The Optimistic Environmentalist: Progressing Towards a Greener Future by David R. Boyd

Review of David R. Boyd\u27s The Optimistic Environmentalist: Progressing Towards a Greener Futur

IMPLICATIONS OF TAXING QUOTA VALUE IN AN INDIVIDUAL TRANSFERABLE QUOTA FISHERY: COMMENT

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Buying Back the Living Murray: At What Price?

In June 2004 the Council of Australian Governments approved the Intergovernmental Agreement on Addressing Water Overallocation and Achieving Environmental Objectives in the Murray-Darling Basin (‘IGMDB’). The IGMDB set out arrangements for a ‘Living Murray’ that includes a budget of $500 million to return 500 billion litres of water per year to the Murray River by 2009. Unfortunately, two years later and only 11 billion litres have been returned as environmental flows as a result of the initiative. In response, the Australian Government in April 2006 proposed a new scheme to purchase water entitlements from farmers who undertake water-savings measures. We examine this proposal in relation to the general economic principles for the allocation of scarce water. We contend that the latest initiative, although helpful, suffers from two fundamental problems in terms of water pricing. First, the current market price for water entitlements does not include the value of water ‘in situ’, or the benefits it generates separate from its value in consumption. Second, the constraint imposed that water users undertake infrastructure investments when selling their entitlements unnecessarily raises the cost of returning water to the Murray River. We conclude that the latest scheme to achieve the laudable goals of the ‘Living Murray’ is not cost effective and that the ratio of litres of water returned to dollars spent could be much higher if the pricing policies were changed.Living Murray, scarce water, water entitlements, water pricing, pricing policies

On the geometric structure of fMRI searchlight-based information maps

Information mapping is a popular application of Multivoxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA) to fMRI. Information maps are constructed using the so called searchlight method, where the spherical multivoxel neighborhood of every voxel (i.e., a searchlight) in the brain is evaluated for the presence of task-relevant response patterns. Despite their widespread use, information maps present several challenges for interpretation. One such challenge has to do with inferring the size and shape of a multivoxel pattern from its signature on the information map. To address this issue, we formally examined the geometric basis of this mapping relationship. Based on geometric considerations, we show how and why small patterns (i.e., having smaller spatial extents) can produce a larger signature on the information map as compared to large patterns, independent of the size of the searchlight radius. Furthermore, we show that the number of informative searchlights over the brain increase as a function of searchlight radius, even in the complete absence of any multivariate response patterns. These properties are unrelated to the statistical capabilities of the pattern-analysis algorithms used but are obligatory geometric properties arising from using the searchlight procedure.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Tuna-Led Sustainable Developlment in the Pacific

The paper reviews the importance of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and examines whether current and proposed economically focussed institutional mechanisms, that underpin tuna management, are sufficient to promote appropriate and long term tuna-led development. Substantial potential gains are shown to exist from co-operation in terms of tuna management, but it seems highly unlikely such benefits will be realised in the short or medium term despite the formation in 2004 of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Even if gains from co-operation were to be realised, without substantial improvements in the nstitutional quality and capacity of many PICs the tuna fisheries might still fail to sustain the region’s long-term development. The study’s implications are that the twin development priorities in the region should be support for social infrastructure, especially capacity building to increase the effectiveness of the public sector, and the promotion of co-operative approaches to ensure the sustainability and profitable use of the region’s shared fishery resources.

Pricing Sydney water

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Sydney Water: Pricing for Sustainability

We examine how scarcity pricing can be used to assist with urban water demand management in Sydney in low rainfall periods using an estimated aggregate daily water demand function. Modelling shows that current water supplies and water prices are inadequate to prevent Sydney reaching critically low water storage levels should there be a low rainfall period similar to what occurred in 2001-2005. Simulations indicate that, in low rainfall periods, the water price needed to balance supply and demand exceeds the marginal cost of supplying desalinised water. The policy implication is that even with expected increases in supply (groundwater withdrawals, recycling), Sydney water prices must be substantially raised over their current levels, preferably at pre-defined water storage trigger levels, in response to low rainfall periods.water, pricing, sustainability