Tag Archives: Enviromental

Hurricanes Increase GDP

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In a prior post I took a deeper look at what the large epidemic, the Zika virus, will cost the world. Similar to Zika, category 3 storm, Hurricane Matthew, is a type natural “disaster” that will have an unstoppable effect on the economy. There are at least 200,000 homes along the coast from Florida to North Carolina at risk of damage from the storm surge alone. Due the potential to affect such a broad geographic area, some sources are claiming that Matthew could be one of the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history estimated to cost just Florida as much as Continue reading Hurricanes Increase GDP→

“The world has not turned on us, we have turned on her.”

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“You’re living through a time when virtually half of humanity’s intellectual, social and spiritual legacy is being allowed to slip away. This does not have to happen. These peoples are not failed attempts at being modern — quaint and colorful and destined to fade away as if by natural law.” –Wade Davis; TED Talk The World Wide Web of Belief and Ritual (2008) Eight years and almost two presidential elections since Wade Davis’ TED talk was uploaded onto the internet, we have still only yet begun to understand and articulate the magnitude of our growing environmental catastrophe. We’ve begun to Continue reading “The world has not turned on us, we have turned on her.”→

Thesis Corner: Jordyn McLuen

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Lukie Crowley (LC): To start it off, what is your topic? Jordyn McLuen (JM): I did a policy theory paper on apple production in Washington State and how it’s impacted by potentially the implementation of a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system. LC: Why did you choose (topic)? JM: I have always found environmental issues interesting, so I knew that I would like to do something related to climate change and try to apply a macro topic in climate change policy into a micro area in terms of Washington State apple production being one relatively small market. LC: Was there Continue reading Thesis Corner: Jordyn McLuen→

How the Recycling and Oil Markets are Connected

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When someone thinks about markets being connected, the oil and recycling markets aren’t the ones that usually come to mind. Yet, the oil market is significantly damaging the recycling market right now and it won’t get any better until oil prices rise again. According to a New York Times article from February, Waste Management (the main company that collects recycling) could sell a bale of plastic last year for $230. Now, the price is down to $112 for each bin. Why is this happening? Here’s an excerpt from the NYT article mentioned earlier: New plastics are made from the byproducts of oil and gas Continue reading How the Recycling and Oil Markets are Connected→

Morocco Launches Gigantic Solar Power Plant

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To follow up on Nicky’s post about solar energy efficiency, Morocco has recently launched a power plant (called the Noor I) in the Sahara Desert that is capable of generating 160 megawatts of power. These solar panels cover thousands of acres of the desert (can actually be seen from space) and when the two other Noor plants are implemented they will offer renewable energy to over a million Moroccans. What are the economic impacts of this implementation? Right now, Morocco relies on imported sources of energy for 97% of its total energy use (according to the World Bank) while also having its electricity demand Continue reading Morocco Launches Gigantic Solar Power Plant→