Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Carbon Frame: Lobbying For Renewable Energy In The European Union, Kyle S. Herman

Master's Theses

This paper demonstrates how using the word "carbon" within global warming debates severely impedes lobbyists in favor of building stronger renewable energy policies in the European Union (EU). Within the EU, carbon is widely used to speak about many of the perils of climate change, global warming, energy policy, and contingent subject matters. In political circles, media outlets, and public debates, carbon acts a the pillar for many policies, discussions, and ideas related to fundamental errors of transferring energy from fossil fuels and nuclear sources. At the same time, however, limiting carbon does not necessarily preclude fossil fuels, such as …

Clean Energy In Massachusetts: Already Strong, This Emerging Sector Is Poised For Greater Growth, David Levy, David Terkla

David G. Terkla

This article reviews Massachusetts’ clean energy sector in the context of the industry nationally and worldwide. We also suggest policy options to enhance the sector’s potential for the Massachusetts economy.

Voluntary Environmental Programs: An Examination Of Program Performance And The Role Of Institutional Design, Jessica Ll Sims

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Many studies exist on whether Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) improve firms’ environmental performance. Furthermore, the literature on VEPs theorizes that specific features contribute to program performance. This study examines the ability of Voluntary Environmental Programs to reduce emissions and the role of institutional design on their performance. Specifically, this study aimed to identify if specific features influence performance more than others do. The indicator of performance focuses on the overall emission reductions of firms across years 2007-2009. To analyze performance and features, the study examines the emission data and design features of each program. The results reveal the ability of …

Ecosystem Management And Its Application At The Local Level: Apnep, Cama And Local Land Use Planning In North Carolina, Traci L. Birch

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A fundamental purpose of state-mandated growth management has been to infuse regional environmental concerns into local land use planning. Similarly, collaborative ecosystem planning efforts have attempted to encourage local communities to participate in regional planning efforts, and to adopt regional environmental goals and objectives into local land use plans. This paper presents results from a study of state-mandated local planning and collaborative regional planning, addressing in particular local ability to adopt and implement ecosystem planning initiatives for development management.

I found that a state mandate not only achieves plans from communities that would not otherwise plan, but also the plans …

Uncertainty, Technical Change, And Policy Models, Erin Baker, Leon Clarke, Jeffrey Keisler, Ekundayo Shittu

Jeffrey Keisler

Both climate change and technical change are uncertain. In this paper we show the importance of including both uncertainties when modeling for policy analysis. We then develop an approach for incorporating uncertainty of technical change into climate change policy analysis. We define and demonstrate a protocol for bottom-up expert assessments about prospects for technologies. We then describe a method for using such assessments to derive a probability distribution over future abatement curves, and to estimate random return functions for technological investment in different areas. Finally, we show how these analytic results could be used in a variety of energy-economic models …

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, Volume One, Issue One, Shane Willson, Landon S. Bevier, Rachael E. Gabriel, Taylor Krcek, Alaina Elizabeth Smith

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

It is with great pride that we present to you the inaugural issue of Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum. Here we have attempted to create an innovative, peer-reviewed space in which people from numerous disciplines, or even those claiming no discipline, can present research, multimedia, and art aimed at furthering the ideals of social justice, broadly defined. Social justice is not a concept owned by the academy, for attempts to create a more just world can come from many professions, or even from no profession at all. By applying the traditionally academic peer-review process to work done by activists, artists, …

Rethinking A Carbon Tax In An Era Of Budget Deficits, Chad Covert

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Missouri National Recreational River, Natural Resource Condition Assessment, Kevin J. Stark, Lucas J. Danzinger, Michael R. Komp, Andy J. Nadeau, Shannon Amberg, Eric J. Iverson, David Kadlec, Barry Drazkowski

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

As a unit in the National Park Service (NPS), Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) is responsible for the management and conservation of natural resources within its boundaries. This mandate is supported by the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916, which directs the NPS to:

conserve the scenery and natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

In 2003, NPS Water Resources Division received funding through the Natural Resource Challenge …

Scotts Bluff National Monument Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring, 2011 Annual Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Michael R. Bynum, Tim Shepherd, Stephen K. Wilson, Kara Paintner-Green

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (NGPN) was established to develop and provide scientifically credible information on the current status and long-term trends of the composition, structure, and function of ecosystems in thirteen parks located in five northern Great Plains states. NGPN identified upland plant communities, exotic plant early detection, and riparian lowland communities as vital signs that can be used to better understand the condition of terrestrial park ecosystems (Gitzen et al. 2010). Upland and riparian ecosystems are important targets for vegetation monitoring because the status and trends in plant communities provide critical insights into …

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring, 2011 Annual Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Michael R. Bynum, Tim Shepherd, Stephen K. Wilson, Kara Paintner-Green

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (NGPN) was established to develop and provide scientifically credible information on the current status and long-term trends of the composition, structure, and function of ecosystems in thirteen parks located in five northern Great Plains states. NGPN identified upland plant communities, exotic plant early detection, and riparian lowland communities as vital signs that can be used to better understand the condition of terrestrial park ecosystems (Gitzen et al. 2010). Upland and riparian ecosystems are important targets for vegetation monitoring because the status and trends in plant communities provide critical insights into …

Ecological Revival And Sustainable Living In The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Of Tamil Nadu: A Measurement Of Residential Perception In Sadhana Forest, Elizabeth Collette Mcguire

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Since 1970, the role and function of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been to promote environmental quality and to form strategies for carrying out environmental policy¹. The EPA has committed to sustainability as the next level of environmental protection. The agency states that sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs². Presently, society’s requirements have resulted in natural resource exploitation and population distention- projected to reach 10 billion people within two human generations³. These paired occurrences are …

Global Law And The Environment, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

This article explores three areas in which globalization is profoundly affecting the development of a global environmental law. First, countries increasingly are borrowing law and regulatory innovations from one another to respond to common environmental problems. Although this is not an entirely new phenomenon, it is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Second, lawsuits seeking to hold companies liable for environmental harm they have caused outside their home countries are raising new questions concerning the appropriate venue for such transnational liability litigation and the standards courts should apply for enforcement of foreign judgments. Third, nongovernmental organizations are playing an increasingly important …

China's "Green Leap Forward" Toward Global Environmental Leadership, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

This article argues that China may be on the verge of a “Green Leap Forward” that could make it a global environmental leader. This article argues that two principal forces have contributed to this development. First, Chinese officials now realize that a global shift away from fossil fuels will create enormous business opportunities on a global scale. Chinese companies are now making enormous strides in the development of green technology, such as solar power, wind energy, and electric cars, with the active assistance of the Chinese government. Second, realizing that climate change severely threatens China, and stung by the criticism …

Empowering Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Diversity Through World Heritage Cultural Landscapes: A Case Study From The Australian Humid Tropical Forests, Rosemary Hill, Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth, Leah D. Talbot, Susan Mcintyre-Tamwoy

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Australian humid tropical forests have been recognised as globally significant natural landscapes through world heritage listing since 1988. Aboriginal people have occupied these forests and shaped the biodiversity for at least 8000 years. The Wet Tropics Regional Agreement in 2005 committed governments and the region’s Rainforest Aboriginal peoples to work together for recognition of the Aboriginal cultural heritage associated with these forests. The resultant heritage nomination process empowered community efforts to reverse the loss of biocultural diversity. The conditions that enabled this empowerment included: Rainforest Aboriginal peoples’ governance of the process; their shaping of the heritage discourse to incorporate biocultural …

Municipal Stormwater Management In Northern New England: A Comparative Study Of Leading Programs, Doug Roncarati, Keisha Payson, Rod Melanson, Fred Dillon

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

To gain a better understanding of how regulated municipalities in northern New England are addressing current stormwater rules and anticipating future stormwater rules, detailed questionnaires were administered through interviews to eleven MS4 communities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont during the winter of 2010 – 2011.

Brief 2: Overcoming Fragmented Governance: The Case Of Climate Change And The Mdgs, Oran R. Young

Governance and Sustainability Issue Brief Series

Fragmented governance hampers efforts to address tightly coupled challenges, like coming to grips with climate change and fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals. The way forward is to launch programmatic initiatives focusing on adaptation to climate change and the transition to a green economy that appeal to many separate bodies as win-win opportunities.

Diseño Y Desarrollo Sustentable En Los Sistemas Productivos Regionales A Partir Del Parque Científico Y Tecnológico Medioambiental (Pcyt-M), Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Ana Inés Lasala

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Las acciones gubernamentales tendientes a satisfacer las distintas demandas científico-técnicas de las pequeñas y medianas industrias (PyMIs), han encontrado en la instalación de los parques científicos y tecnológicos (PCyT), su mejor forma de institucionalización.

Los procesos experimentados, probados y desarrollados, aún siguen persiguiendo como ideal el modelo de Sillicon Valley, que tuvo su clímax en un lugar y tiempo determinado.

En los últimos años, diferentes PCyT en distintas partes del mundo, vienen desarrollándose (o al menos intentándolo), en los más diversos entramados industriales.

Si bien, en la actualidad existen diferentes tipologías de parques: científicos, tecnológicos, de investigación, tecnópolis, tecnopolos, etcétera; …

Promoting Land Conservation In The Coastal Watershed Through Local Faces, Special Places, Brian Hart

PREP Reports & Publications

The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership provided nearly $3,300.00 to support the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire’s (SELTNH) promotion of donated conservation easements in the coastal watershed of Rockingham County. The Southeast Land Trust produced three short web-friendly videos, explaining land conservation from the perspective of a tree farmer, vineyard owner, and a community leader. In addition, the Land Trust hosted two workshops in Kingston and Epping for landowners interested in learning more about the tax and financial benefits of land conservation. Workshop invitations were mailed to more than 1,200 current use landowners within the region. Twenty-two landowners attended the …

Effects Of Climate Change On Spring Ecosystem Hydroecology As A Guide To Developing Alternative Water Policies, Scott Mensing, Saxon E. Sharpe, Scott Bassett, Don Sada, Jim Thomas

Climate Change Seminar Series (NNE)

Hydroecology: the interface of ecological systems and water which combines the scientific disciplines of hydrology and ecology

Goal: evaluate the hydrologic and climate history using pollen, loss on ignition, total inorganic carbon, and invertebrates from spring sediments in Spring Valley, Eastern Nevada and Snake Valley, Western Utah

Unanswered Questions Of A Minority People In International Law: A Comparative Study Between Southern Cameroons & South Sudan, Bernard Sama Mr

Bernard Sama

The month July of 2011 marked the birth of another nation in the World. The distressful journey of a minority people under the watchful eyes of the international community finally paid off with a new nation called the South Sudan . As I watched the South Sudanese celebrate independence on 9 July 2011, I was filled with joy as though they have finally landed. On a promising note, I read the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying “[t]ogether, we welcome the Republic of South Sudan to the community of nations. Together, we affirm our commitment to helping it meet its …

Reconsidering Accountability For Environmental Inspectors: Trading 'Compliance By Computer' For Relationship Building, Michelle C. Pautz

Political Science Faculty Publications

Demands for government accountability extend into all the aspects of government service and the environmental realm is no different. Environmental inspectors — the front-line workers in environmental protection agencies — are among the many civil servants who face demands for accountability. Unfortunately, although accountability is desirable normatively speaking, in practice it is not so simple. Accountability for environmental inspectors frequently involves measures such as the number of inspections completed, the efficiency of data entry in agency databases, and the turnaround time on inspection reports. Such measures leave environmental inspectors, who ideally want — and practically need — to be in …

Presence Of The Dingo (Canis Lupus Dingo) On Risk Sensitive Foraging Of Small Mammals In Forest Ecosystems, Amanda Lu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Trophic regulation of mesopredators through top order predators can have profound effects on ecosystem community and diversity. In the absence of top predators, invasive mesopredators exert strong selective pressures on native prey and can alter prey foraging behavior. When foraging in the presence of predators, prey must weigh predation risk against food gain. To examine the indirect impacts of dingo baiting on risk sensitive foraging in forests, we measured differences in giving up densities (GUDs) and surveyed local populations of mesopredators and mammals. We hypothesized that in baited areas, mesopredators would be more abundant and prey would perceive greater predation …

El Agua O El Oro: La Lucha Por Quimsacocha, Laura Moulton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El 2 de octubre, del 2011, en la comunidad de Victoria del Portete, los usuarios del Sistema Comunitario de Agua de Tarqui y Victoria del Portete participaron en una consulta popular para decidir si están de acuerdo o no con el proyecto minero de oro de Quimsacocha. A través de esta consulta, se dio a conocer la voluntad de la gente. De los 1.047 votos, 958 se pronunciaron “No” a la minería a gran escala, siendo el 92,38% del total. “Con la consulta, dijimos no al oro, si al agua,”[1] dijo Fanny Paute, habitante de Tarqui. Para la gente …

Redefinir “Desarrollo Sustentable”: El Caso De Un Grande Proyecto Hidroeléctrico, Keely Mccaskie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En la región de los Manduriacos en el noroccidente del Ecuador, el río Guayllabamba pasa entre las provincias de Pichincha e Imbabura. El área es campo rural—una colección de bosques subtropicales primarios y secundarios, fincas, y pueblos pequeños que nacieron en las últimas cuatro décadas. Estas tierras forman parte de la subcuenca media del río Guayllabamba, donde la lluvia se captura y fluye hacia el río. Cerca de los pueblos de Cielo Verde (Imbabura), Santa Rosa (Pichincha) y Guayabillas (Pichincha), el gobierno del Ecuador ha propuesto el proyecto hidroeléctrico Manduriacu. Esta grande represa sería parte de una cascada de represas …

Brief 1: Financing International Environmental Governance: Lessons From The United Nations Environment Programme, Maria Ivanova

Governance and Sustainability Issue Brief Series

Financing for the global environment is scattered among many institutions and, without an overview of total financial flows, often considered scarce. This issue brief begins an analysis of the financial landscape by focusing on the anchor institution for the global environment, the UN Environment Programme. It examines the relationship between institutional form and funding and offers insights into innovative financing.

Homestead National Monument Of America, Geologic Resources Inventory Report, J. Graham

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This report accompanies the digital geologic map data for Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska, produced by the Geologic Resources Division in collaboration with its partners. It contains information relevant to resource management and scientific research. This document incorporates preexisting geologic information and does not include new data or additional fieldwork.

Established as a memorial to pioneer life and the Homestead Act of 1862, Homestead National Monument of America preserves approximately 92 ha (228 acres) of terraced grassland and riparian, floodplain environments. Included in the monument are about 40 ha (100 acres) of restored tallgrass prairie and …

Ownership Unbundling In European Energy Market & Legal Problems Under Eu Law, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

In this paper we will examine the issue of ownership unbundling and forced divestiture remedies imposed in a series of recent competition law cases of the energy market - examined in other papers - in relation to the possible existence of a series of legal obstacles. These energy market decisions belong to a group of antitrust cases in which a structural divestiture remedy has been imposed under the provisions of Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. This divestiture refers to transmission networks and to generation capacity and is meant to lead to severe structural changes, which are compatible with the findings …

Are Politicians Office Or Policy Motivated? The Case Of U.S. Governors' Environmental Policies, Per G. Fredriksson, Le Wang, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Faculty Publications

Are elected politicians primarily motivated by holding office, thus choosing environmental policies accordingly? Or are they motivated by the chance to implement their preferred environmental policies? Do governors have character, in the sense that they promise and implement environmental policies consistent with their own preferences? To answer these questions, we study the differences in environmental spending across both re-electable and lame duck governors from the two main political parties. In our empirical analysis, we make use of parametric and non-parametric regression-discontinuity approaches. While re-electable governors do not set significantly different policies, lame duck governors do. We argue that in the …

Application Of An Agent-Based System As A Virtual Environment For The Formulation Of Policies, Araz Taeihagh, René Bañares-Alcántara, Moshe Givoni

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The growth in the interdependence and complexity of socio-economic systems requires the development of tools and techniques to aid us in the formulation of better policies. Our efforts focus towards developing methodologies and support tools for better policy design and formulation. In this paper, we focus on the development of an agent-based approach to create a virtual environment for the exploration and analysis of different configurations of policy measures in order to build policy packages and test the effects of changes and uncertainties while formulating policies. By developing systematic approaches for the formulation andanalysis of policies it is possible to …

A Framework For Analyzing Information Flows In Public Policy Decision-Making: A Move Towards Building Sustainable Policy Instruments, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire