Digital Commons Network^™

Litigation To Protect The Marine Environment: Parallels And Synergies With Climate Litigation, Randall S. Abate, Nadine O. Nadow, Hayley-Bo Dorrian-Bak

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper reviews recent successes and obstacles in using litigation as a tool to address issues in several contexts in the marine environment. It surveys developments at the international, national, and sub-national levels and offers lessons from creative climate litigation strategies as a way to enhance litigation to protect the marine environment. It also recommends ways in which the ocean-climate nexus can provide mutual benefits in advancing the agendas of climate change regulation and ocean stewardship.

Environmental Health Justice Across The Globe., Arnita Gadson, Rochelle H. Holm

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Community Participation, Experience, And Perceptions Of The Solar Over Louisville Solarize Program, 2022-2023. A Technical Report Prepared For Louisville Metro Government, Angela Storey, D. Johnson, J. Chatellier, Lauren Heberle, A. Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mai Bhago And Amrita Devi Bishnoi: Women Of Strength, Sowmya Ayyar

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Mai Bhago (1670-1720), also known as Bhag Kaur, distinguished herself on the battlefield to defend the Sikh faith. Amrita Devi Bishnoi (d. 1730) is said to have sacrificed her life with 362 others to protect the Khejari trees in the Rajasthan desert. Both women continue to inspire social justice and ecological activism.

Energy Insecurity Mitigation: The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program And Other Low-Income Relief Programs In The Us, Andrea Nishi, Diana Hernández, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Energy insecurity, defined as the “inability to meet basic household energy needs,” can be both a chronic and an acute problem. Chronic energy insecurity manifests as an inability to access or afford adequate supplies of energy, while acute energy insecurity arises when infrastructural, maintenance, environmental, or other external sources disrupt or impede access to energy. A substantial number of individuals and families across the United States experience energy insecurity, which can lead to a variety of adverse consequences including residential instability and poor health outcomes.

Deconstructing Orthorexia In An Age Of Healthism And Social Media, Maddison Paul

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Orthorexia, a pathological fixation with healthy eating, has recently emerged as a construct of interest in the field of clinical psychology. Despite its growing recognition, the origin of this construct remains unclear. This dissertation aims to contribute to the understanding of orthorexia by examining its emergence and contextual factors through a constructivist lens. The study found that the cultural, economic, and moralistic landscape of healthism and social medially have played a role in the development of orthorexia. The dominant clinical perspective of orthorexia was also deconstructed, revealing potential biases that may lead to pathologizing the experiences of those who demonstrate …

To Change Everything, We Need Everyone: Belonging, Equity, And Diversity In The U.S. Climate Movement, Clara Changxin Fang

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Climate change affects everyone but lack of racial diversity in the climate movement makes it challenging for it to be truly inclusive, champion solutions that are equitable, and affect transformative change. This dissertation describes a two-part study of diversity in the climate movement using a survey of 1,003 climate activists and interviews with 17 people of color who work or volunteer in the U.S. climate movement. The study analyzes differences between Whites and people of color in terms of their (a) demographics, (b) engagement in climate action, (c) experience of climate impacts, (d) worries, (e) challenges and barriers to participation, …

New York Environmental Legislation In 2022, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

Several significant environmental bills were enacted by the New York legislature and signed by Gov.Kathy Hochul in 2022, and several others were vetoed. As a result of measures enacted last year, New York will see $4.2 billion invested in environmental protection, restoration, climate resiliency and clean energy projects; potential disproportionate and inequitable impacts on disadvantaged communities will become a key factor in determining whether environmental permits are issued; and apparel containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will no longer be sold in the state. In addition, important changes were made to New York’s brownfield and wetlands laws. These …

New York Adopts Nation’S Strongest Environmental Justice Law, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

On March 3, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the strongest environmental justice (EJ) law in the United States. While federal guidelines and the laws of some other states — notably California, Massachusetts, and Washington — require analysis, disclosure and consideration of EJ issues, only a New Jersey law adopted in 2020 imposed substantive limitations, as we discussed in our May 12, 2021, column. New York’s new law—building on enactments in 2019 and 2020 — is even more restrictive.

The new law — which we’ll call the EJL — provides that the Department of Environmental Conservation(DEC) “shall not issue an …

Survey Of 2022 Cases Under State Environmental Quality Review Act, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

The courts in New York issued 43 opinions in 2022 under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Of these, the largest number — 27 — upheld agency decisions not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS), and eight overturned such decisions. Six cases upheld actions that had been the subject of an EIS; none overturned such actions. Two cases can’t be classified in this fashion.

These numbers are in line with the longstanding pattern that a project’s greatest litigation vulnerability under SEQRA is the failure to prepare an EIS; if an EIS has been prepared, very rarely will the …

The Prosecution Bar, William Ortman

Scholarly Works

The American legal profession needs a prosecution bar. Before lawyers are permitted to appear for the government in a criminal case, they should be licensed not just to practice law, but to practice prosecution. The two are not the same. Regulating them as if they were fosters injustice and fortifies the carceral state.

“Doing justice” is the orienting creed of prosecutorial ethics, in theory, while on the ground, American prosecutors routinely indulge in unjust practices. This Article argues that prosecutors’ membership in an undifferentiated legal profession is the key to understanding the contradiction. Lawyers’ training, socialization, and professional regulation fixate …

The Impact Of Covid-19 Quarantine On Lifestyle Indicators In The United Arab Emirates, Sharifa Alblooshi, Maryam Alfalasi, Zainab Taha, Farid El Ktaibi, Alia Khalid

All Works

Introduction: COVID-19 is a virus that has spread rapidly and brought economic and social crises all around the world. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 quarantine on dietary habits, physical activity, food purchasing, smoking, and sleeping patterns in the United Arab Emirates. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire between November 1st, 2020 and the end of January 2021. Citizens and residents of the UAE aged ≥ 18 years old were asked to complete an anonymous electronic questionnaire created via Google Forms and distributed on various platforms, such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and email. …

Mundane Desires, Aileen Schretzmayer

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Strategies To Secure Water For Great Salt Lake, Lisa W. Welsh, Joanna Endter-Wada, Karin M. Kettenring

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Great Salt Lake is the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere (Wilsey et al. 2017) and plays an important role in Utah’s economy, environment, and ecology (Baxter and Butler 2020; Great Salt Lake Advisory Committee 2021). It has a long history of commercial and recreational activities including mineral production, brine shrimp harvesting, waterfowl hunting, boating, and sightseeing (Utah Department of Natural Resources 2013a, 2013b). The Great Salt Lake ecosystem supports over 10 million birds representing 338 species and acts as an important stopover for migratory birds between North and South America (Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program; Wilsey et al. …

Annotated Legal Bibliography

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Synthesizing Energy Transitions, Danielle Stokes, Nadia Ahmad, Uma Outka, Hannah Wiseman

Law Faculty Publications

This Article assesses the growing and cross-disciplinary literature on energy transitions to explore how it can guide law and policy reforms for the energy sector. The modern conception of energy transition centers primarily on clean energy—a shift away from fossil energy dependence. It also, however, incorporates equity as a core principle, as an increasing emphasis on energy justice and just transition seeks to create guiding norms for the energy sector’s current state of change. The concept of energy transition is critical for describing and giving meaning to a fundamental societal shift at the local, regional, national, and global scales, aligned …

ศึกษาและวิเคราะห์ความสอดคล้องระหว่างแนวคิดว่าด้วยการจัดการทรัพยากรร่วมโดยมีชุมชนเป็นฐานกับพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562, ปลายฟ้า โตศักดิ์สิทธิ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ในการศึกษาและวิเคราะห์ความสอดคล้องระหว่างแนวคิดว่าด้วยการจัดการทรัพยากรร่วม โดยมีชุมชนเป็นฐานกับพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาและวิเคราะห์ หลักการสำคัญของพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 และเพื่อศึกษาความสอดคล้องกันระหว่าง หลักการจัดการร่วมที่มีชุมชนเป็นฐาน (Community-Based Co-Management) กับพระราชบัญญัติ ป่าชุมชน พ.ศ.2562 รวมทั้งเพื่อเสนอแนวทางการพัฒนากฎหมายป่าชุมชนเพื่อให้เกิดความ สอดคล้องกับหลักการจัดการร่วมที่มีชุมชนเป็นฐาน ทั้งนี้ การตราพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 เป็นการสอดรับบทบัญญัติมาตรา 43 (2) ของรัฐธรรมนูญแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย พุทธศักราช 2560 ในเรื่องสิทธิของชุมชนในอันที่จะจัดการ บำรุงรักษา และใช้ประโยชน์จากทรัพยากรธรรมชาติ สิ่งแวดล้อม และความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพ อย่างสมดุลและยั่งยืน จากการศึกษาการจัดการทรัพยากรร่วมกันได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ ในศึกษา กรณีพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 พบว่ามีประเด็นทางข้อกฎหมายดังต่อไปนี้ 1) ประเด็นเรื่องสิทธิในจัดการทรัพยากรป่าไม้ในป่าชุมชน 2) ประเด็นเรื่องความหมายของป่าชุมชนตามพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 ตามมาตรา 4 พื้นที่ที่จะนำไปจัดตั้งเป็นป่าชุมชนได้นั้น ต้องเป็นป่าที่อยู่นอกเขตป่าอนุรักษ์หรือพื้นที่อื่นของรัฐนอกเขตป่าอนุรักษ์ เป็นการให้อำนาจแก่กรมป่าไม้เข้ามาจัดการและควบคุมกำกับการจัดการป่าชุมชน 3) ประเด็นเรื่องการจัดตั้งป่าชุมชนตามพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 ในการขออนุญาตเพื่อจัดตั้งป่าชุมชนตามพระราชบัญญัติป่าชุมชน พ.ศ. 2562 นั้น ชุมชนจะต้องมีการจัดเตรียมเอกสารมากมาย ตามมาตรา 33 รวมไปถึงการตรวจสอบจากสำนักจัดการทรัพยากรป่าไม้แห่งท้องที่อย่างเข้มงวด และได้รับการอนุมัติจากคณะกรรมการป่าชุมชนประจำจังหวัดในการพิจารณาคำขอจัดตั้งป่าชุมชน แผนจัดการป่าชุมชน และรายงานผลการตรวจสอบซึ่ง แสดงให้เห็นถึงการตรวจสอบจากรัฐและยังคงไว้ซึ่งการรวมอำนาจในการจัดการทรัพยากรธรรมชาติไว้ที่รัฐ ซึ่งขัดแย้งต่อการรับรองสิทธิของชุมชนตามรัฐธรรมนูญแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย พุทธศักราช 2560 ในมาตรา 43 (2) 4) ประเด็นเรื่องการขาดการมีส่วนร่วมของชุมชนในป่าชุมชน ตามมาตรา 16 ผู้ที่มีอำนาจควบคุมกำกับการจัดการป่าชุมชนไม่ใช่ตัวแทนจากภาคประชาชนที่อยู่ภายในพื้นที่เขตป่าชุมชน แต่เป็นตัวแทนของรัฐจากส่วนกลาง ทำให้ขาดความใกล้ชิดกับสภาพปัญหา สภาพภูมิศาสตร์ และเศรษฐกิจในพื้นที่ รวมถึงวัฒนธรรมความเชื่อ ส่งผลให้ภาคประชาชนไม่ได้ร่วมมือร่วมใจกันในการจัดการควบคุมการใช้และการอนุรักษ์ทรัพยากรธรรมชาติและสิ่งแวดล้อม 5) ประเด็นเรื่องการกระจายอำนาจ (Decentralization) ให้แก่องค์กรปกครองท้องถิ่น ตามพระราชบัญญัติกำหนดแผนและขั้นตอนการกระจายอำนาจให้แก่องค์กรปกครองส่วน ท้องถิ่น พ.ศ. 2542 ในมาตรา 16 (24) บัญญัติให้กระจายอำนาจให้ อบต.หรือเทศบาล มีอำนาจ จัดการ การบำรุงรักษา และการใช้ประโยชน์จากป่าไม้ …

Characterizing Particle Number Size Distributions And Source Contribution For Public Elementary School Classrooms In Bangkok, Hnin Phyu Phyu Aung

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This study characterizes particle number size distributions (PNSD) and source contributions for public elementary school classrooms in Bangkok. Using Scanning Mobility Particle Sizers (SMPS) and Optical Particle Sizers (OPS), measurements covered particle sizes from 10 nm to 10 µm during regular school hours on weekdays and under various experimental conditions on weekends. The particle number concentrations (PNC) showed significant fluctuations for all four schools with peak levels observed during morning rush hours coinciding with students' arrival and indoor activities. The findings revealed predominant Aitken mode particles both indoors and outdoors. During weekdays, the PNSD was significantly unimodal, with sigma (σ) …

Analyzing Residential Curbside Collection For Food Waste In Humboldt County, Yvette Lindler

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The most prevalent material in the California landfill-destined solid waste stream is food. Food waste is not only an economic and social concern, but a significant environmental challenge as well. Most food waste is disposed of in landfills, where it anaerobically decomposes and releases methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas and driver of climate change. Policies passed in California, including AB 1826 and SB 1383, aim to implement organic waste recycling programs and reduce methane emissions by diverting organic waste from landfills. The technology to process this food waste exists, but these facilities are limited or nonexistent in rural areas …

Sustainability Hub Newsletter - January 2023, Jacqueline Jergensen, Neyda Gilman, Jennifer Embree

Library Sustainability Resources

The January 2023 Issue of the Sustainability Hub Newsletter shares sustainable New Year's Resolutions, additions to our documentary collection, a new environmental justice mapping tool, information on the Sustainability Hub Interest Group, and a student petition for EV Chargers on campus! Also read our announcements and upcoming events!

Toxic Timescapes: Examining Toxicity Across Time And Space, Simone M. Müller, May-Brith Ohman Nielsen

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

An interdisciplinary environmental humanities volume that explores human-environment relationships on our permanently polluted planet.

While toxicity and pollution are ever present in modern daily life, politicians, juridical systems, media outlets, scholars, and the public alike show great difficulty in detecting, defining, monitoring, or generally coming to terms with them. This volume’s contributors argue that the source of this difficulty lies in the struggle to make sense of the intersecting temporal and spatial scales working on the human and more-than-human body, while continuing to acknowledge race, class, and gender in terms of global environmental justice and social inequality.

The term toxic …

Using State Law Before The Glaciers Thaw: Climate Torts After Bp V. Baltimore, Jillian Mayer

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

We are living in the beginning stages of Earth’s sixth mass extinction. Since the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, the burning of fossil fuels has released huge quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses (“GHGs”) into the atmosphere. The increased concentration of GHGs causes the atmosphere to retain more heat. Consequently, ecosystems and weather patterns shift and change faster than most plants, animals, and human societies can adapt. Climate change threatens global peace, crashes economies, and creates humanitarian crises.

Rather Than To Seem: Black And Indigenous Narratives In A Stormy, Swampy South, Jennifer Denise Peedin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

I examine the narratives of the South that have been historically overlooked, ignored, or hidden in order to establish a dominant narrative of the region. The narratives examined here are by southern Black and Indigenous authors who restore lost knowledge and offer histories that help complete the South culturally and ecologically. The conceptual methodology develops from LeAnne Howe’s tribalography which explains that Indigenous people create stories and histories that transform the space around them and offer an understanding of the world around us. Another methodology used is Anthony Wilson’s ecocritical swamp studies; each chapter analyzes a narrative centered around a …

The Walls At The Ends Of Empires: Towards A Political Ecology Of The Imperial Border, Benjamin Allen Stahnke

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation study investigates the intricate and complicated interplay between the border walls of imperial states, environmental change, and dispossession. Employing a multidisciplinary approach rooted in Political Ecology, and drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Social Metabolism, Social Kinetics, and Green History, the study is built around an analysis of two historical examples: the Roman border walls in the north of England (Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall), and the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The research uncovers two overarching conclusions: firstly, imperial border walls serve as discriminatory structures, targeting and segregating Indigenous populations while asserting control over Indigenous geographies; secondly, the …

Exploring The Lives Of Animal Activists: A Qualitative Study, Erin K. Mckenney

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The animal rights movement, despite its historical roots, has only recently garnered attention in the realm of social sciences, increasingly being recognized as a facet of social justice. This dissertation delves into the intersection of animal rights activism and gender, primarily focusing on the parallels drawn between the oppression of women and animals/nature. The noticeable dominance of women in the animal rights movement, as suggested by previous studies, formed the basis for adopting an eco-feminist approach to explore this issue, highlighting the shared oppression and exploitation faced by women and animals. In-depth, in-person interviews were used to collect data on …

Children Tell Landscape-Lore Among Perceptions Of Place: Relating Ecocultural Digital Stories In A Conscientizing/Decolonizing Exploration, Meredith Jean Bird Miller

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

We know that when children feel a sense-of-relation within local natural environments, they are more prone to feel concern for them, while nurturing well-being and resilience in themselves and in lands/waters they inhabit. Positive environmental behaviors often follow into adulthood. Our human capacities for creating sustainable solutions in response to growing repercussions of global warming and climate change may grow if more children feel a sense of belonging in the wild natural world. As educators, if we listen to and learn from students’ voices about how they engage in nature, we can create pedagogical experiences directly relevant to their lives. …

The Digital Environmental Humanities (Deh) In The Anthropocene: Challenges And Opportunities In An Era Of Ecological Precarity, John Ryan, Lydia Hearn, Paul Arthur

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Researchers in the complementary fields of the digital humanities and the environmental humanities have begun to collaborate under the auspices of the digital environmental humanities (DEH). The overarching aim of this emerging field is to leverage digital technologies in understanding and addressing the urgencies of the Anthropocene. Emphasizing DEH’s focus on natural and cultural vitality, this article begins with a historical overview of the field. Crafting an account of the field’s emergence, we argue that the present momentum toward DEH exhibits four broad thematic strains including perennial eco-archiving; Anthropocene narratives of loss; citizen ecohumanities; and human-plant-environment relations. Within each of …

Sustainability Leadership: An Integrative Review And Conceptual Synthesis, Aymen Sajjad, Gabriel Eweje, Muhammad M. Raziq

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Over the past few decades, scholars have extensively investigated the topic of leadership, contributing to the development of diverse leadership theories and contemporary managerial practice. However, the emergence and renewed focus on societal grand challenges warrant an alternative approach to leadership such as sustainability leadership. Despite the critical importance of sustainability leadership in addressing these global concerns, scholarly research in this field of inquiry, by and large, remained scant and fragmented, lacking conceptual coherence and theoretical integration. While the existing literature provides insights into sustainability leadership characteristics, competencies, behaviors, and actions, it failed to integrate a holistic understanding of how …

Bibliography Of Scholarship From 2023, University Of San Diego

Annual Bibliography of USD Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Science-Based Agenda For Health-Protective Chemical Assessments And Decisions: Overview And Consensus Statement, Tracey J. Woodruff, Swati D.G. Rayasam, Daniel A. Axelrad, Patricia D. Koman, Nicholas Chartres, Deborah H. Bennett, Linda S. Birnbaum, Phil Brown, Courtney C. Carignan, Courtney Cooper, Carl F. Cranor, Miriam L. Diamond, Shari Franjevic, Eve C. Gartner, Dale Hattis, Russ Hauser, Wendy Heiger-Bernyas, Rashmi Joglekar, Juleen Lam, Jonathan I. Levy, Patrick M. Macroy, Maricel V. Maffini, Emily C. Marquez, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Keeve E. Nachman, Greylin H. Nielsen, Catherine Oksas, Dimitri Panagopoulos Abrahamsson, Heather B. Patisaul, Sharyle Patton, Joshua F. Robinson, Kathryn M. Rodgers, Mark S. Rossi, Ruthann A. Rudel, Jennifer B. Sass, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Ted Schettler, Rachel M. Shaffer, Bhavna Shamasunder, Peggy Shepard, Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Gina M. Solomon, Wilma A. Subra, Laura N. Vandenberg, Julia R. Varshavsky, Roberta F. White, Ken Zarker, Lauren Zeise

Sustainability and Social Justice

The manufacture and production of industrial chemicals continues to increase, with hundreds of thousands of chemicals and chemical mixtures used worldwide, leading to widespread population exposures and resultant health impacts. Low-wealth communities and communities of color often bear disproportionate burdens of exposure and impact; all compounded by regulatory delays to the detriment of public health. Multiple authoritative bodies and scientific consensus groups have called for actions to prevent harmful exposures via improved policy approaches. We worked across multiple disciplines to develop consensus recommendations for health-protective, scientific approaches to reduce harmful chemical exposures, which can be applied to current US policies …