North Atlantic Swordfish are back

It's hard to believe that NMFS is labeling N. Atlantic swordfish as a sustainable seafood choice. This is a major victory for international fisheries management.  Read about it here at NOAA.

A short summary of the regulations can be found here.

Ecosystem values from trees

This is really cool: http://ecosystemcommons.org/discussion/ohio-state-unv-ecosystem-services-awareness

Background info here: http://www.itreetools.org/

U.S. soon to be world's largest oil producer

The International Energy Agency projects that the United States will soon surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer, but only for a few years. Further, natural gas will soon become the largest piece of our energy portfolio.

Read about it here at Bloomberg

What factors are driving these changes?
What are the implications for internalizing negative externalities associated with fossil fuel production and consumption?
What are the implications for economic growth?

Here is a related story at the NYT about the expiration of the production tax credit for wind power.