Release dated March 31, 2008
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/3881d73f4d4aaa0b85257359003f5348/d477c2e3110868ef8525741d004eaced!OpenDocument

A coalition of non-profit environmental and economic research organizations from across the country released a ... guide to cities and states to enhance one critical component of America’s shared prosperity: Training and employing people for the higher wage, family-supporting careers in the new clean, green, energy efficient job sectors.

The new guide, “Green-Collar Jobs in America's Cities,” was made public at the start of the two-day national Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in Pittsburgh. It makes a ... case that pursuing a four-step strategy—essentially a metropolitan green business and jobs development plan—provides a wealth of environmental, economic, and social benefits, including what it calls “a pathway out of poverty” for thousands of unemployed, under-employed, and hard to employ people in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The report was
prepared by the Apollo Alliance, Green For All, Center for American Progress and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

The state report, “Greener Pathways,” outlines a plan of action for state policy makers, highlighting reform opportunities to embrace the greener and more equitable promise of the new energy economy.

According to both reports, a job qualifies as green-collar if it provides high enough wages and good benefits to support a family, opportunity to advance and build a career, and reduces waste, pollution, and other environmental risks. Among the green-collar jobs that are gaining in number and popularity, said the studies, are machinists, technicians, service workers, equipment and installation specialists, construction workers, and managers of all kinds.

The business sectors seeking such employees span alternative transportation and fuels, green building and energy efficient retrofitting, renewable energy production and installation, and hundreds of related industries and occupations.

Case Studies From Across the Country
Among the 14 green-collar job programs that the report highlights are these:
• Milwaukee, with the help of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, has organized a major project to retrofit residential, commercial, and institutional buildings in order to significantly reduce energy consumption. Milwaukee Energy Efficiency, or Me2, is raising both public and private capital to finance the retrofit work. Building occupants pay back the funds through charges on their utility bills, and they will realize immediate savings from reduced energy costs.
• In Richmond, California, a non-profit group, Solar Richmond, forged a partnership with the city to provide low-cost and free installations of energy producing solar systems while simultaneously training low-income residents from the community to do the work. One of the project partners, Build Richmond, a city project, established a 10-week training program for construction and solar installation skills. Last year 32 residents completed the program and as of late last year, all but five program graduates were working for local solar and building companies. For more information: Michele McGeoy, Director, 510-847-3172, info@SolarRichmond.org,
http://www.solarrichmond.org/
• In Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian M. Fenty last September announced the start of a “Green Collar Job Advisory Council,” and has tapped the directors of four city agencies to play integral roles in the development of green jobs training policies. The central goals of Mayor Fenty's effort are to develop the capacity of local businesses and workers to capitalize on opportunities opened by an array of new green policies and programs. Among them are 1) a new Green Building Law, 2) storm water management and green urban infrastructure policies, 3) a comprehensive energy policy that promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy installations, and 4) a city-wide commitment to reducing carbon emissions to fight climate change. For more information: http://planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1282,q,642589.asp

Reasoned Four-Step Strategy: Assess, Enact, Train, Communicate
The process for establishing these and other green-collar development programs starts, said the guide, with research to understand local economic conditions, business strengths, and opportunities to develop green businesses and jobs. Los Angeles, for instance, developed a convening organization and published a comprehensive report in 2006, “Jobs in L.A.'s Green Technology Sector,” that identified green industries poised for growth and the ability of the community to fill jobs in those sectors. The report has served as guiding document in the city's work to build a green jobs economy. See:
http://www.economicrt.org/summaries/Green_Tech_synopsis.html

“Green-Collar Jobs” also calls on cities to enact new policies and programs to stimulate demand for green businesses and jobs. Chicago and New York are among the growing number of cities that require municipal buildings to be retrofitted to improve energy efficiency, a step that encourages new opportunities for the construction trades, energy auditors, and other specialists.

The third step in the report's strategy urges cities to develop training programs that take a special interest in providing job opportunities for low income residents. Especially significant in developing such training programs are building the skill set for jobs that actually exist or are on the way so that trainees have rewarding work when they finish.
...
More Green-Collar Job Programs
Other successful green-collar job development projects noted in the study include:
-- The Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program and the Center for Sustainable Energy in the Bronx, both of which are moving people from welfare into green collar jobs. For more information: James Chase, Director of Communications, Sustainable South Bronx, 212-431-5113, Givechase@gmail.com, Annette Williams, Director, B.E.S.T.. Program, 718-617-4668, awilliams@ssbx.org, http://www.ssbx.org/.
-- B'more Green, an initiative of Civic Works, is an innovative job training program for unemployed and underemployed residents of Baltimore to gain entry level positions in environmental technology. For more information: John Ciekot, Project Director, 410-366-8533, jciekot@civicworks.com, http://www.civicworks.com/bmghome.html.
-- Wilbur Wright College in Chicago has a six-course, 21-credit hour occupation building certificate in building energy technologies. The first 14 students graduated in December. For more information: Victoria Cooper, Director, Environmental Technology Program, Wilbur Wright College, 773-481-8610, vcooper@ccc.edu, http://wright.ccc.edu/department/etp/build.asp.
...
According to the report, many skills of the greener future are closely related to the skills of today. And most of the jobs in them industries examined in this report—electricians retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency, lab technicians ensuring quality control in ethanol plants, machinists crafting wind turbine components and technicians maintaining them—do not require advanced degrees. Thus the greener pathways of this report lead to middle-skill jobs in the clean energy future.

Greener Pathways examines jobs in three key green industries:
• Energy efficiency may be the fastest, cheapest way for states to address global warming, reduce energy costs for citizens, and create and sustain good jobs. The report looks primarily at residential retrofits, one sector in a broader field that includes commercial and industrial retrofits, green building, and green manufacturing.
• Wind power is growing rapidly in the U.S. and abroad and has the potential to be an economic driver in urban and rural areas. Wind power has the capacity for job creation in manufacturing as well as installation and operations. Component part manufacturing for wind turbines holds particular promise.
• Biofuels have taken root and are generating more policy interest and business investment, particularly in the Midwest. The report, while noting that biofuels may have significant environmental consequences, examines jobs in ethanol and biodiesel production.

The report offers a snapshot of such jobs for three key green industries in the at-aglance” charts folded into a summary (with further details in the report):

Key Points
• Jobs in energy efficiency retrofitting, wind and biofuels look a lot like traditional construction jobs.
• While only two of these energy efficiency retrofittting occupations show faster than average projected growth, the Department of Labor (DOL) identifies all 10 key energy efficiency retrofiittng jobs as “in-demand” because they are critical to high-growth industries.
• Every $1 Million invested in efficiency retrofits generates eight to eleven on-site
• Job numbers rise if we include indirect economic effects. State and municipal retrofitting programs will need to be tied to regional training programs, as the construction and building trades face imminent shortages of skilled workers. A good place to start greening career pathways in the building trades is through union apprenticeship and related programs, some of which are currently constructing workable pathways out of poverty.
• Some construction jobs have high wages, but offer only seasonal employment.

Jobs to Watch
Some high-demand energy-efficiency jobs are relatively new; we do not have good wage and employment data because they are not yet tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, however, is in the process of standardizing job titles and skill requirements for energy auditors. And the Regional Economic Development Institute at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College identifies several emerging middle-skill occupations among green construction jobs with highest employment potential:
Energy and indoor air quality auditor
Deconstruction worker
HVAC operations and maintenance technician
Systems technician
Solar installer and technician

To stabilize carbon emission levels, the U.S. needs to add 185,000 MW of renewable energy in ten years. The Renewable Energy Policy Project calculates wind power’s share to be roughly 125,000 MW, which would support close to 400,000 domestic manufacturing jobs. The American wind industry is growing at ...45% per year.

Minnesota West Community and Technical College found that employers wanted graduates of three wind energy related tracks:
Wind energy technician
Wind energy mechanic
Windsmith

Jobs in biodiesel and ethanol production pay decent wages, but offer few jobs: A 50 million gallon per year (MGY) plant employs on average 35 workers. A few good jobs, however, can bring significant benefits to rural communities.

Increasing the scale of production does not significantly increase employment. An ethanol operation that grows from 40MGY to 100MGY might grow from 35 to 45 or 55 workers; a biodiesel plant expanding from 4 to 10MGY could potentially operate at the same general staffing level—12 employees.

The job creation potential of biofuel refineries has been greatly exaggerated. Reliable studies now suggest that the jobs multiplier is a modest 3-4, depending on local markets. Local ownership demonstrably boosts indirect economic impacts. Metal manufacturing jobs will likely be in demand as the biofuels industry matures.

Biodiesel related jobs include:
Ethanol plant technician
Ethanol plant operator
Ethanol maintenance mechanic
Biodiesel laboratory technician
Biodiesel maintenance mechanic
Biodiesel process control technician
biofuels

For the full report, including more information on partners, links to related resources, and bibliography, go to www.cows.org. The co-authors can be reached at swhite@cows.org; jason@greenforall.org.

Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS); 1180 Observatory Drive; Madison, WI 53706; 608.263.3889; cows-info@cows.org; www.cows.org
http://www.cows.org/greenerpathways/
Press Release and Executive Summary dated March 13, 2008

The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership (GGFR) today called on oil producing countries and companies in the Middle East to join worldwide efforts in reducing the burning of natural gas or flaring, and in increasing energy efficiency to mitigate impact on climate change. A World Bank delegation is participating at the 13th Annual Middle East Gas Summit in Doha, Qatar, on March 5th and 6th.
...
The GGFR partnership estimates that globally at least 150 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas are flared or wasted every year, adding about 400 million tons of greenhouse gases in annual emissions. This is equivalent to almost all the potential yearly emission reductions from projects currently submitted under the Kyoto mechanisms.

Gas Flaring in the Middle East and North Africa region is about 50 billion cubic meters annually, which makes it the second flaring region in the world after Russia and the Caspian region (about 60 bcm). Sub-Saharan Africa flares about 35 bcm. The amount of gas flared in the Middle East alone (about 30 bcm) could feed a 20 million ton liquefied natural gas plant.

“Each cubic meter of gas flared is a waste of resources that also generates two kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” said Bent Svensson, Manager of the Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership, who explained that gas flaring reduction has been most successful where there is country buy-in, high-level support and an effective local partnership between government and industry.

According to satellite data released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) last August, in 2006 oil producing countries and companies burned about 170 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas worldwide or nearly five trillion cubic feet. That’s equivalent to 27% of total U.S. natural gas consumption and 5.5% of total global production of natural gas for the year. If the gas had been sold in the United States instead of being flared, the total US market value would have been about $40 billion.

These satellite observations also show that some countries in the Middle East and North Africa region have increased gas flaring over the past 12 years. These include: Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

On the other hand, the satellite observations show that other countries have decreased gas flaring from 1995 to 2006, including Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and UAE. And other countries have had largely stable gas flaring across those 12 years. These include Iran and Kuwait.

GGFR is a public-private partnership of governments, state-owned companies and major international oil companies committed to reducing flaring and venting worldwide. The GGFR partnership facilitates and supports national efforts to use the associated gas that comes with oil production and thus reduce flaring, by tackling the lack of effective regulatory frameworks and the constraints on gas utilization, such as insufficient infrastructure and poor access to local and international energy markets, particularly in developing countries.

The top 20 major flaring countries in the world include: Russia, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, Angola, Venezuela, Qatar, Algeria, the United States, Kuwait, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Congo, the United Kingdom, and Gabon.

To learn more about the GGFR partnership and gas flaring, please visit: www.worldbank.org/ggfr

Background information:

What is gas flaring?
When crude oil is brought to the surface from several kilometers below, gas associated with such oil extraction usually comes to the surface as well. If oil is produced in areas of the world which lack gas infrastructure or a nearby gas market, a significant portion of this associated gas may be released into the atmosphere, un-ignited (vented) or ignited (flared).

On GGFR
Launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002, the GGFR public-private partnership brings around the table representatives of governments of oil-producing countries, state-owned companies and major international oil companies so that they can together overcome the barriers to reducing gas flaring by sharing global best practices and implementing country specific programs in gas flaring countries, with funding provided in part by the European Union, the World Bank, oil companies and countries.

The World Bank www.WorldBank.org
http://go.worldbank.org/V4NBWE2EN0
March 5, 2008

Abstract: Billions of dollars are now spent annually in the United States and Europe for spatially delineated environmental services such as agricultural landscape management and river restoration programs, yet little is known about the spatial distribution of the benefits from these policies. This paper develops a framework for recovering information on this question from the spatial pattern of votes cast for referenda on the provision of spatially delineated public goods. We specify a model linking voter support for environmental improvement to the distance at which such improvements are expected to occur. The empirical application is to a river restoration referendum in the Swiss canton of Bern. The results indicate that the benefits from river restoration have a strong local component, sufficiently strong that voter approval would not occur if only canton-wide benefits were at stake. Surprisingly, support of river restoration is no greater, and in some specifications is actually lower, in locations where rivers are a prominent feature in the environment.

by Robert T. Deacon 1 and Felix Schläpfer 2
1. University of California, Santa Barbara; Department of Economics; Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA (deacon@econ.ucsb.edu)
2. Socioeconomic Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland

University of California, Santa Barbara www.ucsb.edu; Department of Economics
Working Paper 05-07; June 21, 2007
http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1209&context=ucsbecon

...
Consider this: the new environmental awareness is unleashing a wave of innovation in every category of technology - including portable music and video players.

Already, there are two [self-powered]... players: the Media Street eMotion Solar ($160 to $190, capacities from 1 to 4 gigabytes) and the Baylis Eco Media Player ($200 from realgoods.com, 2 gigabytes). Neither needs batteries or power from a cord; they can live completely off the grid.

The eMotion Solar (5.5. x 3 x 1 inch) opens like a book, revealing two broad, black, shiny solar panels. To charge this machine, you just stick it where the sun does shine, like on a windowsill. Even on an overcast day, its little Recharge indicator light pops on. The battery recharges after 12 to 15 hours of exposure to sunlight, which the company says is enough for nine hours of music playback.... If you're in direct sun, you don't even care about the battery; sunlight alone is enough to drive music playback.

The Eco Player, on the other hand, has a built-in crank on the back, no more obtrusive than a belt clip.... According to the company, one minute of winding generates enough power for 40 minutes of music playback. A fully charged battery can play music for 20 hours, or video for 10.

FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/technology/personaltech/13pogue.html?_r=2&8cir=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=cir&adxnnlx=1206245854-7BhX0BvwBp9pob9R4F8UsQ&oref=slogin
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss some of the important and critical decision criteria including cleaner production implementation of an efficient system to prioritize competitive priorities. Fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) based methodology is discussed to tackle the different decision criteria involved in the selection of competitive priorities in current business scenario. FANP is an efficient tool to handle the fuzziness of the data involved in deciding the preferences of different decision variables. The linguistic level of comparisons produced by the professionals and experts for each comparison are tapped in the form of triangular fuzzy numbers to construct fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices. The implementation of the system is demonstrated by a problem having four stages of hierarchy which contains different criteria, attributes and alternatives at wider perspective. The proposed model can provide a hierarchical framework for the cleaner production implemented organization to select on its competitive priorities.

Keywords: Cleaner production (CP), Competitive priority, Fuzzy analytic network process (FANP)

by M. L. Tseng 1, Y. H. Lin 1, A. S. F. Chiu 2 and J. C. H. Liao 2
1. Department of Business Administration, Ming-Dao University, #369 Wen-Hwa Road, Peetou Township, Changhua County, 52345, Taiwan; Email: ml.tseng@mdu.edu.tw
2. De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy via Springer Publishing www.SpringerLink.com
Volume 10, Number 1; February, 2008; Pages 17-29
DOI: 10.1007/s10098-007-0109-4
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r57605x0765t75x6/

Abstract: Whereas life expectancy continues to increase in most industrialized countries, many developing and transition countries are today confronted with decreases in life expectancy. Usual measures employed to compare welfare over time and space fail to deal with such demographic change and may lead to the so-called ‘repugnant conclusion’ that lower life expectancy involves higher welfare per capita. We illustrate this type of transmission channel using various welfare criteria and reference populations. We also consider feed-back effects from the demography on the economy using a neo-classical growth model. We show that the ‘repugnant conclusion’ can be avoided if we choose a lifetime welfare measure instead of a period (or snapshot) welfare measure. All concepts are illustrated empirically using a small sample of developed and developing countries.

by Michael Grimm 1 and Kenneth Harttgen 2
1. Institute of Social Studies, Kortenaerkade 12, P.O. Box 29776, 2502 LT, The Hague, The Netherlands; University of Göttingen, Germany; DIAL, Paris, France; DIW, Berlin, Germany; e-mail: grimm@iss.nl
2. University of Göttingen, Department of Economics, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany; e-mail: k.harttgen@wiwi.uni-goettingen.de

Oxford Economic Papers via Oxford University Press
Volume 60, Issue 2; 2008; Pages 193-211
doi:10.1093/oep/gpm025
http://oep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/2/193?etoc

...
The Amazon rain forest happens also to be an incomparable storehouse of carbon.... Brazil now ranks fourth in the world in carbon emissions, and most of its emissions come from deforestation....

This land rush is being accelerated by an unlikely source: biofuels. An explosion in demand for farm-grown fuels has raised global crop prices to record highs, which is spurring a dramatic expansion of Brazilian agriculture, which is invading the Amazon at an increasingly alarming rate.

...The U.S. quintupled its production of ethanol--ethyl alcohol, a fuel distilled from plant matter--in the past decade, and Washington has just mandated another fivefold increase in renewable fuels over the next decade. Europe has similarly aggressive biofuel mandates and subsidies, and Brazil's filling stations no longer even offer plain gasoline. Worldwide investment in biofuels rose from $5 billion in 1995 to $38 billion in 2005 and is expected to top $100 billion by 2010....

But several new studies show the biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended: it's dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline.

Meanwhile, by diverting grain and oilseed crops from dinner plates to fuel tanks, biofuels are jacking up world food prices and endangering the hungry. The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves. The U.N.'s World Food Program says it needs $500 million in additional funding and supplies, calling the rising costs for food nothing less than a global emergency. Soaring corn prices have sparked tortilla riots in Mexico City, and skyrocketing flour prices have destabilized Pakistan, which wasn't exactly tranquil when flour was affordable.
...
By Michael Grunwald
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html
Time www.Times.com
March 27, 2008

Point Carbon, a provider of independent analysis and consulting services for governments and companies in the global power, gas and carbon markets, released its “Carbon 2008” report which includes the results of the largest survey ever conducted into the carbon market. This report was announced at a press briefing today during Point Carbon’s 5th annual conference, Carbon Market Insights 2008, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Point Carbon received over 3700 responses to their comprehensive survey, 40 percent of which trade or own European Union Allowances (EUAs) or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). Combined with additional Point Carbon analysis, the report presents an overview of the carbon market in 2007, an outlook for 2008 and expectations for the remainder of the first Kyoto period and beyond.

The report explores in-depth the following key findings:

Global carbon markets worth USD $60 billion (€40 billion) in 2007, up by 80 percent from 2006. The total traded volume increased by 64 percent from 1.6 Gt (1.6 billion tons) in 2006 to 2.7 Gt in 2007.

There seems to be a generally bullish sentiment on carbon, not necessarily reflected in current market prices. Survey respondents now on average expect a carbon price of USD $37/ton (€24/ton) in 2010 and USD $54/ton (€35/ton) in 2020, which is USD $9 (€6) and USD $15 (€10) higher, respectively, than they expected a year ago. This demonstrates that market participants now realize that the EU ETS will face a considerable shortage and that much of this will have to be met through reductions taking place in Europe.

General optimism that we are moving towards a global carbon market. More than 70 percent of respondents believe that a climate agreement for the post-2012 period will be agreed upon before the end of the Kyoto period. In Point Carbon’s view, getting the United States on board will be vital for a new agreement. Interestingly, survey respondents do not necessarily agree, with about 77 percent expecting an agreement to be reached regardless of whether or not the U.S. participates. However, more than half of respondents expect that the U.S. will take on reduction commitments and participate in a new agreement.

Carbon prices are now seen as an important factor in the operating and investment decisions of companies. Over two-thirds of survey respondents claim that the EU ETS has caused emission reductions of some kind, either already implemented or at the planning stage. While this might be good news for the development of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, expect to see similar developments in other places around the world in the years to come. Over 72 percent of the survey respondents expect there to be a global reference price for carbon by 2020 and 73 percent of EU ETS survey respondents agree that the carbon price is relevant to investment decisions. As the world increasingly takes into account the cost of emissions and the value of reductions, the carbon market will continue to incentivize investments in cleaner technology and emission reductions.

“The global carbon market is heating up at a fast and furious pace, while forming at a time of ever-increasing attention to climate change,” said Kjetil Røine, Manager of Point Carbon’s Carbon Market Research team. “Last year was another record one in the market, with markets worth more than USD $60 billion (€40 billion) in 2007, up 80 percent from 2006.”

Point Carbon predicts that the global carbon market will see 4.2 billion tons carbon emissions (CO2e) transacted during 2008, up 56 percent from 2007. At today’s prices, that would make the market worth USD $92 billion (€63 billion).

“We expect that the general trend of increasing traded volumes will continue to expand exponentially as the global market becomes more mature and sophisticated. An increase in contract types, more players and markets and greater competition between market players together will generate momentum for higher volumes,” said Røine.

Point Carbon www.PointCarbon.com
http://www.pointcarbon.com/getfile.php/fileelement_134499/11_March_2008_Largest_survey_ever_conducted_into_the_world%E2%80%99s_carbon_market_released__today.pdf
Press Release dated March 11, 2008

A plan to promote energy efficiency, clean air and lower energy costs in the East Village has hit delays that organizers fear has cost New York City a trendsetting model for community-based solutions to environmental problems and high energy prices. But a resolution to the delays may be in the offing.

A new template for retrofitting old buildings called “Greening a Block” would work with landlords, tenants and community groups to replace inefficient appliances and light fixtures, install insulation and better-sealed windows, and create jobs while reducing the environmental impact of existing city residences. The designers of Greening a Block say the project could be replicated in as many as 6,000 blocks around New York City that have a mix of five- and six-story walk-up residences and commercial property.

What makes Greening a Block different from other models of community-based environmental programs ...is that designers hope to make improving the environment something building owners and tenants have to choose not to do.....

But four years after implementation of the program was first envisioned for parts of the East Village, residents, building owners and business owners are still missing out on the program's promised benefits. ...

The original proposal for Greening a Block promised a decrease in local air pollution as well as lower energy costs. According to the original feasibility study, building owners would net a savings of $7,200 per year on heat, hot water and electric bills. Apartment tenants could expect savings of $210 per year; for small business owners it would be $1,390 per year. Small particulate matter, produced by burning fossil fuels in energy production linked to asthma and other severe respiratory problems, was predicted to decrease.

The Greening a Block program grew out of a 2002 settlement between Community Board 3 and Con Edison over the controversial expansion of the 14th Street power station in 2000. In the settlement, the community gave up the right to sue Con Ed, and the utility agreed to give $3.75 million to CB3 and local environmental groups to lessen the effects of increased power generation on the Lower East Side.
...
By Evan Weinberger

FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3522
City Limits Weekly www.CityLimits.org
#631; March 17, 2008

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed its first carbon delivery guarantee agreements in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The new carbon finance product is expected to give companies selling carbon credits the chance to access a wider range of potential buyers by mitigating country and project risk, and it therefore helps to boost the carbon market in these regions.

In South Africa, IFC’s agreement covers up to 900,000 carbon credits from Omnia, one of the country’s leading fertilizer producers. In India, IFC signed a deal for 850,000 carbon credits from Rain CII Carbon (India), an IFC client for over 15 years and now the largest merchant of calcined coke in the world with production in India and the United States.

Under the new carbon delivery guarantee, IFC facilitates delivery of carbon credits from companies in developing countries to buyers in developed countries. IFC acts as an intermediary, selling companies’ credits in the market and passing an attractive price back to the projects. Clients profit from IFC’s AAA credit rating by gaining access to markets and benefit from full price transparency. For buyers in developed countries, IFC also eliminates the risk of not receiving the promised carbon credits.

“IFC is in a unique position to help clients maximize the benefits of the carbon credit market, given our experience in the carbon market and our financial strength,” said IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thunell. “We are eager to work with companies in developing countries who want to undertake climate friendly projects and commercialize carbon assets.”

Under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, companies in developing countries can qualify to sell carbon credits, known as Certified Emission Reductions, in global commodity markets when they reduce their output of environmentally harmful substances. The process aims to decouple economic growth from an increase in the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

IFC is actively pursing carbon delivery guarantee deals throughout the developing world. In Rain’s case, the Indian company used IFC financing to install waste heat recovery facilities that help eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels for power generation and generate carbon credits as a result.

Omnia’s emission reductions will come from a nitrous oxide destruction facility that will significantly reduce emissions. Nitrous dioxide and other greenhouse gases are considered the leading cause of global climate change.

IFC has been active in the carbon market since 2002, largely through the IFC-Netherlands Carbon Facility and the Netherlands European Carbon Facility. IFC purchases emissions reductions in developing countries on behalf of the Dutch government, which, in turn, uses the emissions reductions to comply with its Kyoto Protocol commitment.

The new carbon delivery guarantee is an integral part of IFC’s climate change strategy, through which IFC helps its clients maximize their potential for clean energy, including by generating carbon credits.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC's vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

International Finance Corporation www.ifc.org
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/media.nsf/content/SelectedPressRelease?OpenDocument&UNID=E98BE5B64B0B132F8525740F005ECE10
Press Release dated March 17, 2008

Some 2.6 billion people worldwide have one thing in common—they do not have access to sanitation—but the World Bank and the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) are helping change that.

To raise awareness for this crisis, this year’s World Water Day will focus on sanitation.

Worldwide, about 1.7 million deaths a year—90 percent of which are children—are attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene, mainly through infectious diarrhea. Access to sanitation, the practice of good hygiene, and a safe water supply could save 1.5 million children a year.

As the world’s largest investor in sanitation and wastewater, the Bank helps improve sanitation services that reduce illness, generate economic benefits, and reduce the environmental squalor that directly harms people around the globe. For the past 30 years, WSP, a multidonor partnership of the World Bank, has led or supported many of the advances made within the water and sanitation sector.

In only 14 years more than 1 billion people have gained access to sanitation. But because of population growth, the rate of sanitation provision needs to be doubled to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without access to hygienic sanitation by 2015. Doubling the effort will not be easy, but it is achievable.

Sanitation and wastewater commitments have effectively tripled since 1990 and nearly doubled since 2002. This growth reflects increasing client concern, the effects of the MDGs, and the efforts of World Bank staff to raise the profile of sanitation and wastewater with clients.

Improved sanitation increases primary school enrollment, reduces illnesses so children miss fewer school days, increases productivity among adults, provides safety to women, and reduces the pollution of water resources.

The costs of environmental and health degradation due to inadequate water and sanitation services have been estimated at more than 1 percent of GDP in Colombia, 0.6 percent in Tunisia, and 1.4 percent in Bangladesh.

Sanitation access, good hygiene, and a safe water supply can save 1.5 million children a year.

Poor sanitation is responsible for at least $9 billion in economic losses per year in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam combined, says a new Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) study -- Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Southeast Asia.

Sanitation is a neglected aspect of development in countries where spending is limited. By examining the economic impacts of poor sanitation, and the potential gains from improved sanitation, this study provides evidence to support further investments in sanitation.

The most devastating impact of poor sanitation is an increased risk of infectious disease and premature death, accounting for more than $4.8 billion, or $12 per capita annually, according to the study.

Poor sanitation also contributes significantly to water pollution—adding to the cost of safe freshwater for households, and reducing the production of fish in rivers and lakes.

To find out more about what the World Bank, WSP, and their partners are doing to improve the sanitation situation, visit www.wsp.org and www.worldbank.org/watsan .

To order a free copy of this publication, please send your name and address to wsp@worldbank.org.

The World Bank www.WorldBank.org
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21693343~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

On March 25, 2008, EPA held the acid rain auction giving private citizens, brokers and power plants the opportunity to buy and sell sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowances, as part of the cap and trade program to reduce acid rain. When fully implemented in 2010, the Acid Rain Program will have cut SO2 emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels.

The national emissions cap and SO2 allowance trading work to create one of the most successful environmental programs to date. Each allowance is equivalent to one ton of acid rain-causing SO2, emitted from power plants. The Acid Rain Program uses a market-driven cap-and-trade system to cut SO2 emissions from power plants.

Since 1990, SO2 emissions have declined more than five million tons, and acid deposition in the eastern United States has declined by at least 30 percent improving the condition of lakes and streams. The Acid Rain Program has realized human and environmental benefits earlier, and at less cost, than would have occurred with conventional approaches. Current estimates indicate that program compliance costs are about 75 percent below those initially predicted by EPA.

The auction includes two types of allowances: 125,000 offered for use in 2008 and 125,000 additional allowances offered seven years in advance to help provide stability in planning for capital investments. These advance allowances will be available for use in 2015. The number of allowances a source purchases will not permit them to emit SO2 at a level that would violate the health-based national ambient air quality standard. The weighted average of winning bids for 2008 is $389.91.

For detailed results of the 2008 acid rain auction and information about the trading program visit: epa.gov/airmarkets/trading/2008/index.html
Data about allowance transactions are available at: epa.gov/airmarkets
For information about the acid rain program visit: epa.gov/acidrain/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency www.EPA.gov
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/89cbb61795134fd685257419004c9367!OpenDocument

Abstract: Value assessment is a central element in an EIA for the understanding of the impacts of specified projects. The value assessment contains subjective elements and this may cause errors and difficulties in numeric value assessment methods. There is a need for transparent common criteria to promote discussion and understanding. A common criteria base already exists, but lack of communication between different management systems and different disciplines, all with different traditions in value assessment, makes the situation complex. In this article we have looked into the basic understanding of value linked to the investigation themes of natural environment, cultural heritage and society. The investigation themes linked to social science is difficult to incorporate into a common system, basically because they have less focus on land use and contain different value types.

Much of the relevant literature about value assessment is linked to the assessment of sites of special interest as candidates for legal protection or conservation. In an EIA a much broader range of areas is introduced, including the “every day landscape” with a lower and more general level of value. Together with a focus on mitigation and adjustments of plans, this results in a need for a more detailed value assessment scale than is normally in use today. We have suggested a new scale to ease communication between different disciplines and management systems.

How we understand value is not constant over time, nor is the level of knowledge. This makes it necessary to sustain an ongoing debate on value assessment. The need for a dynamic value assessment system increases with the increasing use of database modelling, digital analysis of map data (GIS) etc. Lack of a ongoing value debate will rapidly lead to misleading and biased results.

Keywords: EIA; Value; Natural environment; Cultural heritage; Social impact

by Lars Erikstad 1, Inge Lindblom 2, Gro Jerpåsen 2, Martin A. Hanssen 3, Trine Bekkby 4, Odd Stabbetorp 1 and Vegar Bakkestuen 1 and 5
1. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Gaustadalléen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway; Tel.: +47 73801708; fax: +47 22 60 04 24
2. The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), Box 736, Sentrum NO-0105 Oslo, Norway
3. Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), Box 44 Blindern, NO-0313 Oslo, Norway
4. Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Gaustadalléen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway
5. Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway

Environmental Impact Assessment Review via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 28, Issues 2-3; February-April 2008; Pages 131-143
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2007.03.005

Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of providing environmental amenities associated with open space in a discrete-space urban model and characterizes optimal provision of open space across a metropolitan area. The discrete-space model assumes distinct neighborhoods in which developable land is homogeneous within a neighborhood but heterogeneous across neighborhoods. Open space provides environmental amenities within the neighborhood it is located and may provide amenities in other neighborhoods (amenity spillover). We solve for equilibrium under various assumptions about amenity spillover effects and transportation costs in both open-city (with in- and out-migration) and closed-city (fixed population) versions of the model. Increasing open space tends to increase equilibrium housing density and price within a neighborhood. In an open-city model, open space provision also increases housing density and price in other neighborhoods if there is an amenity spillover effect. In a closed-city model, housing density and prices in other neighborhoods can decrease if the pull of the local amenity value is stronger than the push from reduced availability of developable land. We use numerical simulation to solve for the optimal pattern of open space in two examples: a simple symmetric case and a simulation based on the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota, USA. With no amenity spillover, it is optimal to provide the same amount of open space in all neighborhoods regardless of transportation cost. With amenity spillover effects and relatively high transportation cost, it is optimal to provide open space in a greenbelt at the edge of the city. With low transportation cost, open space is provided throughout the city with the exception of neighborhoods on the periphery of the city, where the majority of the population lives. A greenbelt still occurs but its location is inside the city.

Keywords: Open space; Environmental amenities; Discrete urban economics model

by Liaila Tajibaeva 1, Robert G. Haight 2 and Stephen Polasky 3
1. Department of Economics, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada; Tel.: +1 416 979 5000x7724; fax: +1 416 598 5916.
2. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
3. Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA

Resource and Energy Economics via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 30, Issue 2; May, 2008; Pages 170-196
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2007.09.001

Bioenergy projects must be economically viable for the different actors in the value chain. Forest biomass used for energy purposes must be able to compete with other uses of the biomass, and at the same time the energy produced from biomass must be as cheap as or cheaper than energy produced from competing energy systems. The costs in these calculations are changing all the time; in particular the cost of fossil fuels shows large variations. As the risk is high and the economic margins in many cases are low, there is a tendency that investors are reluctant to invest in bioenergy projects. On the other hand, prices of wood based fuels have been rising modestly compared with e.g. oil and gas, which reduces the economic risk when investing in a bioenergy project (Metla 2006, Kåberger 1997). In addition, there are many socioeconomic benefits to bioenergy projects that in many cases are not accounted for in the market prices, which is a strong argument for economic support of bionenergy projects.

Bioenergy projects contribute to many important elements of national and regional economic development: economic growth through production and business expansion (earnings), employment, import substitution (direct and indirect on the trade balance), security and diversificaton of energy supply (distributed energy) (see e.g. Hillring 2002). Other benefits include strengthening of traditional industries and rural communities (Borsboom et al. 2002).

by Anders Lunnan 6, Lelde Vilkriste 7, Gunnar Wilhelmsen 6, Diana Mizaraite 8, Antti Asikainen 9 and Dominik Röser 9
6. Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-1431 Ås, Norway
7. Latvian State Forestry Research Institute, LV-2169, Salaspils, Latvia
8. Lithuanian Forest Research Institute, 4312 LT, Girionys, Lithuania
9. Finnish Forest Research Institute, FIN-80101, Joensuu, Finland

Book Chapter 8 in Sustainable Use of Forest Biomass for Energy
Edited by Dominik Röser, Antti Asikainen, Karsten Raulund-Rasmussen and Inge Stupak
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-5054-1
ISBN: 978-1-4020-5053-4 (Print) 978-1-4020-5054-1 (Online)
Pages 197-234
SpringerLink Date March 05, 2008; Copyright 2008
Book Series: Managing Forest Ecosystems; Volume 12
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q2k327v68jvvk465/

According to Jeffrey Rosen writing in The New York Times Magazine "... The Supreme Court term that ended last June was, by all measures, exceptionally good for American business. The chamber’s litigation center filed briefs in 15 cases and its side won in 13 of them — the highest percentage of victories in the center’s 30-year history. The current term, which ends this summer, has also been shaping up nicely for business interests."
...
A generation ago, progressive and consumer groups petitioning the court could count on favorable majority opinions written by justices who viewed big business with skepticism — or even outright prejudice....

Today, however, there are no economic populists on the court, even on the liberal wing. And ever since John Roberts was appointed chief justice in 2005, the court has seemed only more receptive to business concerns. Forty percent of the cases the court heard last term involved business interests, up from around 30 percent in recent years. While the Rehnquist Court heard less than one antitrust decision a year, on average, between 1988 and 2003, the Roberts Court has heard seven in its first two terms — and all of them were decided in favor of the corporate defendants.

...In the current Supreme Court term, the justices have already blocked a liability suit against Medtronic, the manufacturer of a heart catheter, and rejected a type of shareholder suit that includes a claim against Enron. In the coming months, the court will decide whether to reduce the largest punitive-damage award in American history, which resulted from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

...With their pro-business jurisprudence, the justices may be capturing an emerging spirit of agreement among liberal and conservative elites about the value of free markets. ...Judges, lawyers and law professors (such as myself) drilled in cost-benefit analysis over the past three decades, are no exception. It should come as little surprise that John Roberts and Stephen Breyer, both of whom studied the economic analysis of law at Harvard, have similar instincts in business cases.
...
This elite consensus, however, is not necessarily shared by the country as a whole....

The origins of the business community’s campaign to transform the Supreme Court can be traced back precisely to Aug. 23, 1971. That was the day when Lewis F. Powell Jr., a corporate lawyer in Richmond, Va., wrote a memo to his friend Eugene B. Snydor, then the head of the education committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In the memo, Powell expressed his concern that the American economic system was “under broad attack.”
...
This term, the Supreme Court has continued to cut back on consumer suits. In a ruling in January, the court refused to allow a shareholder suit against the suppliers to Charter Communications, one of the country’s largest cable companies. The suppliers were alleged to have “aided and abetted” Charter’s efforts to inflate its earnings, but the court held that Charter’s investors had to show that they had relied on the deceptive acts committed by the suppliers before the suit could proceed. A week later, the court invoked the same principle when it refused to hear an appeal in a case related to Enron, in which investors are trying to recover $40 billion from Wall Street banks that they claim aided and abetted Enron’s fraud. As a result, the shareholder suit against the banks may be dead.
...
The Breyer and Ginsburg nominations ... came at a time when liberal as well as conservative judges and academics were gravitating in increasing numbers to an economic approach to the law, originally developed at the University of Chicago. The law-and-economics movement sought to evaluate the efficiency of legal rules based on their costs and benefits for society as a whole. Although originally conservative in its orientation, the movement also attracted prominent moderate and liberal scholars and judges like Breyer, who before his nomination wrote two books on regulation, arguing that government health-and-safety spending is distorted by sensational media reports of disasters that affect relatively few citizens.
...
Although the court is currently accepting less than 2 percent of the 10,000 petitions it receives each year, the Chamber of Commerce’s petitions between 2004 and 2007 were granted at a rate of 26 percent.... Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Georgetown who also represents environmental clients before the court, recently ran the numbers and found that the court reverses the lower court in 65 percent of the cases it agrees to hear; and when the petitioner is represented by the elite Supreme Court advocates routinely hired by the chamber, the success rate rises to 75 percent.
...
Punitive damages — money awarded by civil juries on top of any awarded for actual harm that victims have suffered — are designed to penalize especially egregious acts of corporate misconduct resulting from malice or greed, and to deter similar wrongdoing in the future. In the 19th century, courts generally demanded a clear assignment of fault in cases where victims sued for injuries caused by malfunctioning products. It was hard for plaintiffs to recover in personal-injury cases unless the corporation was obviously at fault. But in the 20th century, in liability cases involving a rapidly expanding class of potentially dangerous products like cars, drugs and medical devices, courts increasingly applied a standard of “strict liability,” which held that manufacturers should pay whether or not they were directly at fault.
...
A series of well-publicized awards in the 1980s and ’90s culminated in the largest punitive damage award in American history the $5 billion levied against Exxon after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. This was hardly typical: the median punitive award actually fell to $50,000 in 2001 from $63,000 in 1992.
...
The business community made other inroads against punitive damages. Corporations financed campaigns against pro-punitive-damage state judges who had been elected with the assistance of large contributions from plaintiffs’ lawyers. The business community also helped persuade more than 30 states to either impose caps on punitive-damage awards or direct substantial portions of the awards to be paid into special state funds. In 1996, it helped persuade the Republican Congress, led by Newt Gingrich, to pass legislation that would cap punitive-damage awards in product-liability cases in every state court in the country. But in 1996, President Clinton, with what must have been perverse pleasure, vetoed the bill on the grounds that it violated principles of federalism and states rights to which conservatives claimed to be devoted.

Thwarted by Clinton, and unable to persuade Congress to override the veto, opponents of punitive damages turned their attention back to the Supreme Court, looking for a victory they were unable to win in the political arena. Here, they were remarkably successful. As late as 1991, the court had refused to impose limits on a large punitive-damage award. But in a case in 1996, the court held for the first time that punitive-damage awards had to be proportional to the actual damage incurred by the plaintiff. The case involved a man who said he was deceived by BMW when it sold him a supposedly “new” car that was, in fact, used and had received a $300 touch-up job. The court, in a 5-4 opinion, overturned a $2 million punitive-damage award as “grossly excessive.” In 2003, the court clarified what it meant: a single-digit ratio between punitive damages and compensatory damages was likely to be acceptable.

[One case] last year ... involved the estate of a heavy smoker who sued Philip Morris for deceitfully distributing a “poisonous and addictive substance.” A jury had awarded the estate $821,000 in compensatory damages and $79.5 million in punitive damages — a ratio of about 100 to 1. In a 5-4 opinion written by Breyer, the court held that it was unconstitutional for a jury to use punitive damages to punish a company for its conduct toward similarly affected individuals who are not party to the lawsuit.

This spring, the court will decide the Exxon Valdez punitive-damage case, which many consider the culmination of the business community’s decades-long campaign against punitive damages. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker, whose captain had a history of alcoholism, ran into a reef and punctured the hull; 11 million gallons of oil leaked onto the coastline of Prince William Sound. A jury handed down a $5 billion punitive-damage award.
...
On Feb. 21, the Supreme Court handed llison Zieve of Public Citizen a crushing defeat: an 8-1 opinion immunizing the makers of defective medical devices from product-liability suits. The lone dissent was written by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who objected that Congress could not have intended such a “radical curtailment” of state personal-injury suits when it regulated medical devices in 1976.

by Jeffrey Rosen, law professor at George Washington University, and author, most recently, of “The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America.”

FOR FULL ARTICLE GO TO
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/magazine/16supreme-t.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
The New York Times Magazine www.NYTimes.com
March 16, 2008

Abstract: Motivated by the 2006 report of a Work Group appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this paper examines the present state of meta-analysis in environmental economics and offers recommendations for its future use. To this end we summarize and assess 130 meta-analyses from 115 published and unpublished studies, covering seventeen topical categories in environmental and resource economics. We first provide several generic meta-analysis models as reference points and discuss major estimation issues. Second, a tabular summary is presented for 130 meta-analyses with respect to methodology and econometric methods. Five key issues are identified as part of a complete analysis: (1) sample selection criteria; (2) basic data summary; (3) primary data heterogeneity; (4) heteroskedasticity; and (5) non-independence of multiple observations from primary studies. Third, a narrative summary is presented for 19 meta-analyses, including the three value-of-statistical-life studies examined by the EPA Work Group and one analysis from each of sixteen other categories. Fourth, we offer a set of “best practice” guidelines for future meta-analyses in this and other areas of economics. Last, the paper comments on the use of meta-analytic methods for benefit transfers.

by Jon P. Nelson 1 and Peter E. Kennedy 2
1. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; Voice: 814-237-0157; E-mail: jpn@psu.edu; Web page: http://econ.la.psu.edu/people/biographies/nelson_bio.htm
2. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 (kennedy@sfu.ca)

Pennsylvania State University, Department of Economics http://econ.la.psu.edu/
Working Paper 32008
http://www.econ.psu.edu/people/biographies/nelson_bio.htm