Digital Commons Network^™

Who Decides: Is Water Life Or Capital? Contesting Visions Of Western Water Management In The 21st Century, Ceorl

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

There is an ideological divide between the goal of universal access to clean water and the outcomes of how water regulations are implemented. John Fleck, author of Water is for Fighting Over: and Other Myths about Water in the West and Sivas, et al. in California Water Governance in the 21st Century present contesting prescriptions for Western water management. The ideologies advocated by Fleck and Sivas, et al. differ as to who enacts and profits from each and exemplify the divide between the goals of water regulations and how they are implemented. Fleck regards water as property and an economic …

Crude Intentions: Evaluating The Growing Risks Of Arctic Alaskan Oil Production, Eliot Stein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The discovery of oil on Alaska’s North Slope in the 1920s began a century of fossil fuel exploration, development, and production in the Arctic region. Alaska became integral to the nation’s growing energy dominance. However, since 1988, oil production on the North Slope has been in steady decline. In 2015, Shell, followed by several other oil majors, terminated their Arctic Alaska operations. This past year, BP made waves by ending six decades of operations in Alaska. Most recently, five of the six major U.S. banks announced they would no longer finance Arctic oil and gas projects. This paper analyzes these …

La Minería Del Litio En Salinas Grandes: Un Análisis De Diferentes Narrativas En Torno A La Extracción De Litio Desde 2010 Hasta El Presente / Lithium Mining In The Salinas Grandes: An Analysis Of Different Narratives Surrounding The Extraction Of Lithium From 2010 Until The Present, Sofia Perrotto

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El litio ha ocupado una posición muy interesante y controvertida dentro del movimiento ambiental desde su descubrimiento en 2010. Entre los muchos usos de este metal precioso está la fabricación de baterías, que es un componente esencial para la transición hacia una "economía verde". Los vehículos eléctricos y las unidades de almacenamiento de energía que funcionan con baterías de litio son dos tecnologías importantes para este movimiento, y como resultado, la demanda de litio está aumentando en el mercado global. En las Salinas Grandes, la cuestión de la extracción de litio involucra a una variedad de actores que tienen diferentes …

La Justicia Medioambiental Y La Minería Aurífera: Las Implicaciones De La Deforestación Y La Contaminación De Metales Pesados En Madre De Dios, Perú, Madison Scully

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Usando un marco teórico de justicia medioambiental y de colonialidad, este informe describe, analiza e interprete los impactos ecológicos de la minería aurífera en Madre de Dios, una región amazónica del Perú. Específicamente, este informe trata las consecuencias de la deforestación y la contaminación por mercurio causadas por esta industria para la salud y el bienestar de los pueblos indígenas de Madre de Dios. A través de investigación secundaria de la literatura existente y los estudios ya realizados sobre el alcance de la degradación ecológica resultante de la minería aurífera en esta región, este informe examina la manera en que …

Fields Brook Superfund Site: Race, Class, And Environmental Justice In A Blasted Landscape, Richard C. Bargielski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1980, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This federal law provided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the legal tools necessary to pursue polluters who had improperly stored or disposed hazardous wastes. Since its passage, more than a thousand sites have been added to the National Priorities List (NPL), but only a fraction have been cleaned up. Proponents of neoliberalism argue that aggressive environmental policies such as CERCLA harm workers by making it impossible for businesses to operate profitably. This coincides with a drop of nearly 50% in the U.S. …

Comparative Analysis Of Water Quality Disparities In The United States In Relation To Heavy Metals And Biological Contaminants, Kaleh Karim, Sujata Guha, Ryan Beni

Chemistry Faculty Research

Drinking water quality can be compromised by heavy metals, such as copper and lead. If consumed raw, water can pose a health burden to the general population. In this study, the roles of heavy metals and biological contaminants have been explored in determining the quality of drinking water available to consumers of various socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States. In an effort to gain an understanding of possible social disparities in drinking water, a quantitative analysis was conducted to examine whether vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted by drinking water contaminants. Our data indicated that states with middle-average household incomes were …

Elemental Climate Disaster Texts And Queer Ecological Temporality, Laura Mattson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis approaches climate disaster texts as an opportunity to challenge constructions of the body, space, and time. Developed from embodied experiential knowledge about hurricanes, my work will explore how climate disasters can teach us to reimagine human-nature relationships. In my two analysis chapters, I use critical textual analysis and autoethnography to challenge particular representations of the human-nature relationship as a binary between nature and culture. By intervening in the nature-culture binary, I theorize queer ecological temporality as an opportunity to reveal and challenge constructions of nature and time. Working at the intersections of queer and ecocritical theory, this thesis …

Rockhounding, Seafaring, And Other Material Tales For The End Of The World, Noemie Fortin

The Goose

In the face of accelerated environmental degradation and climate instability, the future of the Earth and of all life on earth is difficult to visualize. Therefore, the different mediums through which we consider environmental issues are just as important as the actions we take to address them. Focusing on three projects combining art, science, and activism, this article suggests a compilation of material tales. They tell stories of plastic rocks and aluminum nuggets where the protagonists are partly finely crafted objects, partly waste materials, and sometimes both at once. Artists Kelly Jazvac, Yesenia Thibeault-Picazo, and the collective Studio Swine collaborate …

Lean-Green Manufacturing Practices And Their Link With Sustainability: A Critical Review, Wadhah Abualfaraa, Konstantinos Salonitis, Ahmed Al-Ashaab, Maher Ala'raj

All Works

© 2020 by the authors. The current rapidly changing and highly competitive market has put companies under a great pressure towards adopting sustainable practices, in terms of keeping a healthy balance among economic, environmental and social performances. In this context, the lean-green manufacturing approach, which combines lean practices focused on customers' demand, and green practices focused on reducing the business' environmental impact, has gained popularity. Nevertheless, the lean-green manufacturing is still a relatively new practice, lacking a clear and structured research definition, and of significant evidence of successful cases in the practice. In this paper, a literature review is conducted …

Cooperative Extension And Sustainability Outreach: Programmatic Successes, Administrative Support, And Areas For Improvement, Roslynn Brain Mccann, Mark Apel, Clark Dove, Ramona Madhosingh-Hector, Jennison Kipp Searcy, David Kay

Extension Research

According to the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, without urgent global changes, climate catastrophe caused by warming of greater than 1.5°C will occur by 2030, endangering the planet's capacity to sustain human populations and livelihoods. The National Network for Sustainable Living Education administered a national survey in January 2017 to assess how well-positioned Extension is to address sustainability in the communities the organization serves. Educators from 40 states responded, and 1,395 usable surveys were received. Survey results will help Extension employees discover opportunities for innovation and relevancy in their programming.

Centering Equity In Oregon’S 100 Year Water Vision: A Student-Led Policy Paper Prepared By The Oregon Water Stories Team At Portland State University, Clare T. Mcclellan, Sadie Boyers, Victoria Cali De Leon, Tony Cole, Laura Cowley-Martinson, Shersten Finley, Dustin Lanker, Julia Seydel, Aakash Nath Upraity, Janet Cowal, Melissa Haeffner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this report is to provide evidence for the need to further intentionally incorporate equity into Oregon’s 100 Year Water Vision. Four case studies contextualize this need and highlight the variety of water issues throughout the state, supported by linguistic analyses of local newspapers. As Oregon policy-makers are responsible for ensuring working water systems for all Oregonians, we also suggest implementable criteria for the evaluation of equity in water issues and decision-making. This student-led and interdisciplinary report comes from the Haeffner-Cowal Oregon Water Stories research lab at Portland State University.

Ecowomanism: A Solution To Climate And Social Injustice, Alexis K. Karon

Religion: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The interconnections of climate justice and social inequalities are paired together in a concept named 'Ecowomanism'. Originally inspired by Melanie L. Harris, ecowomanism uses spiritual theologies, experiences, and memories to discuss the post-modern struggles that women of African and indigenous descent face in society, which can then find solutions to such injustices in a reconnection to nature. In this paper, I argue that adopting an environmental paradigm inspired by the spiritual theology of ecowomanism in the United States, which acknowledges the connection between oppression and violence against communities of color to the violence and domination of the environment, a more …

Ecowomanism: A Solution To Climate And Social Injustice, Alexis K. Karon

Theological Investigations

The interconnections of climate justice and social inequalities are paired together in a concept named 'Ecowomanism'. Originally inspired by Melanie L. Harris, ecowomanism uses spiritual theologies, experiences, and memories to discuss the post-modern struggles that women of African and indigenous descent face in society, which can then find solutions to such injustices in a reconnection to nature. In this paper, I argue that adopting an environmental paradigm inspired by the spiritual theology of ecowomanism in the United States, which acknowledges the connection between oppression and violence against communities of color to the violence and domination of the environment, a more …

Urban Informality, Environmental Xenophobia, And Infrastructures Of Citizenship: The Political Lives Of Nicaraguan Migrants In The Informal Settlement Of La Carpio, Costa Rica, Nikolai Alexander Alvarado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines urban politics, environmental justice, and infrastructure from the vantage point of South-South migration. It focuses on the work of Nicaraguan migrants living in the informal settlement of La Carpio in San José, Costa Rica, as they negotiate rights in the form of urban services. Nicaraguans in La Carpio have organized politically since 1993 to self-install, demand, and negotiate services such as potable water and electricity. In the process, they successfully compel local authorities to allocate these services and grant them an implicit recognition of their right to remain and live a decent life, regardless of their status. …

Remaking Environmental Justice, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

From movements for civil rights in the 1960s and environmental protection in the 1970s, the environmental justice movement emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to highlight the disparate impacts of pollution, principally upon people of color and low-income communities. Over time, the scope of environmental justice expanded to address concerns for other dimensions of diversity. New and continuing challenges tell us that we need to reframe our understanding of environmental justice to ensure better protection for people going forward. One way to reframe this understanding may be to apply the heuristic of vulnerability analysis as proposed by legal theorist Martha …

Adventuring In The Winds: An Exploration Of Water Accessibility, Keystone Species, Environmental Justice, And Forest Fires In The Wind River Range, Rhianna Giron

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This thesis is a braided narrative that incorporates personal experience, ecological research, and poetry to explain some of the impacts of human interaction in wild spaces and of climate change. The specific areas of study in this essay are the Wind River Range, Wyoming and Nebraska. The purpose of this paper is to discuss topics related to water availability and quality, forest fires, keystone species, and social injustices related to people and environments in the Wind River Range. It is important to learn about other places than the ones we are already familiar with as it helps to instill a …

Participatory Water Resource Management: Advancing Engagement In Disadvantaged Communities Across The Santa Ana River Watershed, Jennifer B. Alford

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Santa Ana River Watershed, California, Proposition 1 Integrated Regional Water Management, Disadvantaged Community Involvement Program

The Santa Ana River (SAR) Watershed is the largest, most populated and fastest urbanizing watershed in Southern California, draining an estimated 2,700 square miles of diverse landscape and hydrological features. Headwater streams of the SAR Watershed are located in the San Bernardino National Forest near Big Bear Lake, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the San Jacinto Mountains. These streams traverse the coastal sage habitat through numerous water infrastructure features in the Inland Empire before terminating into the Pacific Ocean at the City of Huntington Beach. …

Living Rivers, Cosmopolitan Activism, And Environmental Justice In The Bengal Delta, Daniel Adel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis explores the social movements and civil society activism to protect the rivers that flow through Bangladesh—the cradle and terminal delta floodplain of the transboundary Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna river systems—, as well as ways to build regional cooperation and watershed democracy in South Asia. The research drew on four overarching fields of study: environmental justice, southern environmentalism, ecological nationalism, and environmental governance. These four bodies of scholarship helped address the overarching question: how are civil society organizations analyzing and responding to the water diversions and degradation of Bangladesh’s transboundary rivers? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with civil society organizations …

Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands And Air Pollution Disparities With Low-Cost Sensors In Richmond, Virginia, Andre M. Eanes, Todd R. Lookingbill, Jeremy S. Hoffman, Kelly C. Saverino, Stephen S. Fong

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Air pollution and the urban heat island effect are consistently linked to numerous respiratory and heat-related illnesses. Additionally, these stressors disproportionately impact low-income and historically marginalized communities due to their proximity to emissions sources, lack of access to green space, and exposure to other adverse environmental conditions. Here, we use relatively low-cost stationary sensors to analyze PM_2.5 and temperature data throughout the city of Richmond, Virginia, on the ten hottest days of 2019. For both hourly means within the ten hottest days of 2019 and daily means for the entire record for the year, the temperature was found to …

Assessing The Capabilities And Limitations Of Privatizing State Environmental Remediation Programs, Robert B. Oleksy

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In 2012, environmental remediations in the state of New Jersey were modified to proceed under the supervision of a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP), rather than under the management of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The LSRP program was set forth in the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA), which was established to accelerate the investigation and remediation of over 20,000 contaminated sites in the state. The program created major modifications to the management of site remediations by privatizing the process. Under the new program, a licensed individual from the private sector is designated as a LSRP, and …

Assessment Of The Status And Alignment Of Practitioners' Leadership In The Environmental Sector, Marie Veronique Couttee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The scientific and technological achievements of the 21st century have failed to tackle the

A Comparative Analysis Of The Reception Of Laudato Si’ By Progressive And Traditional Catholics, Mikayla Dorff

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This study considers the impacts of religion, specifically Catholicism, on environmental views. In 2015, Pope Francis published an encyclical entitled Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. In this encyclical, Pope Francis calls all humans to an “ecological conversion” and identifies environmental stewardship as a Catholic responsibility. Progressive Catholics embraced Laudato Si’ and its messages, while traditional Catholics condemned the encyclical. In this study, a comparative literary analysis is conducted to determine why traditional Catholics reject the encyclical while progressive Catholics applaud it. Initiatives stemming as a direct result from Laudato Si’ are also examined. The study found …

On Environmental Law, Climate Change, And National Security Law, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

This Article offers a new way to think about climate change. Two new climate change assessments—the 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment (“NCA”) and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Climate Change— prominently highlight climate change’s multifaceted national security risks. Indeed, not only is climate change an environmental problem, it also accelerates existing national security threats, acting as both a “threat accelerant” and “catalyst for conflict.” Further, climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events while threatening nations’ territorial integrity and sovereignty through rising sea levels. It causes both internal displacement within nations …

Contaminants Of Emerging Concern: Reconsidering Our Paradigm Of Water Pollution, Jonathan Gunasti

Pomona Senior Theses

In this senior thesis, I explore contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and discuss the ways in which these novel contaminants defy traditional notions of pollution. I discuss the history and “emergence” of CECs and EDCs in scientific and public spheres and outline ongoing challenges to recognizing, prioritizing, and understanding the action of these contaminants. I position EDCs within the framework of environmental injustice and health disparities and suggest that these compounds could reinforce multigenerational health inequities. Finally, I perform a pilot analysis of the EDC bisphenol A (BPA) in Mt. Baldy Creek, the Los Angeles …

Spider's Guide To Sustainable Living, Office For Sustainability

Guides

Thank you for checking out this guide to caring for our future and ourselves. We're glad you did, because we need you. From the climate emergency to emerging health crises to social unrest, the need for change is all around us. The UR Sustainability Plan envisions "a future where sustainability is woven into the fabric of the University" in which we cultivate a culture of caring for people and the natural world. Consider this your invitation to join the movement to make this vision a reality.

Throughout the Spiders Guide to Sustainable Living, we will point out actions you can …

An Exploration Of Zero Waste Policies And Recommendations For Missoula, Sarah Blyth Lundquist

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“Zero Waste” is a concept and community goal that has arisen to challenge the current consumerist economic system and offer solutions for a number of environmental issues. In adopting this goal, individuals and communities pledge to reduce and divert at least 90% of their waste in a certain number of years. These goals can be reached by employing policies, programs, and other intervention tactics which establish Zero Waste infrastructure, ensure equitable and widespread access to Zero Waste services, and provide educational outreach and resources to the community. Missoula adopted a Zero Waste goal in 2016 and created a Zero Waste …

Associations Of Traffic Related Air Pollution With Physical Activity And Cardiorespiratory Health Outcomes In At-Risk Populations From El Paso, Texas, Juan Aguilera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Exposure to air pollution from traffic-related emissions is a considerable preventable cause of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. However, the impacts on at-risk populations, such as children with asthma and low-income residents, are yet to be fully understood in the border city of El Paso, TX. This dissertation focused on the most common traffic-related pollutants which include particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3). The research described in this work provides an overview of air pollution measurements and shares insights from three different studies in our region.

People with asthma are more likely adversely affected by traffic …

Assessing Environmental Impact Through Dpsir Framework And Environmental Justice Lenses:A Case Study Of Inland Capture Fisheries In Mahakam River, Etik Sulistiowati Ningsih

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Inland capture fisheries significantly contribute to the achievement of SDG, but most inland capture fisheries are poorly managed or not managed at all. Inland fishery is often facing against the big-scale industrial project. In the Middle Mahakam Area, two dominant natural resources exploited for the industrial project are palm oil and coal mining. Palm oil production, coal mining production, the human population was increasing in the last ten years, and on the opposite, the water quality index is decreasing. However, although many previous studies suggested that fish catches are declining, fisheries statistics show the opposite data. Government statistics show that …

Fishermen's Participation In Marine Litter Collection Schemes In Thailand, Phornphavit Thongphaijit

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Marine litter is a global environmental problem that poses various threats to the environment, the economy and society. Its impacts, for example, are the cost of beach cleaning, tourism, the beautiful landscape and etc. Marine litter, which later breaks into microplastics, affects marine lives contributing to the loss of economy to the people who depend on them. Several measures are used to tackle marine litter, including prevention and reduction of waste generation, prevention and reduction of litter reaching the marine environment, and marine litter removal. The latter is essential to clean already-at-sea litter or marine debris. Thailand, among the top …

Planning Urban Forests In A Changing Climate, Ethan Dudden

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

As the effects of negative effects of climate change are realized, urban forests a means to reduce the potential damage and adverse conditions in urban areas (Wolf, et al., 2020) (Livesley, McPherson, & Calfapietra, 2016) (Xiao & McPherson, 2002). Preserving these resources is becoming more difficult however, as the trees that make up urban landscapes become less adapted to current conditions with every passing year (Aitken, Yeaman, Holliday, Wang, & Sierra, 2008). Changes in climate and world systems also point to invasive pests becoming greater threats to urban forest resources with time (Tubby & Webber, 2010) (Amberger et al., 2017). …