The John E. Walker Department of Economics recently created a new graduate fellowship in honor of PERC Senior Fellow and Professor Emeritus Bobby McCormick. A Clemson University alumnus funded the fellowship in recognition of McCormick’s inspiration and mentoring of numerous students throughout his career. The anonymous donor was quoted as saying, “The Economics Department has manyContinue reading “Clemson Fellowship Created in Honor of PERC’s Bobby McCormick”
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Q&A with Randal Rucker on Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder
There has been plenty of bad news about bees lately. Reports of colony collapse disorder (CCD) predict disaster for honeybees and the pollination services they provide. Based on the thousands of news stories on CCD, as well as two recent films, one is likely to conclude that honeybees are quickly going the way of theContinue reading “Q&A with Randal Rucker on Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder”
The Endangered Species Act and Federalism
A new book from RFF Press features a chapter by PERC scholars Terry Anderson and Reed Watson. The Endangered Species Act and Federalism, edited by Buzz Thompson and Kaush Arha, explores the role of states and local governments in protecting biodiversity in the United States. Anderson and Watson’s chapter provides an economic assessment of environmental federalism,Continue reading “The Endangered Species Act and Federalism”
Funding Parks: Political versus Private Choices
State parks often have their budgets cut when revenues are tight. Some parks are having success by hiring private companies to run the parks. They are efficient, good stewards of the resource, and customer-friendly.
Forest fires thrive on central management
One of our nations greatest resources, its large western forests, is given over to the care of government. Polluted streams, destroyed homes, and wasted assets are the result, even though the responsibility was clearly in our realm. The solution is to allow the resource to be privately owned, not collectively
Payments for Ecosystem Services: Who Sets the Price?
Though known for millennium that nature provides multiple benefits, the idea of ecosystem services and payments for these services has become more prominent in the last two decades. It is exciting to see nature’s values integrated into the market which helps people realize the full costs and benefits of production and consumption decisions. Many ecosystemContinue reading “Payments for Ecosystem Services: Who Sets the Price?”
I told you so!
A useful principle in business is not to throw good money after bad trying to salvage a mistake. Evergreen Solar has pulled its own plug, filing for bankruptcy. The company had been seen as a shining example of the new industry that would emerge to produce clean energy (although there is nothing clean about theContinue reading “I told you so!”
Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
How property rights and limited trophy hunting saved the African white rhino.
Q&A with Matthew Kahn on Climate Change Adaptation
This week’s Q&A is with Matthew Kahn, a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment in the Departments of Economics and Public Policy, and the author of the recent book Climatopolis. Kahn is a 2011 PERC Lone Mountain Fellow and co-director of PERC’s recent workshop on climate change adaptation. He blogs at Environmental and Urban Economics. WeContinue reading “Q&A with Matthew Kahn on Climate Change Adaptation”
Is clean water for fracking the next cleantech opportunity?
Lynne Kiesling at Knowledge Problem has an interesting post that might be of interest to enviropreneurs. She picks up on a recent article that suggests clean water for fracking is the next hot cleantech sector: “In an interview this week with VantagePoint Capital Partner and Founder Alan Salzman, he told me that he sees technology that canContinue reading “Is clean water for fracking the next cleantech opportunity?”