Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond Corporate Greenwashing: Discourse Of A 'Just' Electric Energy Transition Materialized At The Thacker Pass Lithium Mine, Laekyn Kelley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Thacker Pass in Northern Nevada is a rich desert ecosystem with spiritual significance to local Indigenous peoples, and it is also the site for what will be, for now, the United States’ largest open-pit lithium mine. Lithium is one mineral constituent of electric batteries which are essential to current U.S. electric energy transition policy, a transition which policymakers and other public groups have called on to be done in a way which is just. However, what exactly a just electric energy transition looks like in places like Thacker Pass is under continued negotiation in theoretical and practical senses. Existing research …

Environmental Rhetoric And An Ecology Of Transcendence: A Rhetorical Criticism Of Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock, Alyssa Kahn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My project blends Burkean theory with Indigenous rhetoric to argue that the counter- story of Awake proposes an ecology of transcendence to make sense of human-nature relationships. I wanted to analyze Awake A Dream From Standing Rock. The documentary is explicitly about Indigenous peoples. This documentary tells the story of the peaceful protests and resistance led by Native people at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation or Lakota Tribe in North Dakota. The activists were protecting the water otherwise known as water protectors/warriors from the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The assembly of DAPL is intended to carry perforated …

An Ideological Criticism Of The Green New Deal And Media Responses, Corynn Miller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Using an ecofeminist lens, this project aims to analyze the ideologies surrounding the creation and response to the Green New Deal (GND). By completing an ideological analysis of the GND, in addition to examining some news media portrayals of the GND, this thesis analyzes the underlying motivations and ideologies surrounding female politicians, climate change, and climate policies. This thesis examines reads the GND not as a policy that was meant to be passed, but instead as an ideological statement about humans and their relationship to the environment. The news media portrayals exhibit varying coverage of the GND’s effectiveness, varying use …

Riding My Bike In Paradise With Margaret Fuller: A Phenomenological Study, Nanette Rasband Hilton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was perhaps the most famous American woman during the nineteenth century. After her tragic death, reprints of her best-selling books were heavily edited and she was nearly forgotten. During and after her lifetime, Fuller fell victim to the phenomenological alterity identified and defined by theorists including Derrida and Edward Said as Othering. She spent her career combating Othering in all its forms. Through the lens of both social identity theory and multiple identity theory this study examines how Fuller grappled with social prescriptions. As an autodidact, she mined diverse literary resources to construct heterogeneous texts that cultivate …

Thing-Makers, Tool Freaks And Prototypers: How The Whole Earth Catalog’S Optimistic Message Reinvented The Environmental Movement In 1968, Andy Kirk

History Faculty Research

In the fall of 1968 a Stanford-trained biologist, organizer of the legendary Trips Festival and Merry Prankster named Stewart Brand published the first Whole Earth Catalog. Between 1968 and 1972, the Catalog reached millions of readers and won the National Book Award. The title and iconic cover image of this counterculture classic celebrated the first publicly released NASA photographs showing the whole planet Earth from space. These images profoundly changed the way humans thought about the environment. And the Catalog played an important role in that change.

Is Being Green, White? A Critical Ethnographic Study Of Social Norms In Conservation, Heather Whitesides

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Attempts to measure and implement conservation norms have consistently upheld and promoted the dominant culture’s practices and beliefs. This has led to oppression of non-dominant populations, thereby hindering these populations’ access to various opportunities to participate in conservation based activities. This has historically, and still today, led to the segregation of non-dominant populations from environmental participation and has misrepresented their beliefs and actions relative to definitions of conservation citizenship and in the broader literature on conservation, conservation measurements, outdoor recreation, and pro-environmental behavior.

This research sought to extend the existing literature on conservation, specifically on the measurements of recreation practices …

Systems Of Access: A Multidisciplinary Strategy For Assessing The Social Dimensions Of Sustainability, Christopher Wolsko, Elizabeth Marino, Thomas J. Doherty, Steve Fisher, Amanda S. Green, Briana Goodwin, Ryan Reese, Andrea Wirth

Library Faculty Publications

The concept of access to natural resources has been a specific concern of economists and ecologists and is a distinct component in recent models of social sustainability. Using a series of conceptual and empirical examples, this article extends the notion of access broadly to social institutions and sociocultural norms. We argue that access may be usefully construed as an analytic tool that has direct applicability to many sustainability issues as it allows for cross-disciplinary and public engagement. Here the concept of access, linked to Amartya Sen’s theory of capabilities, also makes visible the multi-scaled and interconnected social processes that influence …

Unlv Stars Unabridged Report, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Reports (USI)

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by earning a 2011 Silver Rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Ratings System (STARS), is ahead of the curve among public universities – and improving.

STARS is a voluntary, self–reporting framework developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to help measure sustainability performance over time and among colleges and universities nationwide. The UNLV Sustainability Council oversaw STARS, which by measuring sustainability can help UNLV to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve education, attract research, and generate jobs.

A rating of Silver puts UNLV in great company – with …

Our Places To Tell Stories: Preliminary Program Springs Preserve, Public Lands Institute

Our Places to Tell Stories

Our Places Tell Stories is an innovative conference for educators and others working at public lands, schools, nature centers, museums, zoos, aquaria, and all nature and heritage rich places.

This list of presentations represents a preliminary program of sessions. A final program will be emailed to all registrants prior to the conference. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to seeing you at the Springs!

Native American Forum On Nuclear Issues Agenda

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Conference agenda

Sponsored by: UNLV Department of Environmental Studies, UNLV Libraries, UNLV Department of History, UNLV Department of Sociology and the Native Community Action Council

Environmental Justice: An Analysis, Dennis Bechtel

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract: -Importance of the Environmental Justice -EJ examples -Regulatory backdrop -Stigma effects -Recommendations

Fighting Nuclear Waste At Skull Valley, Margene Bullcreek

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract:

-Reasons We Oppose Nuclear Waste

-Sovereignty

-Traditional values must be protected

-Protect sacredness of our culture, plants,

animals, air, and water

-Affects on community health

-Protect reservation and homeland

-To protect the air and water

-To protect future generations

-Environmental Justice

Native American Forum On Nuclear Issues Agenda

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Conference agenda

Sponsored by: UNLV Department of Environmental Studies, UNLV Libraries, UNLV Department of History, UNLV Department of Sociology and the Native Community Action Council

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Programming: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending August 31, 2007, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

During the past three months, the focus of the university’s efforts has included the following highlights:

• Three projects have been identified to meet SNAP strategic messaging needs: an anti-litter exhibit; a volunteer restoration program with educational components; and activity stations to tell the story of Lee Meadows restoration efforts.
• Interpretive planning is underway for Mountain’s Edge Explorer’s Interpretive Trail.
• A Hispanic survey and monitoring program has been identified.
• A six-week Spanish class tailored to meet the communication needs of environmental educators and interpreters will be offered beginning September 20.
• Forever Earth was scheduled for 11 days and benefited 297 individuals. …

Session 7 - A Comparative Geographic Analysis Of The Impact Of Scale On Hazards And Vulnerability In Industrialized Continental Lands And Small Pacific Islands, William J. Smith Jr.

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Geography, specifically scale, has significant impacts in terms of hazards and vulnerability. Small islands, such as those found in the Pacific, experience the impacts of their relatively unique geography and scale in terms of hazards and vulnerability in at least five ways: 1) Perception and communication; 2) Impact and escape from impact; 3) Technology; 4) Recovery; and 5) Socio-environmental justice. Comparative analysis in these five areas between the Pacific’s small islands and industrialized continental regions illuminates differences regarding the way hazards and vulnerability should be conceptualized in the under-treated small islands of the world. Lessons from this analysis will aid …

Education In The Environment: A Hands-On Student Research And Outdoor Learning Experience: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending February 28, 2007, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

• Forever Earth was scheduled and operated for 21 days; it benefited 398 individuals.
• Newly developed grade 4 activities from the Forever Earth curriculum were field tested.
• Three Discover Mojave Outdoor World events were conducted. A partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada is under development; when finalized, this partnership will markedly increase participation in the program. Similar partnership discussions are also being held with local leadership of the local Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA.
• A work plan has been established for Conservation, Education, and Interpretation Program Manager.
• Cultural Inclusiveness workshops were held in …

Colorado College State Of The Rockies Report Card, Walter E. Hecox, Bryan Hurlbutt, Caitlin O'Brady

Publications (SD)

Welcome to Colorado College’s third State of the Rockies Report Card. Building upon a strong start in 2004 and continuing through 2005, the Rockies Project this year provides a fresh look at key challenges to this beautiful but fragile region. This Report Card and the companion April 2006 State of the Rockies Conference are significant outreach activities of Colorado College: Vision 2010, an agenda to strengthen our college and our engagement in the region.

A Study Of Environmental Justice In Relation To Air Pollution And Income, Christian A. Malveaux

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is come to a conclusion on whether or not air pollution and income levels are connected. There is an ongoing pollution problem in Las Vegas. The question that will be attempted to answer in this is paper is: Is there a difference in the amount of air pollution in affluent parts of the Las Vegas Valley and the less affluent parts of the valley? Information and data regarding air pollution is gathered from the Clark County website and other literature. Information on income levels is gathered from journals and literature pertinent to the subject and …