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European Association
of Environmental and Resource Economists
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EAERE President Correspondence
Colleagues,
I look out my window, and see signs of renewal everywhere. In Northern latitudes, it takes a very jaded spirit not to find this time of the year spirit-lifting. Nights shorten; optimism and daffodils have their day. We can imagine it was this time of year that the great Scandinavian explorer Eric the Red set out to discover Greenland and that his son Leif later set out for Canada. In Japan, the nation obsesses about the precise date when cherry blossoms will blanket the land. Here in Ireland, in March we celebrate St. Patrick's Day: the Irish Diaspora comes greening together in time and space to pray, drink and to celebrate - not necessarily in that order of priority - both a shared sense of identity and a conviction that life is good and to be enjoyed. One of its nicest features is that for that day everyone is invited to join the party and to be Irish - no barriers of race or religion apply - affirmation rather than exclusion applies. And nature keeps its shape through it all. Basho captures the idea:The morning glories,
Knowing nothing of drinking bouts
Are in full splendourMarket Junkies
For those of us who love markets, the activity and energy manifest in the European emissions trading market for CO2 is a source of joy, a statement, however imperfect, that our planet's capacity to act as a sink to dispose of greenhouse gasses is a scarce economic resource, and that its use for this purpose must be paid for. For market junkies like myself, a morning look at Carbon Market Europe's web site to see the current price - €14.36 per tonne on April 18, 2005 - gets the day off to a good start.
EAERE Membership Challenge
With renewal in the air, we want to use the moment to launch a campaign to expand our membership numbers. On of the many benefits of investing in a professional secretariat is that we have up-to-date records of our members, so we know where we're starting from, and can sustain a campaign. The first step in any such campaign is to hold onto our existing membership. We've already made good headway in this regard, although we note that a number of memberships have lapsed in December 04. The next step is to expand. Our target is to double our membership. This can be achieved if every existing member brings one additional person into our fold. At our Council meeting in Dublin March 23, 2005, we identified a lucky group of individuals - we are calling them 'EAERE Country Representatives' - in each country, who we will brief on the current membership post registration for the Bremen conference, and ask them to animate the process of doubling membership. When you are contacted to help meet this challenge, please respond with effective enthusiasm. At the Bremen meeting, anyone who has 'brought in' an additional 5 members will receive special recognition, including a nice bottle of wine.
Nominations for President (2008 and 2009) and Council members
We've had a very poor response from you in this regard. The performance of our association stands or falls on the quality and commitment of the President and Council, so take a few minutes to send Monica (monica.eberle@feem.it) a note with your suggestions, and why he or she should be considered, to be received not later than April 30th 2005.
See you in Bremen June 23-26, 2005
By our cut off date of February 1, 2005 we had received in the order of 400 papers for our annual conference, so the competition for presentation slots is very keen. The programme committee, led by Nick Hanley and Johan Eyckmans, and numerous reviewers have done a terrific job under considerable time pressure in moving the content and structure along. The Greek proverb tells us: 'If I had two drachmae, I would spend one on bread and the other on hyacinths.' Our host Wolfgang Pfaffenberger has ensured that body and soul will be equally well served in Bremen, where there will be a splendid feast of intellectual riches and social happenings. So don't miss out - be there! The full programme will be circulated to you by May 16th, 2005.
Favourite Quote:
Brendan Behan: 'I only drink alcohol on two occasions: when I'm thirsty, and when I'm not.'
Frank J. Convery
EAERE President
Past Correspondence
