Environmental Economics

The cromulent economics blog

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Category: Science

  • Apparently climate change is real (or maybe this is just FAKE NEWS)

    Interesting read from the Guardian on how even the cherry-picked data against climate change is no longer against climate change (I know the Guardian is just a liberal rag written by those non-EU Brits with an agenda and unlikely to change any deniers' minds because it is probably FAKE NEWS, but still an interesting read): A…

  • The new EPA

    More cuts er…non-renewals for the EPA Board of Scientific Counselors: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt continues to clean house at a key advisory committee, signaling plans to drop several dozen current members of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), according to an email yesterday from a senior agency official. All board members…

  • People are willing to pay a lot to prevent another BP-like oil spill

    In my best Thomas Dolby voice: SCIENCE! …According to a paper published in the journal Science on Thursday, Americans are willing to pay $17.2 billion to prevent another BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Thanks to a team of scientists who conducted a six-year study into the effects of the 134-million-gallon spill, we now have a more…

  • Quote of my lifetime: We need a “That was some weird sh*t” category

    I'm not sure why we haven't thought of this before, but we need a category for just plain odd statements from politicians/policy makers.  Thankfully, George W. Bush** has given us the perfect title for the category: Former President George W. Bush reportedly thought President Trump's inauguration speech "was some weird shit." Bush attended Trump's inauguration, sitting…

  • See, science is messy

    Yesterday I posted about Lamar Smith and his attempts to dismiss science because it can be, well, less than certain. Here's another good example (from FIveThirtyEight's SigDig today): A study published in Nature found that about 50 percent of the platelets in the bloodstream are made in the lungs, not in the bone marrow as…

  • Climate Science is SCIENCE whether we call it that or not

    Lamar Smith is scary (to me at least): Emboldened by the election of President Donald Trump, Smith appears increasingly comfortable dismissing those who disagree with his stance on any number of issues under the purview of his science committee, from climate research to the use of peer review in assessing research results and grant proposals.…

  • My advice to the EPA Administrator? Use science.

    I am an appointed member of the EPA Science Advisory Board Environmental Economics Advisory Committee. As a committee, our charge is to provide "independent advice to the EPA Administrator, through the chartered SAB, regarding the science and research to assess public benefits and costs of EPA’s environmental programs." My independent advice to the EPA Administrator?…

  • An alternative strategy to climate research denial is to cover your ears and scream “LALALALALALA, I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

    At least the vetting isn't 'extreme': Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency who want to publish or present their scientific findings likely will need to have their work reviewed on a "case by case basis" before it can be disseminated, according to a spokesman for the agency's transition team. In an interview Tuesday evening with…

  • We need a better word than ‘anomaly’ to describe rising temperatures: WTF?

    At times scientists can be their own worst enemy.  In an attempt to be accurate, scientists sometimes forget the most basic rule of communicating: know your audience.  In the case of explaining climate change, and in particular, explaining rising global temperatures, scientists have chosen to use the phrase 'global average surface temperature anomaly.' Here's an exchange…

  • Graphic of the Day (er, millenium?): Those Liars at NOAA are at it Again*

    Source: The Fake News Experts at the Washington Post* *Facetiousness alert