Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Inflation Reduction Act, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, Michelle Robidas, Darbi Berry

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

In this blog, readers will learn what the Inflation Reduction Act is, the major categories of its climate funding, and why its passing into law was a historical moment for the U.S.

Understanding The Intersections Of The Lgbtq+ Community & Climate Change, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, A-Bel Gong, Darbi Berry

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

In this blog, we will explore these LGBTQ+ community relationships as they relate to environmental justice, relationships and access to the outdoors, and community representation in the environmental science field.

Disability And Climate Change: A Critical Realist Model Of Climate Justice, Molly M. King, Maria A. Gregg

Sociology

Existing literature on climate change as an issue of environmental justice documents the heightened vulnerability of people with disabilities to the effects of climate change. Additionally, there are numerous studies showing that access to information is a prerequisite for perceiving risk and taking action. Building on this work, our review seeks to understand how physical disability relates to perceptions of climate-related risk and adaptations to climate-related events. We introduce a critical realist model of climate justice to understand the relationships between the environmental features that disable, risk perception and information seeking, and adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change. In …

Indoor Air Quality Through The Lens Of Outdoor Atmospheric Chemistry, Jonathan P.D. Abbatt, Douglas B. Collins

Faculty Contributions to Books

Outdoor atmospheric chemistry and air quality have been the topic of research that intensified in earnest around the mid-20^th century, while indoor air quality research has only been a key focus of chemical researchers over the last 30 years. Examining practices and approaches employed in the outdoor atmospheric chemistry research enterprise provides an additional viewpoint from which we can chart new paths to increase scientific understanding of indoor chemistry. This chapter explores our understanding of primary chemical sources, homogeneous and multiphase reactivity, gas-surface partitioning, and the coupling between the chemistry and dynamics of indoor air through the lens of …

Distributed Energy Resources : An Assessment Of New Jersey’S Clean Energy Future, Mary Elizabeth Kenny

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The demand for renewable energy in New Jersey will continue to grow as economic opportunities and community support drive development. The effective integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) will transform energy production, storage, and use. To achieve sustainable energy production, the current reliance on fossil fuels must be reduced and replaced with less carbon-intensive energy sources that optimize the electric grid. DERs help pioneer the path to a clean energy transition where the implementation of new renewable energy projects will diversify New Jersey’s energy portfolio and provide a more resilient, equitable, and independent energy source. This thesis investigates different perspectives …

Spokane Climate Project: Chapter 1, Temperature Impact Study For Spokane, Washington, Rebecca Macmullen, Kara Odegard, Jim Simon, David Camp, Gonzaga University Climate Institute

Climate, Water, and the Environment Research

This chapter examines the effects that projected future temperature increases are likely to have on human health and safety in Spokane. Spokane’s annual Lilac Bloomsday Run (Bloomsday) is used as a case study to illustrate potential impacts to human health.

The full version of this report as well as a full list of the citations and methodologies employed for this analysis can be found at the Spokane Climate Project website: https://www.spokaneclimateproject.org/.

The Water Is On Fire: Current Circuit Approaches To Fee-Shifting In Citizen-Suits Under The Clean Water Act And The Need For Clearer And More Uniform Standards, Charles Kinley

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will start by providing a short explanation of the origins of and congressional goals for the fee-shifting provision in the CWA [Clean Water Act]. It will then offer a brief summary of how Supreme Court precedent has both clarified and confused this issue. Then, it will dive into an examination of how the different circuits and their district courts have interpreted the CWA’s fee-shifting provision and how these interpretations have struggled with past Supreme Court decisions. Finally, this Note will explore the costs and benefits associated with these fee-shifting standards and offer a potential solution to this problem. …

Can Environmental Law Solve The "Forever Chemical" Problem?, Mark P. Nevitt, Robert V. Percival

Faculty Articles

Although federal environmental law purports to provide the public with comprehensive protection against chemical risks, the U.S. chemical industry is characterized by self­ regulation. This self-regulation is exemplified by the dangers posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (''PFAS'')­ broad classes of persistent toxic substances that have now entered nearly every American's bloodstream and hundreds of public drinking water systems. Despite data linking exposure to these "forever chemicals" to cancer, infertility, and a host of other public health harms, environmental law has failed to safeguard the American people from PFAS' toxic legacy. How did this occur? And what should be done …

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 …

Combining Green Metrics And Digital Twins For Sustainability Planning And Governance Of Smart Buildings And Cities, Casey R. Corrado, Suzanne M. Delong, Emily G. Holt, Edward Y. Hua, Andreas Tolk

VMASC Publications

Creating a more sustainable world will require a coordinated effort to address the rise of social, economic, and environmental concerns resulting from the continuous growth of cities. Supporting planners with tools to address them is pivotal, and sustainability is one of the main objectives. Modeling and simulation augmenting digital twins can play an important role to implement these tools. Although various green best practices have been utilized over time and there are related attempts at measuring green success, works in the published literature tend to focus on addressing a single problem (e.g., energy efficiency), and a comprehensive approach that takes …

The Synapse 31

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Nowhere To Come Up For Air: Air Pollution And Environmental Racism In The U.S., Rebecca Fenselau

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Regulating For Energy Justice, Alexandra B. Klass, Gabriel Chan

Articles

In this Article, we explore and critique the foundational norms that shape federal and state energy regulation and suggest pathways for reform that can incorporate principles of “energy justice.” These energy justice principles—developed in academic scholarship and social movements—include the equitable distribution of costs and benefits of the energy system, equitable participation and representation in energy decision making, and restorative justice for structurally marginalized groups.

While new legislation, particularly at the state level, is critical to the effort to advance energy justice, our focus here is on regulators’ ability to implement reforms now using their existing authority to advance the …

Re-Storying Grant Creek: A Case Study Of Relational Dynamics On A Degraded Montana Stream, Seamus Rucci Land

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration began in 2021, and after a history of contentious ethical debates, ecological restoration is increasingly portrayed as a viable framework for combating environmental degradation and supporting more healthy and stable social-ecological systems. The proposed ecological restoration of Grant Creek, a degraded stream near Missoula, Montana, offers an opportunity to connect a restoration site to the broader, rapidly growing field of restoration practice. It also allows the opportunity to forward the ‘relational turn’ proposed by many in the sustainability sciences as an ontological and methodological means to move beyond positivist portrayals of social-ecological systems, which …

Voices Of The Often Unheard: The Environmental Impacts Of Catastrophic Wildfire Events On Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Mary Madison Mckenzie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Thomas Fire for a time was the largest wildfire in California history, burning 281,893 acres and destroying 1,063 structures. Within three years, the August Complex Fire, at 1,032,649 acres, almost quadrupled that record. Climate related disasters such as these have impelled social science researchers to heed calls for a paradigm shift in understanding the risks climate change poses to the social world, in particular, disaster risks for vulnerable groups. Existing research tends to focus on disasters such as hurricanes, featuring risks for vulnerable populations by race, class, and/or individuals with disabilities in general, but not for individuals with developmental …

Assessment Of Organophosphorus Pesticide Residues In Water And Sediment Collected From The Southern Caspian Sea, Reza Golshani, Ghasem Ghorbanzadeh Zafarani, Maksim Rebezov, Samaneh Karbalaei, Tony R. Walker

Applied Environmental Research

Pollution of water resources by uncontrolled pesticide use is a serious health and environmental issue. In this study, concentrations of three organophosphorus pesticides (diazinon, malathion, and azinphos-methyl) in water and sediment samples from five estuaries (Sefidrud, Chalus, Babolrud, Tajan, and Gorganrud) along the Caspian Sea were investigated. Samples were collected from surface water and sediment during summer to autumn, and pesticides were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results indicated that salinity and turbidity in Gorganrud were higher (salinity: range 2–8%; turbidity: range 1–9%) compared to other stations. Higher diazinon (water: 0.08±0.06, sediment: 0.04±0.01), malathion (water: 0.09±0.06, sediment: 0.05±0.01) and …

Healing Earth In A Time Of Crisis: Curriculum For Integral Ecology, Caleb Steindam

Dissertations

This intrinsic multiple case study examined secondary- and university-level educators’ experiences teaching with Healing Earth, a curriculum developed by the International Jesuit Ecology Project at Loyola University Chicago, which merges scientific, social, spiritual, and ethical analyses of pressing ecological issues. Based on the conceptual framework of integral ecology, Healing Earth is a response to Pope Francis’s (2015a) call for “a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature” (§215).

This study primarily consisted of in-depth interviews with educators who have used Healing Earth in a variety of secondary and post-secondary Catholic educational contexts. A …

Policy Implications Of Urban Greening To Sustainable Gentrification: A Case Study Of Quezon City, Philippines, Joachim James De Castro

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Rapid urbanization entails a number of urban problems that need to be confronted. There is a call to utilize urban spaces while observing the pillars of sustainability wherein the harmony among aspects such as economic, social, and environmental must be achieved. Urban greening, a tool for urban planning is one of the solutions being seen by different stakeholders globally in addressing urban problems. However, in the process of urban development, gentrification, an unchecked phenomenon arises. The movement of middle class people to either developed or redeveloped urban areas can possibly entail social issues such as displacement and exclusivity of urban …

การประเมินความเสี่ยงจากสภาพภูมิอากาศสำหรับพื้นที่เพาะปลูกข้าวและความพร้อมในการจัดการของหน่วยงานภาครัฐ: กรณีศึกษาเกาะลมบก ประเทศอินโดนีเซีย, ดอสมายา แอนเดรียอานี

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศนับเป็นประเด็นสำคัญที่ถูกอภิปรายว่าเป็นปัจจัยขับเคลื่อนต่อการเกิดอุบัติการณ์ภัยธรรมชาติ โดยการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศส่งผลกระทบต่อทุกมิติของชีวิตมนุษย์ โดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งในด้านความมั่นคงด้านอาหาร ทั้งนี้ พื้นที่เพาะปลูกข้าวนับเป็นพื้นที่ที่ถูกคุกคามมากที่สุดเนื่องจากการเปลี่ยนแปลงของปริมาณน้ำฝนและอุณหภูมิอันเนื่องมาจากการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศ บทบาทของรัฐบาลจึงมีความสำคัญในการลดความสูญเสียที่เกิดจากภัยธรรมชาติ โดยเฉพาะการยกระดับความสามารถในการปรับตัวของชุมชนท้องถิ่นต่อภัยธรรมชาติ วัตถุประสงค์ของการศึกษานี้คือการประเมินผลกระทบของภัยพิบัติจากการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศในพื้นที่เพาะปลูกข้าว และประเมินความพร้อมของรัฐบาลระดับท้องถิ่นในการรับมือกับการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศและอันตรายต่างๆ ที่เกี่ยวข้อง โดยคัดเลือก เกาะลมบก ของประเทศอินโดนีเซีย ซึ่งเป็นพื้นที่เกาะเล็กๆ และมีความเสี่ยงต่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศ ระเบียบวิธิวิจัยของการศึกษาครั้งนี้ ได้แก่ การประยุกต์ใช้กระบวนการลำดับชั้นเชิงวิเคราะห์ (Analytical Hierarchy Process: AHP) ร่วมกับระบบข้อมูลทางภูมิศาสตร์ (GIS) ในการประเมินความเสี่ยงที่เกิดจากการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศในพื้นที่เพาะปลูกข้าวทั้งจากผลกระทบจากอุทกภัย ภัยแล้ง และดินถล่ม ขณะเดียวกัน การศึกษานี้อาศัยการสัมภาษณ์ผู้เชี่ยวชาญ (n=15) เพื่อประเมินความพร้อมของรัฐบาลท้องถิ่นในการจัดการกับการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศ อาศัยการสัมภาษณ์ในประเด็นที่เกี่ยวข้องกับสถานการณ์ด้านการเพาะปลูก การจัดการภัยพิบัติ และการจัดการน้ำ โดยผลการวิจัยพบว่าพื้นที่ส่วนใหญ่ประมาณร้อยละ 88.18 ของเกาะลมบกมีความเสี่ยงด้านสภาพภูมิอากาศระดับปานกลาง และ พื้นที่เพาะปลูกข้าวเกือบทั้งหมดร้อยละ 96.56 มีความเสี่ยงด้านสภาพภูมิอากาศระดับปานกลางเช่นกัน ผลการสัมภาษณ์พบว่า ความพร้อมของรัฐบาลท้องถิ่นในการจัดการกับภัยอันตรายที่เกิดจากการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศมีอย่างจำกัด โดยเฉพาะประเด็นด้านงบประมาณและทรัพยากรบุคคล โดยผลการศึกษานี้จะเป็นประโยชน์สำหรับหน่วยงานท้องถิ่นในการดำเนินกิจกรรมการปรับตัวต่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศต่างๆ และเป็นกลยุทธ์ในการคาดการณ์ผลกระทบของการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศในพื้นที่เพาะปลูกข้าวของเกาะลมบก ประเทศอินโดนีเซียต่อไป.

The Legacy Of Hurricanes, Historic Land Cover, And Municipal Ordinances On Urban Tree Canopy In Florida (United States), Allyson B. Salisbury, Andrew K. Koeser, Richard J. Hauer, Deborah R. Hilbert, Amr H. Abd-Elrahman, Michael G. Andreu, Katie Britt, Shawn Landry, Mary G. Lusk, Jason W. Miesbauer, Hunter Thorn

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) greatly enhances the livability of cities by reducing urban heat buildup, mitigating stormwater runoff, and filtering airborne particulates, among other ecological services. These benefits, combined with the relative ease of measuring tree cover from aerial imagery, have led many cities to adopt management strategies based on UTC goals. In this study, we conducted canopy analyses for 300 cities in Florida to assess the impacts of development practices, urban forest ordinances, and hurricanes on tree cover. Within the cities sampled, UTC ranged from 5.9 to 68.7% with a median canopy coverage of 32.3% Our results indicate that …

It Permeated Everything: A Lived Experience Of Slow Violence And Toxicological Disaster, Tara Jo Holmberg

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Impacts of disasters on individuals are dependent on numerous factors: local to international political dynamics, socioeconomics, geography, educational background, and outside support among others. Currently, much of disaster research focuses on those of natural origin, acute and large-scale environmental events, emergency management, and the ability of individuals, communities, and societies to prepare for, and recover from, likely known disasters in their region. However, there is a lack of data about individual experiences through ‘invisible’ anthropogenic disasters, especially those that fall under the umbrella of slow environmental violence (Davies, 2019; Rice, 2016). Through critical phenomenological autoethnography, I examine an individual experience …

New Political Ecologies Of Renewable Energy, Sarah Knuth, Ingrid Behrsin, Anthony Levenda, James Mccarthy

Geography

The critique of fossil fuel regimes has been a foundational concern for the field of political ecology, in its drives to expose the injustices and harms of energy extractivism and its early warnings of the climate crisis. However, it is increasingly evident that renewable energy sources and their infrastructures will carry their own costs and trade-offs, and that critique, resistance and alternative movement-building are needed to forge a truly just renewable energy transition. This theme issue underlines the many ways in which political ecology is well-positioned to lead critical and engaged scholarship in support of energy/climate justice. In this introduction …

Discussing Changes In Historical Human–Environmental Dynamics Through Ecosystem Services Interactions And Future Scenarios In A Rural-Mining Region Of Central Appalachians, Vincenzo Cribari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate how recent processes of land-change induced by humans contributed to the shaping and alteration of the current landscape in a headwater system of Central Appalachians in West Virginia (US), to understand the interactions and tradeoffs among ecosystems services and address potential solutions for targeting more sustainable human-environment interactions in a region that is deeply grounded on extractive economies. The multitiered objective was addressed through different research phases in order to unfold and disentangle a series of complex problems that the study area presents. Three main phases were used; they corresponded to distinct …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 47, 2022, Department Of Geography, Geology, And The Environment

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Electric Vehicle Integration In San Francisco, Lisa Farmos

Master's Projects and Capstones

California’s Executive Order N-79-20 requires all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California to be zero-emissions by 2035. Electric vehicles (EVs) are the primary alternative fuel solution. However, there are widespread barriers to ownership, particularly for those in lower socioeconomic classes. A literature review of barriers to EV ownership shows the primary barrier is insufficient overnight charging infrastructure. Geospatial data of EV charging infrastructure and 2020 census tract data were used to map average income versus EV charging infrastructure in San Francisco. Data maps confirm the literature review findings: there is a positive correlation between income and EV charging …

Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Community Engagement Plan For Remedial Work, Josh Bryson, Eric Hassler

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Global Forces Of Change: Implications For Forest-Poverty Dynamics, Priya Shyamsundar, Laura Aileen Sauls, Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Kira Sullivan-Wiley, J.T. Erbaugh, P. P. Krishnapriya

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

This article examines global trends likely to influence forests and tree-based systems and considers the poverty implications of these interactions. The trends, identified through a series of expert discussions and review of the literature, include: (i) climatic impacts mediated through changes in forests, (ii) growth in commodity markets, (iii) shifts in private and public forest sector financing, (iv) technological advances and rising interconnectivity, (v) global socio-political movements, and (vi) emerging infectious diseases. These trends bring opportunities and risks to the forest-reliant poor. A review of available evidence suggests that in a business-as-usual scenario, the cumulative risks posed by these global …

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 …

Transboundary Air Quality Governance: A Case Study Of The Paso Del Norte Air Basin 1940-2000, Laura Margarita Uribarri

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For thousands of years, the Paso del Norte region which today includes Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, El Paso, Texas, and Sunland Park, New Mexico, has been a strategic location by virtue of its geographic positioning at the lowest and easiest passage across the continental divide. During the 19th and 20th centuries as railroad networks connected the region to the far reaches of the U.S. and the interior of Mexico, it became a nexus for natural resource and labor extraction. Mining and smelting industries were later joined by agriculture and manufacturing to benefit from the transportation network and the abundance of labor. …

Response To Comments For 2020 Bpsou Uao Submittal: Revised Final Multi-Pathway Residential Metals Abatement Program Plan (Received January 21, 2021), Mike Mcanulty

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.