Seeing the forest
National Differences in Environmental Concern and Performance Are Predicted by Country Age
Hal Hershfield, Min Bang & Elke Weber
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
There are obvious economic predictors of ability and willingness to invest in environmental sustainability. Yet, given that environmental decisions represent trade-offs between present sacrifices and uncertain future benefits, psychological factors may also play a role in country-level environmental behavior. Gott’s principle suggests that citizens may use perceptions of their country’s age to predict its future continuation, with longer pasts predicting longer futures. Using country- and individual-level analyses, we examined whether longer perceived pasts result in longer perceived futures, which in turn motivate concern for continued environmental quality. Study 1 found that older countries scored higher on an environmental performance index, even when the analysis controlled for country-level differences in gross domestic product and governance. Study 2 showed that when the United States was framed as an old country (vs. a young one), participants were willing to donate more money to an environmental organization. The findings suggest that framing a country as a long-standing entity may effectively prompt proenvironmental behavior.
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Ambient Fine Particulate Matter, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Term Birth Weight in New York, New York
David Savitz et al.
American Journal of Epidemiology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Building on a unique exposure assessment project in New York, New York, we examined the relationship of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm and nitrogen dioxide with birth weight, restricting the population to term births to nonsmokers, along with other restrictions, to isolate the potential impact of air pollution on growth. We included 252,967 births in 2008–2010 identified in vital records, and we assigned exposure at the residential location by using validated models that accounted for spatial and temporal factors. Estimates of association were adjusted for individual and contextual sociodemographic characteristics and season, using linear mixed models to quantify the predicted change in birth weight in grams related to increasing pollution levels. Adjusted estimates for particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm indicated that for each 10-µg/m3 increase in exposure, birth weights declined by 18.4, 10.5, 29.7, and 48.4 g for exposures in the first, second, and third trimesters and for the total pregnancy, respectively. Adjusted estimates for nitrogen dioxide indicated that for each 10-ppb increase in exposure, birth weights declined by 14.2, 15.9, 18.0, and 18.0 g for exposures in the first, second, and third trimesters and for the total pregnancy, respectively. These results strongly support the association of urban air pollution exposure with reduced fetal growth.
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Corporate Incentives and Nuclear Safety
Catherine Hausman
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
Following electricity market restructuring, approximately half of all commercial U.S. nuclear power reactors were sold by price-regulated public utilities to independent power producers. At the time of the sales, some policy-makers raised concerns that these corporations would ignore safety. Others claimed that the sales would bring improved reactor management, with positive effects on safety. Using data on various safety measures and a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, I find that safety improved following ownership transfers and the removal of price regulations. Generation increased, and this does not appear to have come at the cost of public safety.
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Are Energy Efficiency Standards Justified?
Ian Parry, David Evans & Wallace Oates
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper develops an analytical framework for comparing the welfare effects of energy efficiency standards and pricing policies for reducing gasoline, electricity, and nationwide carbon emissions. The model is parameterized with US data and includes key externalities in the energy/transportation sectors and possible underinvestment in energy efficiency due to “misperceptions” over energy savings. Even with large misperceptions, the extra welfare gains from complementing efficient pricing policies with energy efficiency standards are zero for reducing gasoline and 5 percent for reducing electricity. And when viewed as substitutes, these standards forgo 60 percent or more of the potential welfare gains from corresponding pricing policies. A combination of energy efficiency and emissions standards is more than three times as costly as carbon pricing when there is no misperception over energy savings, and even with large misperceptions, combining carbon pricing with gasoline/electricity taxes is better than combining it with energy efficiency standards.
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A decade of natural gas development: The makings of a resource curse?
Jeremy Weber
Resource and Energy Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Many studies find that areas more dependent on natural resources grow more slowly - a relationship known as the resource curse. For counties in the south-central U.S., I find little evidence of an emerging curse from greater natural gas production in the 2000s. Each gas-related mining job created more than one nonmining job, indicating that counties did not become more dependent on mining as measured by employment. Increases in population largely mitigated a rise in compensation and crowding out. Furthermore, changes in the adult population by education level reveal that greater production did not lead to a less educated population.
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The Economics of Energy Security
Gilbert Metcalf
NBER Working Paper, December 2013
Abstract:
Energy security is the ability of households, businesses, and government to accommodate disruptions in supply in energy markets. This survey considers the economic dimensions of energy security, political and other non-economic security concerns and discusses policy approaches that could enhance U.S. energy security. A number of points emerge. First, energy security is enhanced by reducing consumption, not imports. A policy to eliminate oil imports, for example, will not enhance U.S. energy security whereas policies to reduce energy consumption can improve energy security. Second, energy security is distinct from considerations of energy externalities. Energy security taxes are appealing on political grounds but more difficult to justify on economic grounds. Finally, the contrasting concerns over energy security between policy makers and economists is striking. The survey notes some possible reasons for these differing views and suggests possible research opportunities in this area.
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Environmental Concern of Labor Union Members in the United States
Erik Kojola, Chenyang Xiao & Aaron McCright
Sociological Quarterly, Winter 2014, Pages 72–91
Abstract:
The labor and environmental movements have had a complicated relationship with periods of cooperation as well as conflict, but recently there has been increasing collaboration at the national level. Whether such a trend of cooperation can be sustained will partially depend on grassroots-level connections between the two movements. However, there has been little empirical research on the environmental attitudes of union members, which is important for understanding the potential for shared values between union members and environmental activists. This article analyzes 1993, 2000, and 2010 General Social Survey data to examine if the environmental attitudes of people in union households have changed given shifting labor–environment relations and broader political-economic conditions. We find that union membership does not influence environmental concern in weaker economic times (1993 and 2010) but that it has a positive effect on environmental concern in stronger economic times (2000). Thus, union households are generally no less concerned about the environment than nonunion households. Therefore, strengthening connections between union members and environmental activists may be a feasible strategy for invigorating both the labor and environmental movements.
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An assessment of two environmental and economic benefits of ‘Cash for Clunkers’
Shoshannah Lenski, Gregory Keoleian & Michael Moore
Ecological Economics, December 2013, Pages 173–180
Abstract:
This research aims to provide a more comprehensive, life cycle accounting of two categories of environmental and economic benefits associated with the $3 billion US “Cash for Clunkers” vehicle scrappage program. First, using a life cycle emissions methodology developed in Lenski et al. (2010), we find that about 29,000 metric tons of criteria pollutant emissions were avoided, for a benefit of about $23 million; avoided carbon dioxide emissions, by comparison, provided a benefit worth $90 million. Second, we compare the market value of scrapped vehicles to the rebates provided, calculating the consumer surplus or “gift” to participants to be up to $2 billion (about $2000 to $3000 per vehicle). This is significantly more than offered in previous vehicle scrappage programs, and suggests opportunities to get more environmental and economic “bang for the buck.” Finally, these two categories of benefits are found to be heavily concentrated geographically around urban centers. About 2% of US counties (50 counties) received 50% and 30% of the aggregate benefits from avoided criteria pollutant emissions and consumer surplus from the rebates, respectively.
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Explaining the Adoption and Implementation of Local Environmental Policies in the United States
Susan Opp, Jeffery Osgood & Cynthia Rugeley
Journal of Urban Affairs, forthcoming
Abstract:
Using a large national sample of U.S. cities the authors create an environmental policy index to explore the factors that explain the adoption and implementation of environmental policies at the local level. Using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods, these data indicate that cities with higher populations, more highly educated citizens, higher percentages of Hispanic residents, located in the West (and more specifically California), and that are central cities are more likely to engage in environmental policies. Furthermore, this article finds evidence of differences in engagement based upon the subarea of environmental protection examined.
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The Lightbulb Paradox: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments
Hunt Allcott & Dmitry Taubinsky
NBER Working Paper, December 2013
Abstract:
It is often suggested that consumers are imperfectly informed about or inattentive to energy costs of durable goods such as cars, air conditioners, and lightbulbs. We study two randomized control experiments that provide information on energy costs and product lifetimes for energy efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) vs. traditional incandescent bulbs. We then propose a general model of consumer bias in choices between energy-using durables, derive sufficient statistics for quantifying the welfare implications of such bias, and evaluate energy efficiency subsidies and standards as second best corrective policies if powerful information disclosure is infeasible. In the context of our theoretical model, the empirical results suggest that moderate CFL subsidies may be optimal, but imperfect information and inattention do not appear to justify a ban on traditional incandescent lightbulbs in the absence of other inefficiencies.
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Ian Ayres, Sophie Raseman & Alice Shih
Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, October 2013, Pages 992-1022
Abstract:
By providing feedback to customers on home electricity and natural gas usage with a focus on peer comparisons, utilities can reduce energy consumption at a low cost. We analyze data from two large-scale, random-assignment field experiments conducted by utility companies providing electricity (the Sacramento Municipal Utility District [SMUD]) and electricity and natural gas (Puget Sound Energy [PSE]), in partnership with a private company, Opower, which provides monthly or quarterly mailed peer feedback reports to customers. We find reduction in energy consumption of 1.2% (PSE) to 2.1% percent (SMUD), with the decrease sustained over time (7 months [PSE] and 12 months [SMUD]).
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Does Trust Matter? Corruption and Environmental Regulatory Policy in the United States
Oguzhan Dincer & Per Fredriksson
Harvard Working Paper, October 2013
Abstract:
This study shows that the level of trust matters for how corruption affects public policy outcomes in the long run, in particular with regard to the stringency of environmental policies. We argue that the level of trust affects the relative strength of industry and environmental lobby groups, and therefore the effects of corruption. We construct a unique index measuring the reflection of corruption in each state using Associated Press (AP) state news wires. We estimate the long-run cointegrating relationship between environmental policy, corruption, and trust using Dynamic OLS. We find that higher corruption reduces the stringency of environmental policies when the level of trust is low, but has little or no effect at higher levels of trust.
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Exploring the gender gap and the impact of residential location on environmental risk tolerance
Marc Weiner, Timothy MacKinnon & Michael Greenberg
Journal of Environmental Psychology, December 2013, Pages 190–201
Abstract:
To explore the effects of the gender gap and differences in residential location on environmental risk tolerance, we analyze data from the US general population and from households living with 50 miles of a US nuclear facility. We hypothesize that a potentially hazardous facility in close proximity to a residential community generates a constant risk signal that conditions and desensitizes that local population, causing the gender gap to converge and causing overall higher risk tolerance levels. We find support for this “context matters” hypothesis, i.e., that in environmentally stressed communities, the gender gap does converge, and males and females exhibit approximately equal levels of risk tolerance greater than those in non-stressed communities. We conclude that when modeling environmental risk tolerance both gender and place of residence should be considered potentially meaningful explanatory variables.
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Supply, Demand and the Value of Green Buildings
Andrea Chegut, Piet Eichholtz & Nils Kok
Urban Studies, January 2014, Pages 22-43
Abstract:
Attention to ‘sustainability’ and energy efficiency rating schemes in the commercial property sector has increased rapidly during the past decade. In the UK, commercial properties have been certified under the BREEAM rating scheme since 1999, offering fertile ground to investigate the economic dynamics of ‘green’ certification in the commercial property market. This paper documents that, over the 2000–09 period, the expanding supply of green buildings within a given London neighbourhood had a positive impact on average rents and prices, but reduced rents and prices for environmentally certified real estate. The results suggest that there is a gentrification effect from green buildings. However, each additional “green” building decreases the marginal effect of certification in the rental and transaction markets by 2 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. In addition, controlling for lease contract features, like contract length and the rent-free period, modifies the impact of environmental certification on rental prices.
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Local Governance Versus Centralization: Connecticut Wetlands Governance as a Model
Katharine Owens & Carl Zimmerman
Review of Policy Research, November 2013, Pages 629–656
Abstract:
Scholars disagree whether local decision making is inherently more democratic and sustainable than centralized governance structures. While some maintain it is, due to the incorporation of local knowledge, citizen decision makers' closeness to the issues, and the benefits of participatory democracy, others find it as susceptible to issues of corruption and poor implementation as any other scale. We argue that with wetlands, a natural resource with critical local benefits, it is imperative to incorporate local governance, using the U.S. state of Connecticut as an example. Despite the American policy of No Net Loss, the local benefits of wetland resources cannot be aggregated on a national scale. Each local ecosystem needs wetland resources to ensure local ecological benefits such as flood control and pollution remission, as well as the substantial economic benefits of recreation. We illustrate the benefits of local control of wetlands with data from the American state of Connecticut, which consistently surpasses the federal wetland goal of No Net Loss due, we argue, to the governance structure of town-level wetlands commissions. A national policy such as No Net Loss, where wetlands are saved or created in designated areas and destroyed in others, is insufficient when it ignores critical benefits for localities. The Connecticut system using local volunteers and unpaid appointees is a successful method for governing common-pool wetland systems. In the case of Connecticut, we find that local decision making is not a “trap,” but instead an effective model of sustainable, democratic local governance.
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Air Pollution and Children's Respiratory Health: A Cohort Analysis
Timothy Beatty & Jay Shimshack
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, January 2014, Pages 39–57
Abstract:
This paper uses a large database of multiple birth cohorts to study relationships between air pollution exposure and non-infant children's respiratory health outcomes. We observe several years of early-life health treatments for hundreds of thousands of English children. Three distinct research designs account for potential socioeconomic, behavioral, seasonal, and economic confounders. We find that marginal increases in carbon monoxide and ground-level ozone are associated with statistically significant increases in children's contemporaneous respiratory treatments. We also find that carbon monoxide exposure over the previous year has an effect on children's health that goes above and beyond contemporaneous exposure alone.
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Enduring legacy of a toxic fan via episodic redistribution of California gold mining debris
Michael Bliss Singer et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 12 November 2013, Pages 18436-18441
Abstract:
The interrelationships between hydrologically driven evolution of legacy landscapes downstream of major mining districts and the contamination of lowland ecosystems are poorly understood over centennial time scales. Here, we demonstrate within piedmont valleys of California’s Sierra Nevada, through new and historical data supported by modeling, that anthropogenic fans produced by 19th century gold mining comprise an episodically persistent source of sediment-adsorbed Hg to lowlands. Within the enormous, iconic Yuba Fan, we highlight (i) an apparent shift in the relative processes of fan evolution from gradual vertical channel entrenchment to punctuated lateral erosion of fan terraces, thus enabling entrainment of large volumes of Hg-laden sediment during individual floods, and (ii) systematic intrafan redistribution and downstream progradation of fan sediment into the Central Valley, triggered by terrace erosion during increasingly long, 10-y flood events. Each major flood apparently erodes stored sediment and delivers to sensitive lowlands the equivalent of ∼10–30% of the entire postmining Sierran Hg mass so far conveyed to the San Francisco Bay-Delta (SFBD). This process of protracted but episodic erosion of legacy sediment and associated Hg is likely to persist for >104 y. It creates, within an immense swath of river corridor well upstream of the SFBD, new contaminated floodplain surfaces primed for Hg methylation and augments/replenishes potential Hg sources to the SFBD. Anticipation, prediction, and management of toxic sediment delivery, and corresponding risks to lowland ecology and human society globally, depend on the morphodynamic stage of anthropogenic fan evolution, synergistically coupled to changing frequency of and duration extreme floods.