Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy. Check out this week’s highlights below:
More than four decades after Congress passed the nation’s landmark clean water law, progress toward cleaning up the nation’s rivers, lakes and creeks has stalled, largely due to uncontrolled pollution running off farms, parking lots and suburban lawns, a government watchdog said yesterday. — via U.S. Government Accountability Office
Increasing the Efficiency of Existing Coal-Fired Power Plants
Coal has long been the major fossil fuel used to produce electricity. However, coal-fired electric power plants are one of the largest sources of air pollution in the United States, with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from burning of fossil fuels believed to be the major contributor to global climate change. Regulations under development at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would impose new requirements... — via U.S. Congressional Research Service
Texas Water Report: Going Deeper for the Solution
…Texas is experiencing extended drought, and while the state may enjoy wetter conditions in the near future, a burgeoning population may already be reaching the limits of its available water. In many places, groundwater is being used more quickly than it can replenish… — via Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Can Negotiating a Uniform Carbon Price Help to Internalize the Global Warming Externality?
It is difficult to resolve the global warming free-rider externality problem by negotiating quantity targets. By contrast, negotiating a single binding minimum carbon price (the proceeds from which are domestically retained) counters self interest by incentivizing agents to internalize the externality. — via Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard University
Household Decision-Making and Valuation of Environmental Health Risks to Parents and their Children
This paper empirically discriminates between alternative household decisionmaking models for estimating parents’ willingness to pay for health risk reductions for their children as well as for themselves. Models are tested using data pertaining to heart disease from a stated preference survey involving 432 matched pairs of parents married to one another... — via U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
For more from the RFF Library blog, click here.
