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Environmental Policy

Publications

Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Moving Up The Waste Hierarchy In Maine: Learning From “Best Practice” State-Level Policy For Waste Reduction And Recovery, Cindy Isenhour, Travis Blackmer, Travis Wagner, Linda Silka, John Peckenham Jan 2016

Moving Up The Waste Hierarchy In Maine: Learning From “Best Practice” State-Level Policy For Waste Reduction And Recovery, Cindy Isenhour, Travis Blackmer, Travis Wagner, Linda Silka, John Peckenham

Publications

As Maine residents look toward the future, it is increasingly clear that more sustainable waste and materials management solutions will be necessary. A recent stakeholder engagement process involving nearly 200 industry professionals, municipal representatives and citizen groups confirmed this point. As we move together toward a more sustainable waste management system, participants in the engagement process identified an outstanding need to learn more about policies options. This article responds to that need with a review of state level policies designed to reduce waste generation and increase material recovery rates. We find there are a wide variety of state-level policy tools …


The Complexity Of The Practice Of Ecosystem-Based Management., Verna G. Delauer, Andrew A. Rosenberg, Nancy C. Popp, David R. Hiley, Christine Feurt Mar 2014

The Complexity Of The Practice Of Ecosystem-Based Management., Verna G. Delauer, Andrew A. Rosenberg, Nancy C. Popp, David R. Hiley, Christine Feurt

Publications

In the United States, there are more than 20 federal agencies that manage over 140 ocean statutes (Crowder et al., 2006). A history of disjointed, single sector management has resulted in a one-dimensional view of ecosystems, administrative systems, and the socio-economic drivers that affect them. In contrast, an ecosystem-based approach to management is inherently multi-dimensional. Ecosystem-based approaches to management (EBM) are at the forefront of progressive science and policy discussions. Both the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP, 2004) and the Pew Oceans Commission (POC, 2003) reports called for a better understanding of the impact of human activities on the …


Interdisciplinary Research And Environmental Law, Caroline L. Noblet, Dave Owen Jan 2014

Interdisciplinary Research And Environmental Law, Caroline L. Noblet, Dave Owen

Publications

This Article considers the involvement of environmental law researchers in interdisciplinary research. Using a survey and a series of unstructured interviews, we explore environmental law professors’ level of interest in such research; the extent of their engagement in it; and the inducements and barriers they perceive to such research. We conclude that levels of engagement in such research are probably lower than they ought to be, and we therefore recommend steps that individuals and institutions could take to facilitate more and better interdisciplinary work. More generally, we conclude that some common critiques of interdisciplinary legal research rest on assumptions that …


Mapping, Modeling, And The Fragmentation Of Environmental Law., Dave Owen Jan 2013

Mapping, Modeling, And The Fragmentation Of Environmental Law., Dave Owen

Publications

In the past forty years, environmental researchers have achieved major advances in electronic mapping and spatially explicit, computer-based simulation modeling. Those advances have turned quantitative spatial analysis — that is, quantitative analysis of data coded to specific geographic locations — into one of the primary modes of environmental research. Researchers now routinely use spatial analysis to explore environmental trends, diagnose problems, discover causal relationships, predict possible futures, and test policy options. At a more fundamental level, these technologies and an associated field of theory are transforming how researchers conceptualize environmental systems. Advances in spatial analysis have had modest impacts upon …


Critical Habitat And The Challenge Of Regulating Small Harms., Dave Owen Jan 2012

Critical Habitat And The Challenge Of Regulating Small Harms., Dave Owen

Publications

This Article investigates how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the courts are implementing the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on “adverse modification” of “critical habitat.” That prohibition appears to be one of environmental law’s most ambitious mandates, but its actual meaning and effect are contested. Using a database of over 4,000 “biological opinions,” interviews with agency staff, and a review of judicial decisions considering the adverse modification prohibition, this Article assesses the extent to which the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the courts are relying on the adverse modification …


A Call To Action For Conserving Biological Diversity In The Face Of Climate Change, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Eric Dinerstein, John Hoekstra, David Lindenmayer Sep 2010

A Call To Action For Conserving Biological Diversity In The Face Of Climate Change, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Eric Dinerstein, John Hoekstra, David Lindenmayer

Publications

No abstract provided.