As with just about every issue on Earth, most folks who are providing commentary on the Standing Rock Reservation protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline don’t have very much real information about the particular conflict. In order to have a reasoned and intelligent conversation about it, one would imagine wanting to learn more about the […]
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I would love to run a series of posts that simply ask readers to guess whether or not the information is from the Onion. Maybe this one is too obvious, but here goes. Suggestions for Eliminating Food “Waste” “Avoid impulse buying by only going to the grocery store for one ingredient at a time. Hire […]
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Posted in Environment, Fun Facts on Dec 9th, 2016
Via David Gattie, because I am too lazy to update my Environmental Economics slides for my 2017 course:
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You knew that train would be coming to the station soon. Here is the reference, via Marginal Revolution. It is endlessly frustrating to see even the best economists confuse “solving” climate change with “reducing” CO2. Now, you MAY want to do that, but all that the economics of climate change recommends is that “we” pay […]
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Posted in Environment on Nov 17th, 2016
I enjoy following the food demand survey put out by Oklahoma State. Here are two items of interest from the latest: Willingness to pay for all meats, and dollars spent on food at home and away from home fell substantially last month – more than seems to be due to just sampling error Most people […]
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There’s always something fun brewing down at ye ol’ alma mater: Dear Dean Boor and Trustees of the University: As New York State organic farmers, we object to the presence of the “Alliance for Science” on the Cornell campus (http://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/). This advocacy group for the highly controversial agricultural genetic engineering industry, funded almost entirely by […]
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Posted in Environment, Extended Order on Oct 5th, 2016
Many of us are very optimistic about the myriad ways that we may be able to store energy in the future. Why is this crucial? With sufficient energy storage capacity, not only can be be at much less risk when the whims of weather and natural disasters disrupt our production capabilities, but we will much […]
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Posted in Environment on Oct 3rd, 2016
It has been said to me that nearly half of all substances are carcinogenic. Further, substances made by humans (chemists tell me) are not more carcinogenic than things that are “natural.” If you eat peanuts, or drink beer, or drink wine, you are exposing yourself to a very large amount of carcinogens – at least […]
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The dark-colored peppered moth is on the verge of extinction. And it IS very likely because of human activity. Voila! Evidence that humans are bad for species and ecosystems! Might I urge everyone to just take a deep breath and to think harder when information is presented to you? It turns out that the dark […]
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In Nordhaus’s Climate Casino (recommended), in describing the problem when market prices do not fully capture all resource costs, as there are many casinos options everywhere so you should learn about different casinos in USA to find the best one for you: However, the unregulated invisible hand sets the prices incorrectly when there are important externalities. Therefore, […]
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