Distributional Impacts of an Environmental Tax Shift: The Case of Motor Vehicle Emissions Taxes

One of the most common criticisms of pollution taxes is that they are often believed to be inequitable — i.e., low income households are thought to be disproportionately harmed. In this paper, we assess the distributional impacts of three taxes aimed at reducing emissions from motor vehicles: (i) a tax on total annual emissions, (ii) a tax on emissions rates (in grams per mile), and (iii) a tax on annual miles traveled. We use two alternative measures of economic well-being, annual household income and a constructed measure of lifetime income. We find that all three fees look regressive, both on the basis of annual and lifetime income — though much less so on a lifetime income basis. However, if one of these fees is used to substitute for existing vehicle registration fees, the differential impacts over existing fees are quite small: on a lifetime income basis, the mileage-based fee looks almost identical to the current system, while the total emissions fee is a little more regressive and the emissions rate-based fee slightly more regressive still than the current system. These results highlight the importance of tax shifting to help the environment.

L'écriture : la présence renaissance d'un curriculum « coyote urbain »

In this article, I contemplate the importance of writing to my wellbeing; I reflect on how urban Indigenous presence is enacted and theorized; and I consider an encounter with a coyote during a daily walk. These three narratives are brought together through a textual weaving or métissage. Through this interweaving, and by enacting place-based, relational storying, I undertake a curricular inquiry into presence and presencing. This contemplative inquiry emerges from a particular time and place: from deep in the second winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, from my positionality as an urban Indigenous person, and from my day-to-day existence as a scholar and human being.Dans cet article, je réfléchis à l'importance d'écrire pour mon bien-être ; je réfléchis à la manière dont la présence autochtone urbaine est mise en œuvre et théorisée ; et j'envisage une rencontre avec un coyote lors d'une promenade quotidienne. Ces trois récits sont réunis à travers un tissage textuel—un métissage. Grâce à cet entrelacement et en mettant en scène des récits relationnels basés sur le lieu, j'entreprends une enquête pédagogique sur la présence (en tant qu’état) ainsi que l'action d'étre présent. Cette enquête contemplative émerge d’un moment et d’un lieu particuliers : du deuxième hiver de la pandémie de COVID-19, de ma position en tant qu’Autochtone urbain et de mon existence quotidienne en tant que chercheuse et être humain

Alfalfa mosaic virus: Occurrence and variation among isolates from forage legumes in Ethiopia

Filed samples and seedlings of 51 leguminous forage species were tested for alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) in routine monitoring of seed multiplication fields of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Ethiopia. The virus was detected in 24 species and a solanaceous weed Solanum nigrum. Of these, the following 17 species are being reported for the first time as hosts of the virus in world literature: Aeschynomene falcata, Centrosema pascuorum, Chamaecrista rotundifolia, Desmanthus virgatus, Desmodium intortum, Leucaena leucocephala, Macroptilium atropurpureum, Macroptilium lathyroides, Macrotyloma axillare, Medicago truncatula, Neonotonia wightii, Sesbania sesban, Stylosanthes scabra, Trifolium calocephala, T. steudneri, T. tembense and Vigna parkeri. The solanaceous weed S. nigrum was suspected to play a role in the virus epidemiology. The level of seed infection varied from 0.00 percent to about 13.00 percent. Infectivity studies on 5 isolates of the virus revealed heterogeneity in prevalent AMV isolates. Two major strains were identified, based on the development of necrotic local lesions on Vigna unguiculata accessions. One of the isolates which failed to incite local necrotic lesions on unguiculata infected Phaseolus vulgaris cTop Crop systematically. Differences among isolates were also noticed in their concentration in different hosts as indicated by ELISA absorbance values