Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Aboriginal People Defend The Environment, Richard Philp

Richard B. Philp

Aboriginal peoples in Canada are in the forefront in the battle to protect the environment from unregulated depredations of petroleum and mining interests. Omnibus Bill C-38 exempted oil pipelines from the terms of the Environmental Protection Act, prompting protests from First Nations people through whose reserves it would pass. Omnibus Bill C-45 removes thousands of lakes and rivers from protection of the Navigable Lakes and Waters Protection Act and permits the government sale of native lands without consultation. In response, the Idle No More movement took root and widespread protests have resulted. The persistent lack of consultation between the government …

The Challenges Of Dynamic Water Management In The American West, Holly Doremus, Michael Hanemann

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

Constitutive Law And Environmental Policy, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

Sciene Plays Defense: Natural Resource Management In The Bush Administration, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

The George W. Bush Administration has been criticized by scientists for its use of science in the policy arena generally, and for politicizing science. However, the problem is more one of the scientizing of politics, as the administration has shown that the rhetoric of science can be used defensively, as a barrier to regulation. Key methods used by the administration to pursue its strategy of defensive science in natural resource management are detailed. A more normatively defensible, and a more politically effective, strategy for conservationists would emphasize the need to bring transparency and a commitment to updating into the regulatory …

El Organismo Provincial Para El Desarrollo Sostenible (Opds) Y Los Municipios En El Marco De La Ley De Radicación Industrial: Delegación Y Descentralización En La Regionalización Provincial, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Luciana Mercedes Girotto

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Verifiable And Non-Verifiable Anonymous Mechanisms For Regulating A Polluting Monopolist, James Prieger, Nicholas Sanders

James E. Prieger

Optimal regulation of a polluting natural monopolist must correct for both external damages and market power to achieve a social optimum. Existing non-Bayesian regulatory methods require knowledge of the demand function, while Bayesian schemes require knowledge of the underlying cost distribution. We introduce mechanisms adapted to use less information. Our Price-based Subsidy (PS) mechanisms give the firm a transfer that matches or approximates the incremental surplus generated each period. The regulator need not observe the abatement activity or know the demand, cost, or damage functions of the firm. All of the mechanisms induce the firm to price at marginal social …

Adaptive Management Program Progress Report, Susan Wainscott, Lee Bice

Susan Wainscott

Progress of the Adaptive Management Program for the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Program is presented.

Chagrin River Watershed Partners Needs Assessment And Service Strategy, Daila Shimek

Daila Shimek

This report describes the needs identified by member communities and organizations of the Chagrin River Watershed Partners (CRWP) that could be adopted by CRWP as part of its service strategy. The results suggest that members are pleased with the services provided by CRWP. Additional needs fell into one of eight categories: (1) Information, education, and training, (2) Planning, development, redevelopment, and resolutions/ordinances, (3) Funding and grants, (4) Technical assistance, (5) Regulations and requirements, (6) Storm water infrastructure maintenance, (7) Providing a strategic role in helping manage the watershed, and (8) Managing relationships.

Renewable Energy Storage Systems, Kyle Herman

Dr. Kyle S. Herman

This paper investigates various storage options for renewable energy, in an attempt to deter the insidious effect of the common notion that renewable energy is intermittent and thus cannot compete with fossil fuel or conventional energies, the object of this paper is to reveal a few basic storage options for renewable energy which are already widely deployed.

Sheldon Kamienieck Cv, Sheldon Kamieniecki

Sheldon Kamieniecki

No abstract provided.

Carl Schmitt's Critique Of Liberalism And The European Union, Kyle S. Herman

Dr. Kyle S. Herman

I invoke Carl Schmitt's Critique of Liberalism outlined in "The Concept of the Political" to better understand the European Union (EU) as a governmental institution. It is my contention that the EU is a liberal institution, with the sole intent to drive economic policy while ignoring identity, similar to what Schmitt rails against in his critique of liberalism. For that reason I demonstrate how the EU fits well into the mold Schmitt laid out to identify liberal politics. Therefore I use Schmitt's critique as both a starting point for defining the European Union and, by superimposing his critique onto the …

Human Development And Resources Use In The Coastal Zone: Influences On Human Health, Robert E. Bowen, Anamarija Frankic, Mary E. Davis

Robert E. Bowen

Coastal watersheds and nearshore marine areas are the most valuable and dynamic places on Earth. Human population growth is great in these regions, which are home to some of the most sensitive habitats in the world. Coastal areas provide more than half of the overall service value derived from the global environment (Costanza et al., 1997). Natural (e.g., hurricanes and tsunamis) and human pressures on this environment require it to constantly adjust. More than any other area, the global coast has defined the progress of human culture and continues to be a singular influence in how humans connect to the …

Public Policy Frameworks In Environmental Settings: An Argument For New Policy Frameworks To Support New Policy Directions, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Danish Wind Energy Innovation, Kyle S. Herman

Dr. Kyle S. Herman

This article compares the exceptional Danish wind energy innovation system with the system employed by the US government. The underlying assumption about innovation systems in the US is that they are technologically driven, and past technological advances can be built upon leading to break-through innovations. However in Denmark, innovation was driven from citizens and relied on no break-through technologies, but rather a piecemeal process of collective, smaller innovations. For wind energy, this process was far more successful than the technologically driven innovation system in the US.

Japan's Distribution Challenge: Lessons From Abroad, Paul J. Scalise

Paul J. Scalise

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Takings Claims And Coastal Management Of Sea Level Rise: Remembering Governments Are More Than Regulators, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

An Assessment Of The Impact That Participation In Local Climate Networks Has On Cities’ Implementation Of Climate, Energy, And Transportation Policies, Rachel Krause

Rachel M. Krause

Much of the attention surrounding local climate protection in the United States is associated with two networks: ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection and the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement (MCPA). However, the impact of these networks on member-city actions has not been clearly established. This paper examines whether, and to what extent, participation in climate networks leads to the implementation of GHG-reducing policies, above and beyond what would have been done in their absence. To account for the possibility that cities which join climate networks are systematically different from those that do not and control for self-selection induced …

Intent To Purchase A Plug-In Electric Vehicle: A Survey Of Early Impressions In Large U.S. Cites, Rachel Krause

Rachel M. Krause

This paper examines consumer stated intent to purchase plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and assesses the factors that increase or decrease interest. It utilizes a survey of 2,302 adult drivers in 21 large U.S. cities. The survey occurred in early fall 2011, before vehicle manufacturers and dealers began information and marketing campaigns, and thus serves to document early impressions of this emerging transport technology. The central finding of the analysis is that, given current battery technology and public perceptions, overall stated intent to purchase or lease PEVs is low. Interest in plug-in hybrid technology is somewhat greater than interest in all-electric …

The Devil In The Deal: Trade-Embedded Emissions And The Durban Platform, Cindy Isenhour

Cindy Isenhour

No abstract provided.

Early Public Impressions Of Terrestrial Carbon Capture And Storage In A Coal-Intensive State., Rachel Krause

Rachel M. Krause

While carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be critical to achieving long-term climate-protection goals, public concerns about the CCS practice could pose significant obstacles to its deployment. This study reports findings from the first state-wide survey of public perceptions of CCS in a coal-intensive state, with an analysis of which factors predict early attitudes toward CCS. Nearly three-quarters of an Indiana sample (N=1,001) agree that storing carbon underground is a good approach to protecting the environment, despite 80% of the sample being unaware of CCS prior to participation in the two-wave survey. The majority of respondents do not …

The Impact Of Municipal Renewable Electricity Use On Greenhouse Gas Emissions In The United States, Rachel M. Krause

Rachel M. Krause

Local governments are increasingly taking initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, limited and inconsistent data makes evaluating the aggregate impact of relevant actions difficult. This paper focuses specifically on U.S. city governments’ use of renewable electricity to power their own operations. It develops a range of rough estimates for the cumulative nationwide impact of this activity and finds that it results in an annual abatement of between 5.8 and 29.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), with the best approximation being 6.2 million tons CO2e a year. This is about 20% of the estimated total that …

Can Consumer Demand Deliver Sustainable Food?: Recent Research In Sustainable Consumption Policy & Practice, Cindy Isenhour

Cindy Isenhour

No abstract provided.

Implementing Environmental Justice In Appalachia: The Social And Cultural Context Of Mountaintop Removal Mining As Seen Through The Lenses Of Law And Documentaries, Evan Barret Smith

Evan Barret Smith

Mountaintop removal is a form of mining that has major effects on the ecology and people of central Appalachia. The practice has been gaining increasing attention from the EPA and popular cultural sources as an environmental justice issue. Recent decisions by the EPA incorporate an environmental justice analysis as contextualization, but the perspective provided is problematic. This Article compares the way that the social and cultural context of mountaintop removal has been framed in judicial opinions and EPA documents to understand how legal documents understand and perpetuate the conflicts related to mountaintop removal. To further widen the lens, seven documentary …

Buying Anonymity: An Investigation Of Petroleum And Natural Gas Lease Auctions, Jennifer Winter

Jennifer Winter

Higher winning bids are associated with the use of brokers. The use of brokers is persistent and geographically concentrated.

Estimating The Credibility Of The Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation's Threat To Nationalize Oil Resources In Saskatchewan, Jennifer Winter, Herb Emery

Jennifer Winter

Expropriation in Saskatchewan did not reduce investment in exploration and development, but did reduce the price paid for mineral rights relative to Alberta.

Ch 21. 'Future Perspectives On Solar Fuels', Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

This chapter opens by examining whether the research and development of molecular solar fuels will be characterized in future by its promotion of fundamental societal virtues such as equality and environmental sustainability. As a thought experiment, it presents a vision of some important elements of such a future world—one where energy is primarily not only a matter of global artificial photosynthesis (GAP), but of such virtues. Central to the future perspective presented here is nanotechnological construction with enhanced efficiency of each aspect of the natural photosynthetic process into units capable of inexpensive mass production for domestic use. This involves a …

Governing Planetary Nanomedicine: Environmental Sustainability And A Unesco Universal Declaration On The Bioethics And Human Rights Of Natural And Artificial Photosynthesis (Global Solar Fuels And Foods)., Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

Environmental and public health-focused sciences are increasingly characterised as constituting an emerging discipline—planetary medicine. From a governance perspective, the ethical components of that discipline may usefully be viewed as bestowing upon our ailing natural environment the symbolic moral status of a patient. Such components emphasise, for example, the origins and content of professional and social virtues and related ethical principles needed to promote global governance systems and policies that reduce ecological stresses and pathologies derived from human overpopulation, selfishness and greed— such as pollution, loss of biodiversity, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as provide necessary energy, water and …

A Bad Trip For Health-Related Human Rights: Implications Of Momcilovic V The Queen (2011) 85 Aljr 957, Tim Vines, Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

Momcilovic v The Queen (2011) 85 ALJR 957 [PDF] ; [2011] HCA 34 arose from a prosecution for drug trafficking brought under the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic) . The Australian High Court held that the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (the Charter) validly conferred a power on the Victorian Supreme Court and Court of Appeal to interpret legislation in a manner consistent with a defined list of human rights. By a slim majority it also held that the Charter validly created a judicial power to "declare" a law inconsistent with one or …

Challenges To Australia’S National Health Policy From Trade And Investment Agreements, Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

Recent federal trade policy commitments concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations (against changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and against inclusion of an investor state provision) could protect Australia’s tobacco control legislation and Australia's sovereign capacity to regulate public health and environmental policy

The Proposed Ban On Certain Nanomaterials For Electrical And Electronic Equipment In Europe: Global Security Implications, Thomas A. Faunce, Hitoshi Nasu

Thomas A Faunce

International collaboration on nanotechnology governance has so far paid little attention to security implications of regulating the use of nanotechnology. For example, the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations (initiated by the International Centre for Technological Assessment) developed 'Principles for the Oversight of Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials' to provide a set of ethical standards for nanotechnology research and development (Kimbrell, 2009). Similar initiatives are observed at the national level, as has been seen in the Swiss Retailers Association Code of Conduct and the UK's Responsible NanoCode (Bowman and Hodge, 2009, pp.149-152). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has also been active …