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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Policy Analytics For Environmental Sustainability: Household Hazardous Waste And Water Impacts Of Carbon Pollution Standards, Kustini
Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)
Policy analytics are essential in supporting more informed policy-making in environmental management. This dissertation employs a fusion of machine methods and explanatory empiricism that involves data analytics, math programming, optimization, econometrics, geospatial and spatiotemporal analysis, and other approaches for assessing and evaluating current and future environmental policies.
Essay 1 discusses household informedness and its impact on the collection and recycling of household hazardous waste (HHW). Household informedness is the degree to which households have the necessary information to make utility-maximizing decisions about the handling of their waste. Such informedness seems to be influenced by HHW public education and environmental quality …
Biobased Products And The Leed® Rating System, Meredith Chambers, Mikesch Muecke
Biobased Products And The Leed® Rating System, Meredith Chambers, Mikesch Muecke
Mikesch Muecke
At the beginning of the 20th century, over 40% by weight of all the materials consumed through the production of goods within the United States were comprised of renewable resources (Matos and Wagner 1998). In contrast, by the end of the 20th century renewable material usage had dropped to less than 8% by weight (Matos and Wagner 1998). Combined with both an increase in the overall rate at which we consume resources as well as growing awareness of the inherently finite availability of nonrenewable resources, the early decades of the 21st century may mark the beginning of a shift back …
Article Critique: “Shifting Winds: Explaining Variation In State Policies To Promote Small-Scale Wind Energy”, Luke Eastin
Article Critique: “Shifting Winds: Explaining Variation In State Policies To Promote Small-Scale Wind Energy”, Luke Eastin
The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review
This paper is a review of Tomas Koontz and Joshua Wiener's case study analysis that considered the extent of variance among three states in regard to their particular small-scale wind energy policies. Through this critique, the author provides both the benefits and difficulties with the research, along with the future prospects for research in this area of policy studies.
Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis
Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis
Doctoral Dissertations
In urban and suburban locations, public transit can be seen as an effective mode of daily transportation. The majority of the time, travelers would seek the cheapest, shortest, and possibly most eco-friendly means of transit. When designing public transit network systems, transportation planners and decision-makers, with input from stakeholders, should strive to optimize transportation services to meet the needs of the population most efficiently and at the lowest cost, that is, providing a transportation system that s the three E's of the sustainability concept: environment, social equity, and economic. Previous studies have focused on sustainability as the primary concern in …
Food For Thought: Analyzing The Impacts Of Livestock Factory Farming In The United States, Mallory Russo
Food For Thought: Analyzing The Impacts Of Livestock Factory Farming In The United States, Mallory Russo
Student Theses 2015-Present
The practice of large scale factory farming in the United States has raised moral and ethical questions since its establishment in the mid twentieth century. Though a relatively modern development in the field of agribusiness, factory farming has already accounted for drastic damage to both public and environmental health. Factory farming requires the unsustainable use of resources, gives off toxic waste, and poses a serious threat to public health. This paper aims the further analyze those damages, as well as investigate the lack of transparency and political corruption carried out by factory farm industry leaders. Major factory farming companies have …
Hydropower, Oil Palm, And Sustainability, Fernando Salud '17
Hydropower, Oil Palm, And Sustainability, Fernando Salud '17
EnviroLab Asia
This reflection touches on the writer’s experiences during the EnviroLab Asia Clinic trip in early 2016 to Borneo, Malaysia and Singapore. The reflection involves two events: a visit to a blockade protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam and a meeting with the sustainability department of Wilmar, one of the world’s leading palm oil producers. The first event comments on the tension between the need for renewable energy and the destruction of the natural environment and communities due to the particular energy generation technology chosen. This event highlighted the importance of understanding the societal constraints a technology is being installed …
What Does “Sustainable Development” Mean?, Grace Stewart '17
What Does “Sustainable Development” Mean?, Grace Stewart '17
EnviroLab Asia
A recurring theme throughout the EnviroLab Asia clinic trip to Singapore and Malaysian Borneo was the concept of "sustainable development." In this essay, I explore my own thoughts and concerns regarding this phrase, such as the tension that exists between "sustainability" (the maintenance of resources) and the conventional concept of "development" (which consumes resources and can often wreak environmental destruction). I reflect on this tension within the context of environmental issues faced by the Dayak people in Sarawak--the building of the Baram Dam, and the prevalence of oil palm plantations.
Transformation, Wallace M. Meyer Iii
Transformation, Wallace M. Meyer Iii
EnviroLab Asia
Prior to leaving for Claremont Colleges’ Envriolab Asia trip to Malaysia and Singapore, I was conflicted by the question: Do we have the moral authority to interfere with resource extraction and oil-palm development in SE Asia? At that time, the trip seemed imperialistic. Why should people from Malaysia, Indonesia or any developing SE Asia country listen to a group of liberal arts college faculty from a city where widespread habitat modifications have led to significant loss of native habitats, declines in biodiversity, and changes in how these ecosystems function? Many observations transformed my opinion and have inspired me to advocate …
Institutional Responses To Pressures For Sustainable Palm Oil, Stephen Marks, Justin Lauw '18, Shivang Mehta '19, Fernando Salud '17
Institutional Responses To Pressures For Sustainable Palm Oil, Stephen Marks, Justin Lauw '18, Shivang Mehta '19, Fernando Salud '17
EnviroLab Asia
As the two leading palm oil producing countries, Indonesia and Malaysia have come under external pressures to limit deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions related to land use conversion for oil palm cultivation. We examine various institutional frameworks that have emerged to mediate these pressures. These frameworks can be distinguished by their geographic scope—domestic, region, and global—as well as by the nature of control—private, non-profit, and governmental. The frameworks have taken the form of sustainability certification systems from non-profit organizations or governments, corporate sustainability policies, or the setting through global or bilateral negotiations of voluntary national targets for limiting deforestation or …
Umass Amherst Guide To Zero-Waste Events, Kevin J. Hollerbach, Ainsley Brosnan-Smith
Umass Amherst Guide To Zero-Waste Events, Kevin J. Hollerbach, Ainsley Brosnan-Smith
Student Showcase
As the University of Massachusetts Amherst continues to grow, and as programming for the campus community becomes an ever-rising priority, events organizers will need to consider the waste implications of every event to comply with state and University standards, goals, and policies. This "Guide to Zero-Waste Events" aims to streamline the planning process as well as provide tips and examples for follow-through to implementing a successful zero-waste event. The guide also presents actionable policy recommendations for the University to reduce waste and increase diversion from large-scale outdoor events on the UMass Amherst campus.