This paper examines whether countries consider the welfare of other nations when they make water development decisions. We estimate econometric models of the location of major dams around the world as a function of the degree of international sharing of rivers. We find that dams are more...

This essay provides an overview of the major emissions trading programs of the past thirty years on which significant documentation exists, and draws a number of important lessons for future applications of this environmental policy instrument. References to a larger number of other emissions...

More than 40 percent of US corn is now used to produce biofuels, which are used as substitutes for gasoline in transportation. Biofuels have been blamed universally for past increases in world food prices, and many studies have shown that energy mandates in the United States and European Union...

This paper reviews the economic justification for voluntary environmental programs to derive defensible measures of their positive social outcomes. We consider ideal experimental and statistical designs to detect and attribute benefits. We also explore a set of more practical approaches to...

In 2009 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that its shell egg rule would reduce illness from Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) by about 79,000 cases annually (37%), with a range from about 30,000 to 191,000 cases avoided. I assess the effectiveness of this rule, which requires farmers...

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from existing fossil electricity generators in its proposed Clean Power Plan rule under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The proposal is based on the best system of emissions...

As the United States moves forward with future energy policy, it must address and resolve issues associated with a shift away from coal and toward natural gas. While natural gas offers a significant opportunity as an abundant and relatively clean fuel source, optimum development and use of this...

For ecosystem services analysis, a key to collaboration between natural and social scientists is the identification and measurement of linking indicators: biophysical indicators that facilitate social evaluation, including monetary valuation of ecological changes. As ecosystem service analysts...

This document reports on a March 2015 dialogue among businesses, NGOs, and federal and state conservation agencies focused on Endangered Species Act listing decisions and programs in the southeastern United States. Over the next decade, a large fraction of the nation’s species listing...

EPA will soon propose performance standards under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act for greenhouse gas pollution from the two largest emitting stationary source sectors — fossil-fueled power plants and petroleum refineries. The form these standards will take remains unclear. A key issue that...