FEATURED SITE

Earth Track (11/19/02) - Amazingly comprehensive, well organized, and useful!
Earth Track is a global partnership to develop comprehensive and accurate information on government interventions in energy markets. These interventions can act either as subsidies (artificially reducing the cost of certain commodities) or as taxes (artificially increasing the cost of certain commodities). Earth Track's objective is to inform local, national, and international bodies about how the interaction of their many policies affect energy markets, environmental quality, trade, and fiscal health. By providing such information, Earth Track will help decision-makers obtain greater alignment between environmental goals and fiscal and regulatory policies.

AIRS - Aerometric Information Retrieval System
AIRS is a computer-based repository of information about airborne pollution in the United States and various World Health Organization (WHO) member countries.

American Library Association, Task Force on the Environment, Social Responsibilities Roundtable (5/21/00)
Librarians, publishers, vendors, and others interested parties from a wide variety of settings -- public libraries, school libraries and media centers, college and university libraries, government agencies, public interest groups, publishers, and vendors and other information providers -- comprise the Task Force on the Environment. The Task Force on the Environment was created in 1989 in the spirit of the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day (1990). Issues-oriented task forces, including TFOE, comprise the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) of the American Library Association ALA. SRRT is administratively linked to ALA's Office of Literacy and Out Research Services (OLOS).

American Lung Association - Outdoor Air Pollution Fact Sheet
A fact sheet covering the health costs of air pollution.

The Environmental Benefits Of Green Power
Two Sites offering an easy way to calculate the pollution your green power removes from the environment:

The Environmental Benefits Of Green Power
From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Buildings - Environmental Impact & Solutions
Towards Sustainable Architecture, Prof. Brian Edwards.

Calculate How Much Pollution Your Electricity Makes
Simply enter your monthly electric bill cost and click on your state!

Calculate Your Ecological Footprint (6/1/00)
Compare your Ecological Footprint, the amount of hectares (or acres) required to support your lifestyle, to the worldwide biologically productive space available per person (2.2 hectares or 5.4 acres). Just 13 Simple Questions Will Assess Your Use of Nature.

Canadian Efforts To Address Climate Chang Won't Hurt Economy (8/08/00)
Emission cuts seen not hurting economy - report #1
Canadians willing to adapt to halt climate changes - report #2
According to two new reports, one by the national Department of Finance and another by the think tank Informetrica Ltd, efforts in Canada to curb climate change would have little effect on the country's economy. The reports found that reducing Canadian greenhouse gas emissions 6 percent from 1990 levels by 2010, the nation's target under the Kyoto climate change treaty, would result in a drop of between 0.6 percent and 3 percent in a gross domestic product that is expected to increase by about 30 percent in the next decade. The Canadian government will consider the studies' findings as it decides on its negotiating position for the international climate change meeting to take place this November at The Hague, Netherlands. Meanwhile, a new poll shows that Canadian citizens support significant action to combat global warming. Eighty-three percent of poll respondents believe that severe weather events are related to climate change.

Climate - What to do? Policy options
Liberty Tree Alliance; Nature And Democracy For The Long Haul, 1140 Broadway
Suite 1205, New York, NY, 10001, USA

The Coming Global Oil Crisis - a great resource !

Compare impact of different types of transportation
From CREST.

Direct fuel use (average energy intensity of different options) - WOW!
Indirect energy use (roads, producing fuels, building
and maintaining infrastructure, and manufacturing and repairing vehicles
Externalities (cost of environmental damage, etc) - WOW!

Compilation Of Air Pollutant Emission Factors (AP-42)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Fuel Oil (In Adobe Acrobat PDF format)

Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG, or Propane) (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)


Useful Appendices:
Appendix A, Miscellaneous Data & Conversion Factors; 9-85
Appendix B.1, Particle Size Distribution Data and Sized Emission Factors for Selected Sources (Pages 1-49);10-86
Appendix B.1 (Pages 50-103); 10-86
Appendix B.2, Generalized Particle Size Distributions; 9-96

Draft Sections Under Review
1.x Draft Revisions for Utility NOx factors contained in Sections 1.1, 1.3 and 1.7; October 24, 1997
1.4 Natural Gas Combustion, Draft Section; July 2, 1997

Cut Fossil Fuel Subsides, Reduce Emissions
From The Waste Basket - Vol. II No. 39, November 24, 1997; A weekly bulletin on wasteful government spending from Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Earthy investors are seeing more green (5/9/00)
Social Responsibility Pays Off! Socially responsible mutual funds have outperformed many "traditional" mutual funds in recent years. They are still performing well despite recent drops in technology. Socially responsible funds have the environmental and social responsibility records of companies in which they invest screened, saving investors the trouble. The 54 socially responsible funds tracked by the Morningstar financial information firm were up more than 6 percent through the first quarter of 2000, compared to a gain of 2.3 percent for the S&P 500 Index. From The Christian Science Monitor, 05/08/2000

Emission Information Central: Chief Database, EPA

Energy-Efficient Buildings Improve Worker Productivity

Energy - The Facts
From the "New Internationalist," Issue 284.

Environmental Accounting Needed In Economy
From National Research Council - The U.S. government should develop a 'Green GDP' indicator that would track economic output and take environmental issues into account. The National Research Council says the U.S. has fallen behind other countries in linking economic growth and consumption of resources, and development of 'green' economic indicators would give an accurate picture of all economic activities.

Environmental Costs of Electricity
"The Pace Study" Pace University Center for Environmental Legal Studies.

Environmental Externalities and Fossil Fuel Use (5/21/00)
All about environmental externalities from About.com.

EPA Technology Transfer Network
EPA's gateway to technical information on pollution

Factor Information Retrieval Data System (FIRE)
A computerized database management system containing EPA's recommended emission estimation factors for criteria and hazardous air pollutants.

Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets 1999: Primary Energy (5/24/00)
Note: this link will open a 2.4 MB PDF file (Adobe Acrobat format)
This report is an update to the 1992 EIA report on Federal Energy Subsidies, and includes any additions or deletions of Federal subsidies based on Administration and Congressional actions since the 1992 report was written. It also provides an estimate of the size of each current subsidy. Subsidies included are those through which a government or public body provides a financial benefit. This report focuses on subsidies covering primary energy only. An HTML version of this report will be available in the near future.

Fueling Global Warming - Federal Subsidies To Oil In The United States
A report for Greenpeace by Douglas Koplow and Aaron Martin, Industrial Economics, Inc.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies - A Taxpayer Perspective
A fact sheet from Taxpayers for Common Sense, 651 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, 2nd Flr.
Washington, D.C. 20003.

Friends Of The Earth - Green Scissors Campaign
Campaign recommends cutting wasteful and environmentally harmful spending and subsidies. Compiled by the Green Scissors Campaign of Citizens United to Terminate Subsidies (CUT$), a coalition of Friends of the Earth and the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Greenpeace Exposes European Energy Subsidy Scandal
Almost $15 billion in European taxpayers' money is being spent every year to subsidise energy systems which damage the climate and increase the nuclear risk, a Greenpeace report revealed today. The report,"Energy Subsidies in Europe", shows that more than 90 per cent of direct subsidies from European governments to the energy industry goes to fossil fuels (63 per cent) and nuclear power (28 per cent).

Green Scissors 2000 Identifies 77 Environmentally Harmful Spending Subsidies Costing Taxpayers $50 Billion
Taxpayer and environmental groups target pork barrel programs.

Gulf still holds key to world's economy - Dependence on oil fuels whirlpool
BY CHARLES J. HANLEY -- ASSOCIATED PRESS, Monday, October 27, 1997

The Hidden Entitlements
Covers oil, gas and other energy subsidies and contains cost estimates for 1996-2002; by Robert S. McIntyre, Director, Citizens for Tax Justice.

The Hidden Entitlements - Databases
Three files in "wk1 format" are available to download: individual, corporation, and combined; contains cost estimates (in Billion $/yr) for 1996-2002 based on government data (OMB and others); by Robert S. McIntyre, Director, Citizens for Tax Justice.

Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels
Union Of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Major Air Pollutants & Their Health Effects
The American Lung Association.

Missing the Green: Congress Proposes Tax Cuts for Destructive Industries While Ignoring Environment
August 5, 1999. From Friends of The Earth - Congress is working on legislation to cut $792 billion in federal taxes over the next five years. With very few exceptions, environmental concerns were ignored while powerful petroleum, chemical, and timber interests got more tax breaks to subsidize their activities.

NARUC - the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (4/25/00)

Environmental Externalities: A Survey of State Commission Actions (July 11, 1990)
This report is the result of a survey conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory at the request of the NARUC Staff Subcommittee on Energy Conservation of what State commissions are doing to incorporate environmental externalities into the regulation of electric utilities. The survey found that 17 out of the 50 commissions responding have adopted explicit rules pertaining to environmental externalities, with most requiring electric utilities to consider environmental externalities in their resource planning and/or acquisition processes. There were three typical approaches used by State commissions to incorporate environmental externalities: (1) a qualitative treatment by the utility during the resource planning process; (2) use of a percentage adder that either increases the cost of supply resources or decreases the cost of demand-side management resources in the utility's planning process; and (3) direct quantification of the cost of the externality, which usually occurs when a utility develops a competitive bid. The survey also found several State commissions using approaches that implicitly incorporate externalities into the ratemaking process by permitting higher rates of return for resource alternatives that were deemed environmentally benign. 79 pages; loose-leaf; $17.00.

Environmental Externalities and Electric Utility Regulation (October 1993)
This report describes the different policy issues and options facing State commissions in considering the question of incorporating environmental externalities in the regulation of electric utilities. The report has four distinct features. It first presents an overview of the definitions, concepts and opposing views related to the consideration of environmental externalities by State regulators of electric utilities. Second, it provides an analysis of the methods States have used to consider environmental externalities and discusses the problems and benefits associated with various procedures and mechanisms for incorporating externalities in the regulatory process. Third, it presents case studies of how six States have approached the consideration of environmental externalities. Fourth, it provides the reader with references and summaries of recent articles and books on the topic of environmental externalities. 123 pages; $7.50.

New Greenhouse Gas Identified, Potent and Rare (8/8/00)
July 28, 2000, The New York Times Company

New York State Environmental Externalities Cost Study:Report & Computer Model
Edited by Empire State Electric Energy Research Corporation (ESEERCO).

Public Wants Renewables But Government Subsidies Non-Renewables?
From National Geographic, Friday, June 4, 1999 - Public favors renewable energy funding. According to this survey, Americans believe renewable energy and energy efficiency should be given funding priority by the Department of Energy. Unfortunately, the survey results directly contradict House and Senate appropriation committees votes May 25 to cut Department of Energy programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency and increase funding for nuclear and fossil fuels programs.

Renewables and Energy Efficiency Planning (REEP)
Analyzes 87 energy- and water-efficiency technologies at 239 Department of Defense (DOD) installations. Technologies are evaluated for their energy savings potential, financial viability, and pollution abatement potential.

Report: Soot particles kill 201 here annually (10/18/00)
Sooty pollution from power plants kills 200 people in the Houston area, 1,310 people in Texas and 30,000 Americans annually according to a new study issued Monday by environmentalists. From the Houston Chronicle, 10-16-00.

Risky Business: Hidden Environmental Liabilities Of Power Plant Ownership (8/8/00)
Technical data for estimating pollutant emission factors.

Solar Energy For Reducing Pollution - Fact Sheet
The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA)

Special Report/Corporate Welfare - Paying A Price For Polluters
Many of America's largest companies foul the environment but clean up on billions of dollars in tax benefits.

Subsidizing Big Oil
Drawn from the UCS report "Money Down the Pipeline: The Hidden Subsidies to the Oil Industry." Union Of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Studies Of The Environmental Costs Of Electricity
Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress

Study Shows Energy Research Spending is in Dangerous Decline
From Princeton University, Thursday, July 29, 1999 - With Innovation at 20-Year Low, Risks to Environment Could be Serious. "If we don't increase the funds for energy technology R&D, we will be heading down a dark path," says Margolis. "The threats are serious."

Related Story - A recent article in 'USA Today' calculated direct grants for wind, solar, geothermal and renewables at more than $10 billion since 1978 (including $170 million in direct subsidies in 1996) and $7 billion in tax subsidies for ethanol. Tax breaks for oil, gas and coal were $3,200 million in 1997 alone.

Subsidizing Environmental Damage (8/8/00)
Source: Christian Science Monitor; 04-17-2000
Excerpt - "The typical American pays as much as $2,000 per year in taxes to fund government subsidies that undercut the nation's economy and trash the environment."

Tax Barriers to Four Renewable Electric Generation Technologies
By Alec F. Jenkins of the California Energy Commission, Sacramento, California; Richard A. Chapman, Consulting Engineer, San Jose, California; Hugh E. Reilly, Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Tax Breaks for Polluters Soar to $20.1 Billion in New Millennium (1/26/00)
A new analysis by Friends of the Earth reveals that the cost of tax breaks for special interests is growing rapidly, adding urgency to proposals to cut these subsidies announced by several Presidential candidates. Using information from the non-partisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, Friends of the Earth shows that tax breaks for polluting industries will grow to $20.1 billion over the next five years.

Tax Inequities For Renewable Energy Development
Current Tax Laws Provide A Competitive Advantage For Fossil Fuels

TOXNET (5/9/00)
A large and evolving group of databases on toxic chemicals and their effects, provides officials with the information they need to make fast and accurate decisions. TOXNET was created by the National Library of Medicine and made available to the public in 1985. Access to TOXNET is free!

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS): Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS): EnergyInnov=CleanEnvir+GreatEcon

U.S. to Spend $26 Billion on 'Dirty' Energy Technology (3/23/00)
Taxpayers will pay more than $26 billion in the next five years for energy programs that benefit the oil, gas, coal, and nuclear industries, according to "Paying for Pollution, How Taxpayers Subsidize Dangerous and Polluting Energy Programs," by the Green Scissors Campaign, led by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

World Watch - State of the World Report -
Population & Climate Threats Ahead
The Worldwatch Institute has released "State of the World 2000" which warns that "the biological impoverishment of the Earth is accelerating as human population grows [and] the projected growth of world population from 6 billion at present to nearly 9 billion by 2050 will exacerbate nearly all environmental problems."