Search Results
Journal Article
A burning issue
Garbage burners play a significant role in a few Ninth District states. For years, local governments have stoked the fire, but the flame appears to be dying
Journal Article
Recycling—righteous or rubbish?
Critics say recycling is garbage. Supporters say it will save the world. The truth lies somewhere in between
Journal Article
The urban forest
Although the usual justification for urban forestry investment is the benefit to the environment, we now know that trees serve other functions, particularly for local economies and public health.
Journal Article
Making affordable housing greener
With a beneficial focus on up-front planning, green building has moved from the fringes to the mainstream. Studies are finding no statistically significant difference between the costs of green construction and traditional building?and operational savings are significant.
Journal Article
Cost v. benefit: clearing the air?
Newsletter
The environment is about economics, too
The cleanup cost of the April 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is estimated at $6 billion, not including the economic damage to the fishing and tourism industries, which will likely add several billion more. Proponents of stricter environmental regulation believe such catastrophes could be prevented at a reasonable cost. Opponents argue that many preventive procedures are too costly to justify, given the rarity of such incidents. Determining the right balance between preserving the environment and controlling costs is a difficult job for government regulators. Read the October 2010 ...
Journal Article
Getting wasted
There are millions of tons of garbage in the Ninth District. This is their story.
Journal Article
Terms of trade and OECD policies to mitigate global climate change
Previous economic research has identified two ways policy to mitigate global climate change could be implemented without minimizing world costs. Costs are boosted when agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are limited to a subset of countries or deadlines for reducing emissions force the premature retirement of energy-using capital equipment. Stephen Brown and Hillard Huntington identify a third way global warming policy could prove more costly from a world perspective-by countries using criteria other than a fuel's greenhouse gas content when determining how to reduce their ...