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1371. Preserving Biodiversity and Promoting Biosafety

Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Biodiversity – the variety of life and of habitats on Earth – is vital to human welfare. The loss or degradation of biodiversity can have important economic, environmental, and social consequences. Altering a watershed (the area draining into a common waterway), for example, not only leads to the potential loss of an ecosystem – through loss of habitat – but may also create economic costs for water filtration in cities using its water.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Environment, and Human Welfare

1372. Katrina and the Environment

Author:
Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The New Orleans flood is shaping up to take its place alongside the Cuyahoga River fire and the Santa Barbara and Exxon Valdez oil spills as one of the major environmental catastrophes of modern times. The issue of hurricanes and climate change—a linkage not established in current climate science—distracts from the most significant environmental lessons of the Katrina disaster. The rebuilding of New Orleans offers an opportunity to begin reversing the long-term Gulf Coast erosion that contributed to the magnitude of the disaster.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Human Welfare, and Politics

1373. A Cross of Green? Reflections on Eco-Theology

Author:
Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Growing evangelical interest in environmental issues has made news headlines in recent months. This Outlook reflects on the inherent difficulties of this dialogue and speculates on what environmentalists and evangelical Christians can learn from each other.
Topic:
Environment, Politics, and Religion
Political Geography:
United States

1374. Air Quality: Much Worse on Paper Than in Reality

Author:
Joel Schwartz
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Journalists and environmentalists erroneously claim more than half the country has "some of the worst air pollution," when in fact the worst areas of California stand head and shoulders above all others. The nation sorely needs an honest assessment of air pollution, which would be aided by greater skepticism from journalists about air pollution claims.
Topic:
Civil Society and Environment
Political Geography:
United States and California

1375. Resurrecting Clear Skies

Author:
Ted Gayer
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
After failing to make it out of Senate committee in March, the future of the president's Clear Skies bill is uncertain. While the bill contains some flaws, most of its opponents criticized the virtues of Clear Skies, thus making it more difficult to fix the real problems and to strike a compromise. There is still some hope that the bill will pass later this congressional session. In lieu of Clear Skies, the Environmental Protection Agency recently promulgated two administrative rules to tighten regulations on power plant air pollution. These rules are certain to be litigated and thus delayed. With Clear Skies, we get a greater guarantee that the air quality goals will be met, and we get greater regulatory certainty that leads to lower costs.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Government, and Politics

1376. Climate Change Science: Time for "Team B"?

Author:
Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is currently working on its fourth assessment report. Despite the IPCC's noble intent to generate a scientific consensus, a number of factors have compromised the research and drafting process, assuring that its next assessment report will be just as controversial as previous reports in 1995 and 2001. Efforts to reform this large bureaucratic effort are unlikely to succeed. Perhaps the time has come to consider competition as the means of checking the IPCC's monopoly and generating more reliable climate science.
Topic:
Environment, Government, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

1377. Can Disasters Be Good for Growth?

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The U.S. economy was in recession when the 9/11 terrorist attacks struck New York and Washington, D.C. Yet within a few months, despite fears of a collapse in confidence, consumption growth surged to a fourth-quarter annualized rate of nearly 5 percent, up sharply from a 1 percent rate during the third quarter. That consumption surge was enough to drag the economy out of what turned out to be a mild recession. By the first quarter of 2002, overall growth reached a booming 5 percent rate.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, New York, and Washington

1378. Decision-Making in Endangered Species Management

Author:
Jonathan C. Borck
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
This paper examines decisions made by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to protect species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to fund their recovery. Using a data set that includes scientific, economic, and political variables on vertebrates from 1989 to 1997, this paper estimates a variety of regression models of the listing and funding decisions. Although required by law to consider only scientific factors such as species’ vulnerability in its decision-making, FWS appears instead to favor visceral characteristics, such as species’ taxonomic class and size. Both criteria are defensible. Nonetheless, the paper recommends that FWS and its partner agencies acknowledge and try to resolve the inconsistencies between their legal obligations and their actual behavior to ensure more effective implementation of this important piece of environmental legislation.
Topic:
Environment, Legislation, Animals, Decision-Making, Biodiversity, and Endangered Species
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

1379. Science for Global Sustainability: Toward a New Paradigm

Author:
William C. Clark, Paul J. Crutzen, and Hans J. Schellnhuber
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper provides a context for the Dahlem Workshop on “Earth System Analysis for Sustainability.” The authors begin by characterizing the contemporary epoch of Earth history in which humanity has emerged as a major—and uniquely self-reflexive—geological force. They turn next to the extraordinary revolution in our understanding of the Earth system that is now underway, pointing out how it has built on and qualitatively extended the approaches that have served science and society so well since the first Copernican revolution. The authors then discuss the novel challenges posed by the urgent need to harness science and other forms of knowledge in promoting a worldwide sustainability transition that enhances human prosperity while protecting the Earth’s life-support systems and reducing hunger and poverty. Finally, the authors provide an overview of how the contributions to this Dahlem Workshop addressed the themes and challenges outlined in this introductory chapter.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Science and Technology, Institutions, Sustainability, Resilience, and Integrated Systems
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1380. South Africa's War against Malaria: Lessons for the Developing World

Author:
Roger Bate and Richard Tren
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Malaria imposes enormous human suffering and economic costs on many poor countries. For South Africa, which has a relatively minor malaria problem for a developing country, from 2000 to 2002 the economic cost ranged between US$15 million and US$41 million, excluding estimates of the human suffering and estimates of lost investment in malarial areas..
Topic:
Economics, Environment, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa and United States