Monday, April 30, 2012

Four countries call for EU subsidies for nuclear power

            Four European countries have demanded that the EU grant nuclear energy a similar status to that of solar and wind energy. Ultimately, this could lead the EU to pay billions of dollars to subsidize nuclear power.
           Subsidies are supposed to be a Pigouvian tax, which cover this activity's negative externalities. However, with the high costs associated with following the demands of these four countries, it is just not practical to regard nuclear energy as a renewable energy source. 
          In fact, other countries, such as Germany, have learned their lesson and are trying to avoid disasters such as the one in Fukushima by trying to ween themselves off of nuclear energy completely. Germany intends to shut down all of its nuclear power plants, which is estimated to occur by 2022.

Source: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15881452,00.html

Call for even tougher sanctions on Iceland and Faroes for over-fishing

            Even after the EU has negotiated with Iceland and the Faroe Islands, they have ignored the quotas for fishing mackerel and have caught half of the fish available.The European Parliament has demanded that stricter trade sanctions of over-fishing of mackerel be placed upon Iceland and the Faroe Islands. These trade sanctions would entail banning all the fish products and fishing gear that is imported from the EU as well as banning their vessels from the EU ports. Of the EU, Ireland is being hurt by this activity the most because Mackerel is its most valuable fish, bringing in about around €100m a year.
            This article demonstrates an attempt to resolve the Tragedy of the Commons as Iceland and the Faroe Islands are depleting the amount of Mackerel available in Europe by overfishing instead of trying to sustain the resource. Economically, this is a foolish mistake, but many do not realize that their activity (overfishing of mackerel) is pushing the marginal benefit to zero.

Source: http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2012/0427/business/call-for-even-tougher-sanctions-on-iceland-and-faroes-for-over-fishing-191952.html