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AN EMERGY AUDIT OF WEST VIRGINIA: STRENGTHS AND VULNERABILITIES
Citation:
Campbell, D E., M. Meisch, S BrandtWilliams, T. Demoss, J. R. Pomponio, B S. Brown, AND M P. Bradley. AN EMERGY AUDIT OF WEST VIRGINIA: STRENGTHS AND VULNERABILITIES. Presented at ReVA/MAIA Conference 2003, King of Prussia, PA, May 13-15, 2003.
Description:
Emergy provides a general accounting mechanism that allows us to view the economy of humanity and the economy of nature on the same income and balance sheets. In this manner we can verify the financial picture given by economic analysis by checking it against a similar representation of the flows and storages of real wealth as measured by emergy. In this study we constructed an income statement showing the annual flows of emergy and dollars into and out of the state of West Virginia in 1997. In addition, we determined the storage of social and natural capital in the state. We constructed indices by combining the emergy and economic information to gain insight into the economic, social, and environmental strengths and vulnerabilities of the state. Emergy indices show West Virginia to be a state that is rich in renewable (2.8 times the US avg.) and nonrenewable (17 times the US avg.) resources. Emergy from outside has been attracted to the state and the investment ratio of purchased to renewable emergy is high (5) for a state that is over 70% forested. We use these and other indices to show that West Virginia is a state where the environment remains vulnerable over large and small areas of concentrated human activity, where much more emergy is exported than is received in return (8:1) and where our standard of living indicators show that people have largely failed to reap the economic benefits of their state's wealth. Environmental accounting using emergy gives managers a powerful new tool that they can use to audit the economic picture of a county, state, or region. We propose that just as in business where regular financial audits insure the solvency of the firm, policies governing environmental accounts should pass an emergy audit of their efficacy before being implemented.