Day archives: February 17th, 2015

2013 Toxic Release Inventory National Analysis

“Tens of thousands of chemicals are used by industries and businesses in the United States to make the products on which our society depends, such as pharmaceuticals, clothing, and automobiles. Many of the chemicals needed to create these products are toxic, and while the majority of toxic chemicals are managed so that they are not …

Subjects: Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

CBO’s Economic Forecasting Record: 2015 Update

February 12, 2015 – “For nearly four decades, the Congressional Budget Office has prepared economic forecasts that underlie the agency’s projections for the federal budget and cost estimates for proposed federal legislation. In particular, forecasts of output, inflation, interest rates, and income play a significant role in the agency’s budgetary analysis; for example, projections of …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

Most Detailed Ecological Land Units Map in the World

“Esri and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are pleased to announce the development of the highest spatial resolution ecological land units (ELUs) map of the world ever produced. The Global ELUs map portrays a systematic division and classification of ecological and physiographic information about land surface features. The work was commissioned by the intergovernmental …

Subjects: E-Government, Knowledge Management

Proposed efficiency standard may eliminate noncondensing gas furnaces

EIA: “Following a court challenge that caused a previous proposal to be sent back for further analysis, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a new proposed rulemaking to increase the minimum efficiency standards for gas furnaces, which are mostly fueled by natural gas but also include propane furnaces. Gas furnaces are one of …

Subjects: Congress, Education, Energy, Government Documents

Household Debt Continues Upward Climb While Student Loan Delinquencies Worse

NY Fed news release: “In its Q4 2014 Household Debt and Credit Report, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that outstanding household debt increased $117 billion from the third quarter. The one percent increase puts total household indebtedness at $11.83 trillion as of December 31, 2014. Total debt has gone up $326 billion …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing

The Politics of Selecting the Bench from the Bar: The Legal Profession and Partisan Incentives to Politicize the Judiciary

Bonica, Adam, and Maya Sen. “The Politics of Selecting the Bench from the Bar: The Legal Profession and Partisan Incentives to Politicize the Judiciary.” HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP15-001, January 2015. “The American judiciary has increasingly come under attack as polarized and politicized. Using a newly collected dataset that captures the ideological positioning …

Subjects: Congress, Courts

New Research Paper: How Uncertainty in Climate Science Turns Good News Bad

News release: “Can good news actually be bad news when it comes to the effects of global climate change?  That is the question Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Professor Richard Zeckhauser and his co-authors are attempting to answer in a new HKS Faculty Research Working Paper.  Their report, titled Climate Sensitivity Uncertainty: When is Good News …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents