Water in the West

You don't often hear people complaining that the price of something is too low, but here's someone doing just that. He's absolutely right!

$17 billion net benefits from a clean Chesapeake

At least, according to work written up in the NYT last week. (I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I found out about this from the Twitter feed of O's fan Josh Charles, who used to be a star on the Good Wife which my wife and I enjoy watching.)

The study says that $22 billion in yearly gains would accrue from a $5-6 billion annual investment, so it's clearly a good investment. I imagine the devil's in the details, as usual. I mean, if it's going to be done right, the Feds probably need to write some farmer in upstate NY a check to compensate for their reduced productivity on their land, which stems from their reducd use of fertilizers.... It's tough to identify all the winners and losers, which makes it hard to work out an equitable agreement. Still, I'm glad the EPA seems poised to enter the fray. Without Federal leadership, I don't see much happening, unfortunately....