POINT‐NONPOINT SOURCE WATER QUALITY TRADING: A CASE STUDY IN THE MINNESOTA RIVER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: Contrary to the general trend of only a few actual trades occurring within point‐nonpoint source water quality trading programs in the United States, two trading projects in the Minnesota River Basin, created under the provisions of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, have generated five major trades and numerous smaller ones. In this paper, these two projects are described to illustrate their origins, implementation, and results. It was found that several factors contributed to the relatively high number of trades in these projects, including the offsetting nature of the projects (hence a fixed number of credits that the point sources were required to obtain), readily available information on potential nonpoint source trading partners, and an effectively internal trading scheme used by one of the two projects. It was also found that long term structural pollution control measures, such as streambank stabilization, offered substantial cost savings over point source controls. Estimates of transaction costs showed that the total costs of the trading projects were increased by at least 35 percent after transaction costs were taken into account. Evidence also showed that in addition to pollution reduction, these two trading projects brought other benefits to the watershed, such as helping balance environmental protection and regional economic growth.     

基于路段相关的路网行程时间可靠性

受自然、人为灾害等偶发事件以及日常的交通供需矛盾的影响 ,道路网运行效率下降 ,行程时间波动且不确定。为此 ,笔者分析了能够表征路网应对行程时间变化和承受波动的能力的指标———行程时间可靠性及其定义、特性、表达。针对路段之间的相互影响模式所适应条件的不同 ,按场景将其关系分成不相互影响、同步影响以及弱影响 3种模式。利用MonteCarlo法进行模拟 ,得出不考虑路段相关性 ,会高估路网的可靠性 ,减少路段间相互影响 ,有利于降低破坏事件对路网的影响程度和范围。考虑路段相关的行程时间可靠性应用于实际路网路径选择 ,可以增加选择的合理性和准确性 ,实现安全、可靠、高效运营。     

Determining the optimal tax on mining

This article examines three arguments often raised in support of higher taxes on mining and finds them wanting: First, the wealth or economic rents associated with particularly rich deposits rightfully belong to the citizens of the host country. Second, mining companies should compensate the State and the public for their use of mineral resources, given the intrinsic value arising from their non‐renewable nature. Third, the division of the wealth created by mining is unfair. Too much goes to mining companies, and too little to the host country to promote economic development. It suggests instead that host governments should maximize the net present value of the social benefits flowing from their mineral sector. In practice, unfortunately, it is often difficult to know whether this objective is served by raising or lowering the level of taxation on mining.     

Households’ recycling efforts

Households’ recycling effort is often argued to be of an insignificant size. It is also frequently argued that this contribution, if significant, is not a cost to households, since it is voluntary. Thus households’ use of time and energy are frequently disregarded in cost-benefit analyses of stricter recycling targets. In this survey, based on 1162 interviews, we find that sorting at source involves significant extra use of time and energy in the households. On average, each of those asked reported that they use close to half an hour a week for cleaning, sorting and transporting recyclable waste. On average, 185 h is used per tonne of waste. Four out of ten reported that they use warm or hot water to clean the materials. When investigating the motives for sorting waste, we find that many perceive sorting as mandatory, while some in fact find it a pleasant activity in itself. Moral motives for sorting at source are also widespread. A majority would prefer that a company took over the sorting if this were possible, and on average, the respondents are willing to pay US$ 20/year for this service.     

TARGETING NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION CONTROL: PHOSPHORUS IN THE MINNESOTA RIVER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The state of Minnesota seeks to reduce phosphorus loading to the Minnesota River by 40 percent from current levels. Looking at one major watershed in the river basin, we examined the cost effectiveness of targeting versus not targeting specific practices or regions within a watershed for controlling nonpoint phosphorus pollution from agriculture. Integrating biophysical simulation results from current and alternative farming systems with production cost and return estimates enabled us to analyze this policy. Our results indicated it is more cost effective to reduce nonpoint pollution by targeting particular regions or practices in a watershed compared to not targeting. Specifically, producers farming on cropland susceptible to erosion in close proximity to water will appreciably reduce phosphorus nonpoint pollution loading potential by switching from conventional tillage to conservation tillage and by reducing phosphorus fertilization levels to those recommended by the state extension service. Efforts to target those producers in the Minnesota River Basin could reduce potential transaction costs and compensation from “takings” by approximately $50 million (74 percent) over not targeting.     

Environmental Policy in Russia: Economic,Legal, and Organizational Issues

/ Despite the suspension and closing down of many pollutingindustrial facilities and corresponding expectations of positive change inthat field, it is argued that the environmental situation in Russia in thefirst half of the 1990s has not improved. To corroborate this point, thelatest available data are presented and the deep roots and complexities ofthe current socioeconomic and political situation in the country areanalyzed. Using analogies and "component accounting" approaches,the original economic assessments of environmental damage in the recent pastand current period in Russia are offered for comparison with similar datafrom a selection of developed countries. A model of a new environmentalstrategy and policy is developed and its economic, legal, and organizationaldimensions are examined.KEY WORDS: Damage; Environmental costs; Policy; Pollution; Publicparticipation; Risk; Strategy     

Measuring the Incremental Costs of Global Environment Protection: The Case of Grid-Connected Wind Turbines in Morocco

An application is presented of the methodology used bythe Global Environment Facility (GEF) to measureincremental costs. Incremental cost estimates are usedby the GEF to determine its financial contribution toprojects that protect the global environment, such asinvestments in renewable energy. The importance ofadopting a system-wide view in certain types ofprojects (such as investments in grid-connected power)is illustrated using the case of wind power inMorocco. A narrow plant-by-plant comparison wouldneglect the adjustments in the system expansion planthat may be warranted when one type of plant (e.g., acoal fired thermal plant) is replaced by another (e.g.,a wind farm).     

Mitigation costs,distributional effects,and ancillary benefits of carbon policies in the Nordic countries,the U.K., and Ireland

This paper provides a survey of top-downmodelling analyses of carbon (C) abatementmitigation costs, distributional effectsand ancillary benefits in the Nordiccountries, the U.K. and Ireland. Specialemphasis is placed on the effects ofrevenue recycling and tax exemptions.According to the analyses, modestemissions reductions can be met withoutsubstantial costs for the countriesstudied, and a strong double dividend isfound in some analyses. The gross domesticproduct (GDP) or welfare effects are mostlyin the range of –0.4 and 1.2 percent whenC emissions are reduced by 20–30 per cent.Lowest costs are obtained without taxexemptions and with tax revenues used toreduce distortionary taxes. Ancillarybenefits are mostly in the range35–80/MgC^-1, i.e., about the same order ofmagnitude as the mitigation costs.Distributional effects are mostlyregressive, unless the tax revenues aredistributed in lump-sum fashion with equaltransfers to each household.     

Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction Scenarios in Mexico for Year 2005: Industrial Cogeneration and Efficient Lighting

An analysis of the impacts on Mexican energy demand and associated carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the year 2005 due to efficient lighting in the commercial and residential sectors and cogeneration in the industrial sector is presented. Estimation of CO₂ abatement costs and an incremental cost curve for CO₂ mitigation options are considered. These technologies are cost effective opportunities, and together are projected to reduce CO₂ emissions in 2005 by nearly 13 percent. Implementation of efficient lighting is already part of the demand side management (DSM) programs of the Mexican state-owned utility. However, there are important barriers that may hinder the implementation of large scale cogeneration plants.     

Relative importance of multiple plumage ornaments as status signals in golden whistlers (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pachycephala pectoralis</Emphasis>)

Status signals are traits that advertise an individual’s competitive abilities to conspecifics during aggressive disputes. Most studies of status signals in birds have focussed on melanin-based plumage signals, but recent research shows that carotenoid-based signals may also play a role in aggressive signaling. We assessed the relative importance of melanin- and carotenoid-based plumage patches as agonistic signals in a small passerine, the golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis). Display signals in male golden whistlers include an unpigmented white throat patch, a carotenoid-based yellow breast and nape band, and a melanin-based black chin-stripe. We found that only the white throat patch was correlated with contest-related attributes. Males possessing large throat patches defended larger territories and commenced breeding earlier. When caged males with either experimentally reduced, or unmanipulated throat patches were presented to conspecifics, those with experimentally reduced patches attracted less aggression from male subjects. Focal males also responded faster to caged males with throat patches similar in size to their own, suggesting that they may assess relative throat patch size before engaging in aggressive encounters. Females did not discriminate between “reduced” or “control” treatments. Our data strongly suggest that only the unpigmented throat patch functions as a status signal. As this signal is unlikely to have significant development costs, honesty may be maintained through social costs.