Oct 3rd, 2008 · A consortium of Northeast states has completed the first cap-and-trade greenhouse gas auction in the U.S. Under cap-and-trade, limits are set on emissions. Companies that do not use up their quota of emissions are able to sell their excess emission capacity to other companies.
Sep 18th, 2008 · The world's fisheries are in rapid decline, due primarily to overfishing. A new study finds that the decline could be halted — and in some cases even reversed — if fishermen were granted transferable quotas to go out and catch fish.
Jun 7th, 2007 · Like many economists, professor Russell Roberts believes in free markets and capitalism. He doesn't believe in quota systems, and he's not a big fan of the immigration bill that's working its way through Congress. To him, it looks suspiciously like a micro-managed quota system in disguise.
May 30th, 2007 · The fate of a 21-year ban on commercial whaling is at stake at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Anchorage, Alaska. Officials are weighing whether Japan should be allowed to resume commercial whaling. Since 1986, the IWC has banned whale hunting with just two exceptions: nations may take a certain number of whales for "scientific research," and aboriginal people are allowed quotas for subsistence purposes.
May 12th, 2007 · Nearly 70 years ago, Jewish refugees were appealing to the U.S., trying to escape Nazi Germany. A few Washington officials had a plan to loosen America's strict immigration quotas and allow the Jews to live in Alaska. That proposal never passed Congress. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Richard Breitman, author and professor of history at American University, about the Alaskan resettlement plan and why it didn't work.
Jan 26th, 2007 · Police in Russia are expelling foreigners who work in the country's street markets. The authorities are enforcing new quotas aimed at removing all illegal immigrants working in the retail trade.
Dec 27th, 2006 · It's a mixed bag this holiday season for black actors. The biggest movie star in the world, Will Smith, is black, and he's one of many black actors in contention for an Oscar this year. But African-American pros in the film industry say that black talent still faces obstacles -- notably an entrenched notion that overseas audiences aren't interested in movies with black casts. There is also a sense that the Academy has an unspoken-maybe even an unconscious--quota system.
Dec 4th, 2006 · The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether student placement systems in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle, Wash., are acceptable ways to maintain racial diversity -- or are unacceptable quota systems. The programs are being challenged by parents whose children weren't placed in their preferred schools.