Environmental Policy Commons^™

Are Santa Clara County Cities Prepared For A Zero-Emission Light Duty Vehicle Future? A Program Evaluation, Benjamin Edelberg

Master's Projects

This research built on the work of Chi-Pei Fang who explored this issue in “Ability of the Bay Area Cities to Accommodate Plug-in Electric Vehicles: A Process Evaluation” (Fang, 2021). Fang recommended that follow-on projects focus on an individual city. This paper moved in that direction, but instead of focusing on a specific city in the California Bay Area, it focused on Santa Clara County (SCC) and the cities within. Additionally, this paper broadened the focus to include all zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs), a category which not only includes electric vehicles (EVs) but also hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Frameless-Finding And Refining A Sampling Frame For Surveying Recreational Fisheries: Lessons From Estimating Swedish Harvest Of Western Baltic Cod, Hege Sande, Nuno Prista, Annica De Groote, Michele Casini, Cynthia Jones, Andreas Sundelöf

OES Faculty Publications

To achieve sustainable fisheries, advice to management should be based on reliable science and unbiased data. Attaining quality data (i.e. precise and unbiased) on recreational fishing can be challenging, particularly when prior knowledge of the sector is limited and a proper sample frame of recreational fishers or vessels does not exist. In this study, a registry of access points was constructed for the Swedish south–west coast and used as a spatial sample frame in determining both effort and catches of the private boat fishery. Sampling dates, times for sampling, and access points visited were selected using probabilistic methods, ensuring unbiased …

The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (Raft) As An Approach For Incorporating Equity Into Coastal Resilience Planning And Project Implementation, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Tanya Denckla Cobb, Elizabeth Andrews, Sierra Gladfelter, Gray Montrose

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

As coastal communities across the U.S. and worldwide undertake efforts to enhance their resilience to coastal hazards, they must do so while ensuring that all voices are heard, addressing and preventing disparate impacts, and, ultimately, increasing resilience in an equitable way. The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) assists coastal communities in incorporating equity into resilience planning and implementation of projects to increase resilience. The RAFT includes social and economic dimensions in assessment of resilience and focuses on how localities can build resilience equitably. The RAFT process has three phases -- a scorecard assessment, development of a resilience action checklist that …

The Decline Of Lake Superior's Woodland Caribou: A Historical Gis Analysis, Jordan W. Kelley

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Lake Superior’s woodland caribou have been declining since the early 1800s. This thesis asks: why? We hypothesize that as settlers expanded into the region, industrial development in woodland caribou habitat reduced woodland caribou persistence. Using an Historical Geospatial Information System (HGIS) analysis, we find that historical mining and railroad infrastructure are associated with woodland caribou extirpation, while wetlands and protected areas are associated with caribou persistence. We also conducted a stakeholder synthesis of the region to help understand diverse perspectives within and between advocacy coalitions that take different positions on the most effective caribou restoration policies. Beliefs on recovery options …

Improving Energy Stewardship At Michigan Technological University’S Athletic Complexes, Cynthia L. Pindral

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Athletics departments are showcases for universities, serving as a public face and recruitment outlet that communicates university identity to the world. This applied research project examines the state of electrical energy infrastructure at Michigan Technological University with special attention to the Athletic Department and reports on the process for energy decisions in both settings. I take a qualitative research approach analyzing University documents and conducting interviews with informants in Athletics Administration, Facilities, and MTU’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience. Four major barriers to efficiency emerged: (1) lack of University-wide climate action goals, (2) staffing issues due to a large number …

Texas Stakeholders’ Knowledge And Perceptions Of Chronic Wasting Disease Risks: Implications For Wildlife Agency Communications, Elena C. Rubino, Christopher Serenari

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease impacting cervids. The disease can move swiftly through populations, making CWD management a priority for wildlife agencies across the United States. Stakeholder perceptions of CWD may shape behaviors that can negatively impact wildlife agencies. Thus, agencies need comprehensive assessments of stakeholder risk perceptions and enhanced understandings of how perceptions are formed to improve communications. Using a mail- and online-based questionnaire to collect data from September 2020 through January 2021, we surveyed 503 hunters throughout the state of Texas, USA, and 481 Texas landowners who owned property in CWD-affected counties to better …

Climate Change And Sustainability In Asean Countries, David K. Ding, Sarah E. Beh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The ASEAN region is one of the most susceptible regions to climate change, with three of its countries—Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand—among those that have suffered the greatest fatalities and economic losses because of climate-related disasters. This paper reveals that the ASEAN’s environmental performance is sorely lagging other regions despite evidence of its cohesive and comprehensive efforts to mitigate emissions and build up adaptive capacity to climate-related disasters. Within the ASEAN, there exist gaps in environmental performance between each country. This suggests that increased cooperation between individual ASEAN countries is pertinent for the region to collectively combat climate change. In …

Thinking On Strategic Research Of Dual Carbon By High-End Sci-Tech Think Tank, Dawei Song

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As the world's largest energy produce, consume, and carbon emission country, China's road map, construction map, and timetable for achieving the dual carbon goal, i.e., peaking carbon emission and achieving carbon neutrality, have attracted worldwide attention, and to achieve such goal, China has to strategically transform its energy system. This energy strategic transformation process is essentially a process for China to build its strength in manufacture, in science and technology, and in a strong economy. High-end sci-tech think tank should take the dual carbon strategic research as an important task to play the role of gathering wisdom and offering advices, …

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Environmental Justice Issues And Sea Level Rise In Frontline Communties Along The Gulf Coast, Karla Michel Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sea level rise poses a great threat to coastal areas and our way of life. As flooding increases in frequency and intensity across the country, vulnerable populations become a target to its impacts. The U.S. dedicates much research to risk communication and climate change adaptation strategies; however, these coastal areas are home to a large percentage of underserved and underrepresented communities that can be challenging to meaningfully engage. The impacts of short-term sea level rise combined with long-term sea level rise will not only cause flooding, erosion, and intrusion of saltwater into freshwater resources but also increased financial consequences, such …

Follow The Smoke: The Pollution Haven Effect On Global Sourcing, Heather Berry, Aseem Kaul, Narae Lee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research abstract: We examine whether and how foreign environmental standards influence global sourcing decisions. Taking a question-driven approach, we find a negative association between the stringency of a country's environmental standards and its share in US imports for 82 manufacturing industries across 77 countries between 2006 and 2016. This pollution haven effect holds not only for sourcing from owned foreign operations (offshore integration), but also for sourcing from unrelated third parties abroad (offshore outsourcing), and is stronger in industries with high toxic emissions and low technological intensity. These results are robust across alternative measures of environmental stringency and to using …

Addressing The Role Of Climate Change In Agriculture And Mexico-Us Immigration, Xiaoxin Liang

Alpenglow: Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity

Among the greatest threats of climate change is the significant impact on mass displacement, particularly as it relates to Mexico-US immigration. Low crop yields from worsening climate conditions have been linked to increased migration of Mexican farmers. With a projected 4.2 million additional migrants in the foreseeable future, it poses a contemporary environmental, social, and political dilemma. This policy brief analyzes several provision proposals to be adopted into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), as evaluated under economic cost, equity, environmental impact, and feasibility criteria. My research concludes that the most effective and direct provision proposal is the implementation of adaptive …

Wrack Lines Volume 21, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2021-22, Nancy C. Balcom, Judy Benson, Syma A. Ebbin, Kira Goldenberg, Judy Preston, Howard "Mickey" Weiss

Wrack Lines

"Discovery, Rediscovery and Rebirth: new eyes, new understanding of familiar places" is the theme for the Fall-Winter 2021-22 issue. The main article package consists of five stories about the lands and waters that will comprise the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR). These are: overview and introduction; Great Island; lower Thames River; Bluff Point State Park; and Haley Farm State Park. Other articles include one on research into the cause of invasive Cladophora seaweed dominating Little Narragansett Bay; and another on the transformation of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Engaging Residents In Policy And Planning For Sea Level Rise: Application Of The Action-Oriented Stakeholder Engagement For A Resilient Tomorrow (Asert) Framework, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, J. Gail Nicula, Daniel P. Richards, Ogechukwu Agim, Michelle Covi, Khairul A. Anuar

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This chapter describes the application of the Action-oriented Stakeholder Engagement for a Resilient Tomorrow (ASERT) framework for communicating with and engaging both residents and community stakeholders in their localities’ efforts to prepare for and to respond to flooding and sea level rise. The application of ASERT incorporates communication, education/learning, and gamification elements that can be embedded into community meetings. We describe the way in which ASERT community meetings are designed (1) to provide an inclusive and engaging process that will allow residents to participate in their city’s resilience efforts; (2) to provide information about resilience in an environment that encourages …

Feasibility Of Development Of Flood Resiliency Clearinghouse Program, Commonwealth Center For Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, Mujde Erten-Unal, Carol Considine, Mark W. Luckenbach, Elizabeth Armistead Andrews

Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR): Reports

[Introduction]

House Bill 2187ⁱ, introduced by Delegate Keith Hodges in the 2021 session of the Virginia General Assembly, directed the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR), a partnership between Old Dominion University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the William & Mary Law School’s Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC) established by Virginia Chapter 440 of the 2016 Acts of Assembly (HB 903), to evaluate the development of a Flood Resiliency Clearinghouse Program (henceforth Clearinghouse). The bill stipulated that the Center should work with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to evaluate solutions that manage …

Risk Management And Biases In How Drivers Respond To Nuisance Flooding, Saige Hill, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Burton St. John Iii, Pragati Rawat, Carol Considine

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Nuisance flooding, or recurrent flooding, occurs during high tide and may be exacerbated when combined with other events such as heavy precipitation, strong winds, or storm surge. Sea level rise has contributed to increased frequency and duration of nuisance flooding in low-lying coastal areas and is causing community-specific impacts such as transportation disruption, road closures, compromises to life and property, overwhelmed storm water systems, and infrastructure damage. This chapter focuses on how drivers respond during nuisance flooding events. Specifically, we discuss how drivers in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern coastal Virginia obtain information about road flooding, how they respond, …

Risk Communication In The Tourism Industry, Lindsay E. Usher, Ashley Schroeder

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

This chapter focuses on risk communication in the tourism sector. Tourism organizations must communicate with a variety of stakeholders when conveying messages about impending severe weather or disasters, which are increasing due climate change and sea level rise. There is also an increased need to distribute information to tourism stakeholders about preparing for, continuing service during, and recovering from, disasters. Stakeholders involved with the tourism industry include business owners, government officials and tourists, all of whom have differing degrees of vulnerability in a destination when a threat occurs. Different messages regarding disaster preparation and recovery must be communicated to the …

Communicating And Co-Producing Information With Stakeholders: Examples Of Participatory Mapping Approaches Related To Sea Level Rise Risks And Impacts, Pragati Rawat, Khairul A. Anua, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Jon Derek Loftis, Ren-Neasha Blake

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This chapter discusses practical approaches for using participatory mapping as a tool to visualize and communicate sea level rise (SLR) and climate change risks, to share information about the vulnerability to, and threats of, climate change, and to co-produce knowledge with stakeholders. The examples presented in this chapter are from demonstrated applications in communities in Virginia (USA) that involve participatory mapping and that utilize a web-Geographic Information System (GIS). The web-GIS is innovatively combined with other technologies and participatory processes to create low-cost high-tech approaches so that even people with little to no knowledge of GIS can interact with maps …

Marine Spatial Planning (Msp) In The Philippines: An Approach Towards Long Term Sustainable Ocean Governance And Resolving Ruture Conflict : The Case Of Balayan Bay, Batangas, Garry Laynesa

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Development In Lithuania: An Emerging Market Case Study, Zachary M. Vlessing

Social Impact Research Experience (SIRE)

In June 2021, a group of researchers from ESG analytics firm Impact Cubed published research that analyzed country level progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals form the international standard on 21st century development, advancing economic, social, environmental, and democratic values. Utilizing a pathway analysis to track a country's trajectory in achieving the goals, this groundbreaking study found that Lithuania has the strongest pathway towards Sustainable Development in the world.

To understand both what has driven this progress and what can be done to further capitalize on their success, field research was conducted in Lithuania …