On the beach, and what it’s worth

Brent Sohngen, professor in CFAES’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, has received a grant from Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant program to determine the economic value of Lake Erie’s beaches — useful information for estimating, say, the economic hit from harmful algal blooms.

Which Lake Erie beach do you value most? Leave your reply below. (Photo: Lake Erie near Sandusky by Mampfred, iStock.)

New series on renewable energy in Ohio

When it comes to boosting the use of solar and wind energy, “Ohio can do better,” reporter Peter Krouse wrote yesterday in a slideshow story on cleveland.com — and until it does, it’s losing out on “the economic benefits that come from a fast-growing industry.” Among those benefits are jobs. The slideshow went with a main story by Krouse, called “Renewing our commitment to renewable energy: Impact 2016,” which says it’s the first installment in a series that “will examine why Ohio lags behind other states in promoting renewable energy and what we might do to catch up, or get ahead.” Check it out.

Good for water quality, good for the economy?

CFAES’s Richard Moore will present “Water Quality Trading: An Analysis and Comparison of Programs in Ohio” from 4:10 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29, on Ohio State’s Columbus campus, with a video link to the Wooster campus of CFAES’s research arm, OARDC. It’s free. All are welcome. Included will be details on the Alpine Water Quality Trading Plan, which Moore helped develop. The plan has enabled a northeast Ohio cheese factory to cut its phosphorus discharge, boost its use of local milk, and create 12 new jobs. Bottom line, the plan has increased the sustainability of the company and of local farms while improving the area’s water quality. More on the plan.