Digital Commons Network^™

Community Food Security Strategies: An Exploratory Study Of Their Potential For Food Insecure Households With Children, Michelle L. Kaiser, Kareem Usher, Colleen Spees

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

This research sought to explore nutrition and related health issues of 151 households with children who participated in a survey addressing food access, food security, nutrition, health, food provisioning strategies, and barriers to optimal food consumption. This study explored the potential use of community food security strategies as a tool to address public health concerns through increasing fruit and vegetable intake by improving access to affordable healthy foods. Poor diet, stress, and food insecurity impacts adults and children in terms of cognitive development, mental health, and risk for costly chronic diseases. This research contextualized consumer responses within a contemporary policy …

Safeguarding The Longue Durée: Environmental Rights In The Canadian Constitution, Lynda M. Collins

The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

In the modern era, environmental degradation is one of the most significant threats to human well-being and therefore to human rights. Biologically, the right to a viable environment supersedes all other human rights, including the right to life itself. It is not surprising, then, that the vast majority of nations with modern bills of rights have incorporated some form of environmental right or obligation into their constitutions. Respect for the environment is a fundamental value in Canada yet our constitution is silent on environmental rights and obligations. This article will argue that a limited right to environmental protection can nonetheless …

Wasted New York, Aliza D. Chasan

Capstones

Trash may not be treasure, but it can be groceries. The United States Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency announced plans this year to halve food waste by 2030, but dumpster divers - also known as freegans - have been eating away at food waste for decades. Cutting down on organic waste can help feed the hungry, save money and minimize the environmental impact of rotting food in landfills. Many individuals, private groups and the New York City government are all working to cut down on organic waste.

Brooklyn Trash Problems, Christina Diaz

Capstones

Walk through the streets of New York and at some point you’ll inevitably pass by a wafting smell of garbage, but residents of North Brooklyn are handling more than their share of the smelly load and they’re tired of getting dumped on.

A newly formed coalition of neighbors and environmental activists has begun a turf war against Brooklyn Transfer LLC, a waste transfer station located on Thames Street in East Williamsburg, which handles private commercial waste through ­­­­­­­­­­­­­Five Star Carting.

Link to Map: https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1769408

A Longitudinal Study Of Human Exposure To Potential Nuclear Power Plant Risk, Dean Kyne, Jason T. Harris

Sociology Faculty Publications

This study constructs a potential risk index (PRI) for the 65 U.S.-based commercial nuclear power plant (NPP) sites in relation to their surrounding populations. Four risk levels are defined: low risk, moderate risk, high risk, and very high risk. Discrepancies that exist in the sociodemographic characteristics of the host communities’ populations are examined as sorted by risk-level category. It is found that a greater percentage of minority groups are exposed to the highest levels of risk. In addition, percent “Hispanic” and percent “Other,” a grouping that includes multiracial, mixed, interracial, as well as Hispanic and Latino groups (for example, Mexican, …

Which Came First, People Or Pollution? A Review Of Theory And Evidence From Longitudinal Environmental Justice Studies, Paul Mohai, Robin Saha

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

A considerable number of quantitative analyses have been conducted in the past several decades that demonstrate the existence of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of a wide variety of environmental hazards. The vast majority of these have been cross-sectional, snapshot studies employing data on hazardous facilities and population characteristics at only one point in time. Although some limited hypotheses can be tested with cross-sectional data, fully understanding how present-day disparities come about requires longitudinal analyses that examine the demographic characteristics of sites at the time of facility siting and track demographic changes after siting. Relatively few such studies …

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Impact Of Executive Order 13211 On Environmental Regulation: An Empirical Study, Elizabeth Ann Glass Geltman

Publications and Research

A great deal has been written about the Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempting oil and gas operations using hydraulic fracturing from the purview of certain federal environmental laws. Far less attention has been paid to George W. Bush’s Executive Order 13211 (EO 13211), entitled “Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution or Use.” The executive order requires federal agencies to evaluate the impact of federal regulations on “supply, distribution and use of energy.” This study examined the impact of EO 13211 on United States environmental and conservation regulations proposed and promulgated by federal agencies. The study found …

‘We Are The Monitors Now’: Experiential Knowledge, Transcorporeality And Environmental Justice, Dayna Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

Residents of pollution hotspots often take on projects in ‘citizen science’, or popularepidemiology, in an effort to marshal the data that can prove their experience of the pollution to the relevant authorities. Sometimes these tactics, such as pollution logs or bucket brigades, take advantage of residents’ spatially ordered and finely honed experiential and sensory knowledge of the places they inhabit. But putting that knowledge into conversation with law requires them to mobilize a new, ‘foreign’ set of tools, primarily oriented to the observation, measurement and sampling of pollution according to conventional scientific standards. Here, I employ qualitative empirical methods in …

Designing Transit Networks For Equity And Accessibility, Kelly L. Bertolaccini

Doctoral Dissertations

The equitable provision of public transportation services is a major concern for transit planners and service providers around the world. However, very few tools are available to planners seeking to incorporate equity concerns into their transit network designs. This research proposes innovative models for directly incorporating equity into the stop sequencing and stop grouping components of the Transit Network Design Problem (TNDP) and develops a solution method, a genetic algorithm, for solving these models. First, a single route model is developed to test the effects of designing routes according to different definitions of equity. This research explores nine possible inequity …

Indigenous Women, Water Justice And Zaagidowin (Love), Deborah Mcgregor

Articles & Book Chapters

I would like to open by saying Chi-miigwech (a big thank-you) to those Elders/Grandmothers who have shared their stories and teachings with me over the years. Some have since passed on and I hope that through my words, their love and generosity will continue the process of healing the people and waters upon which they so integrally depend.

The paper which follows contains many references to notions of love, mutual respect, and responsibility towards the natural world, and water in particular. These ideas may seem a little tenuous for a serious paper on a critical environmental justice issue, but concepts …

The Binding Guidance Principle: Using The Indian Trust Doctrine To Trump The Apa, John Robinson Jr., J.D.

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comparing The Geography Of Environmental Justice Guidelines, Fish Consumption Waterbodies, And Land Use/Land Cover In South Carolina, Matthew James Neet

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental justice (EJ) grew out of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, as well as grass roots organizations during the 1980s and early 1990s. However, it was not until President William J. Clinton signed Executive Order (EO) 12898 in 1994 that EJ became an official governmental policy. With this directive, federal agencies made EJ part of their daily operations. EO 12898 had two overriding goals, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all populations. As part of these goals, minority, low-income, and native populations would be analyzed for any disproportionate and adverse impacts on human or environmental health. Despite …

Thinking Pink? Consumer Reactions To Pink Ribbons And Vague Messages In Advertising, Kim Bartel Sheehan, Kati Tusinski Berg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Many brands partner with causes in their advertising campaigns. Consumers appreciate that the brands they purchase participate in activities that contribute to a society’s well-being. This study uses copy-testing techniques to evaluate the number and types of thoughts and brand attitudes in the presence and absence of cause-related messages. Individuals saw an ad for one of two products. None of the ads stated the brand’s financial support to the cause, which is representative of many messages today. People viewing the Dansko ads with the pink ribbon generated significantly fewer thoughts than those viewing the ad without the pink ribbon. For …

Framing Risk, Responsibility, And Resolution: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Traditional And Social Media Coverage Of The 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill, Tracey Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill raised policy questions concerning chemical safety and revealed an immediate need for improved emergency communication. This two-phase study explored how media presented causes of and longterm solutions to the spill through an examination of media frames. The study also explored how health risks were communicated through traditional and social media. The specific aims of Phase I were to examine media coverage in the days following the spill and compare coverage across media channels. The specific aims of Phase II were to understand how public health stakeholders perceived coverage of the spill and how …

Isolation In The South: Poverty And Transportation Infrastructure In The Black Belt, Derrick Ryan Shapley

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between transportation infrastructure and social well-being in the United States South, especially in the Black Belt. Specifically, this study focuses on the impact of airport accessibility and improvements on social well-being within the community capital framework in which built capital and political capital acted as a foundational basis for the broader concept of positive community capital. The results indicated that many cumulative disadvantages exist in the Black Belt of the southern United States. The research found that a higher level of airport accessibility is associated with a lower level of poverty and higher levels of …

Board Of Directors Open Meeting 12/04/2015, Uc Hastings Board Of Directors

2015 Board of Directors Agenda and Materials

No abstract provided.

Geographies Of Inequality: Urban Renewal And The Race, Gender, And Class Of Post-Katrina New Orleans, Shiloh L. Deitz, Kristen M. Barber

Articles

In this paper, we address pressing questions on the perpetuation of race, gender, and class inequalities in ongoing restoration practices shaping the "New" New Orleans. We unpack federal and local efforts to rebuild and revitalize the city over the last ten years and map the geography of New Orleans at the neighborhood level both before and after the storm. We discuss how mismanaged resources, corrupt profit-taking, conflicts of interest for the stakeholders, and socially unconscious design conditioned a fiscally irresponsible and non-inclusive recovery. These efforts have pushed out already marginalized populations, resulted in the gentrification of historically African American neighborhoods, …

The Power Of Advocacy In Bridging The Ideological Divide: The Campaign For Human Rights And Corporate Responsibility In The Cocoa Industry 2001-2014, Robin Ann Deluca-Acconi

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

A cornerstone of social work’s mission is to advocate for practices that create social justice. This study encourages social workers to broaden their advocacy efforts into the global arena and educate them about Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) that are fighting for equitable globalization policies. This longitudinal case study (2001-2014) explores the public debate surrounding human rights abuses in the cocoa industry. Qualitative framing analysis is employed to explore the stakeholders’ discourse surrounding both the causes of and solutions to the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL). This study analyzes press releases from human rights activists, the cocoa industry, and the …

Parallels In Public And Private Environmental Governance, Sarah E. Light, Eric W. Orts

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Private actors, including business firms and non-governmental organizations, play an essential role in addressing today’s most serious environmental challenges. Yet scholars have not fully recognized the parallels between public environmental law and the standard-setting and enforcement functions of private environmental governance. “Instrument choice” in environmental law scholarship is generally understood to refer to government actors choosing among options from the public law “toolkit,” which includes prescriptive rules, the creation of property rights, the leveraging of markets, and informational regulation. Each of these major public law tools, however, has a parallel in private environmental governance. This Article first provides a descriptive …

Marketizing Social Change: Social Shareholder Activism And Responsible Investing, Leslie King, Elisabeth Gish

Sociology: Faculty Publications

This article examines social shareholder advocacy and socially responsible investing (SRI) to better understand the marketization of activism and the intersection of business and social justice. We use archival, interview, and participant observation data to explore how social shareholder activism has increasingly come to be practiced for profit. We show how the movement's history in social justice activism of the 1960s and 1970s continues to shape the practice today, even while it is increasingly commodified, marketized, and shaped by the ideals and practices of business and finance. Shareholder activists and other SRI advocates have created a new market and a …

Are Bay Area Cities Inclusive? Evaluating How San Francisco Bay Area Cities Can Address Environmental Justice Challenges By Strengthening Their Engagement Practices With Low-Income And Minority Communities Through The California Environmental Quality Act Process, Kenneth Antonio Rosales

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Shared Spatial Regulating In Sharing-Economy Districts, Michael N. Widener

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Current And Future Generated Selected E-Waste Quantities In Abu Dhabi, Khaleel Ibrahim Al Nasseri This

Theses

E-waste is a term used to describe electrical and electronic products that enter the waste stream. Currently, it is the fastest growing stream of municipal waste. Informal disposal of E-waste may cause serious health and pollution problems to humans as well as the environment. Although E-waste may represent less than 5% of the total waste discarded into landfills, yet it includes more than 70% of overall toxic waste. Not only the exact amount of E-waste generated in the UAE is unknown, but it is continuously increasing with the advent of new electronic products. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis …

Integrating Freight Into Livable Communities, Kristine M. Williams, Alexandria Carroll

TREC Final Reports

Where livability is a goal of the planning process, freight runs the risk of not being considered except as an afterthought or as something to be excluded. Yet, freight is an integral part of local economic development. Because economic prosperity is a key characteristic of livable communities, freight must be incorporated into the planning process. This study explores the relationship between freight and livability through a comprehensive literature review and case study research. The final report includes a menu of strategies and case study perspectives that highlight the importance of transportation and land use integration, interagency coordination, and context-sensitivity in …

Examining The Role Of In-Home Environmental Exposure In High-Risk Childhood Asthma Severity, Nicholas Neal Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Objective: To analyze the role that environmental exposure indexes have upon high-risk childhood asthma patients' hospital utilization Methods: Le Bonheur Children's Hospital outreach program, Changing High-risk Asthma in Memphis through Partnership (CHAMP), collects hospital utilization data on high-risk asthmatic children that meet certain eligibility criteria, performing an in-home environmental survey before conducting an intervention. The survey was divided into six asthma trigger indexes and ranked based on quantity of indexes present. Results: The relationship between the indexes derived from the environmental assessment and the outcome measures were inconsistent and unclear. Conclusion: Though this study discovered inconsistencies, it reflects the multi-variable …

Cities And The Environment: Eight Years Of Urban Ecology Research And Practice, Eric G. Strauss, Laurel Hunt, Michele Romolini, Dexter H. Locke

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Since its inception, Cities and the Environment has sought to showcase a broad range of urban environmental research and practice. Thus, as we celebrate the closing of our eighth anniversary, the purpose of this paper is to remind (or, for some, introduce) researchers and practitioners of the aims and scope of the journal by describing the first eight years of its history, and to outline our vision for the next eight years.

Which Came First, People Or Pollution? Assessing The Disparate Siting And Post-Siting Demographic Change Hypotheses Of Environmental Injustice, Paul Mohai, Robin Saha

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Although a large body of quantitative environmental justice research exists, only a handful of studies have examined the processes by which racial and socioeconomic disparities in the location of polluting industrial facilities can occur. These studies have had mixed results, we contend, principally because of methodological differences, that is, the use of the unit-hazard coincidence method as compared to distance-based methods. This study is the first national-level environmental justice study to conduct longitudinal analyses using distance-based methods. Our purposes are to: (1) determine whether disparate siting, post-siting demographic change, or a combination of the two created present-day disparities; (2) test …

Wastelanding: Legacies Of Uranium Mining In Navajo Country, Traci Voyles

Faculty Pub Night

No abstract provided.

Developing Human Capacity For Marine Scientific Research In Myanmar, Roxane S. De Waegh

Open Access Theses

Scientists worldwide believe that sustainable resource management must be based on results derived from successful research (Strigl, 2003). Therefore, scientists are constantly engaged in research projects in order to obtain more results and create new knowledge. In this constant pursuit of knowledge, the international scientific community is minimally participating in the development of human capacity, especially when their research is based in low-income countries (LIC) (Strigl, 2003). This research-based agenda benefits scientific societies in developed countries, as they continuously add value to their knowledge-based economy, while the local communities’ education levels remain stagnant. LIC’s needs in education and science are …