Digital Commons Network^™

Biodiversity Loss & Urban Heat: A Nature- Based Wildlife Policy For The Las Vegas Metro, Zachary Billot

Student Research

As the population of the Las Vegas Metro continues to grow, new developments expand on the periphery. As Las Vegas continues to increase in size and develop further into wildlife habitat, not only are native animals and plants endangered, but residents are at risk of increasingly dangerous urban heat given the increase in impervious cover that makes Las Vegas the 2nd fastest warming metro in the U.S. This policy brief examines current policy and practice in place to highlight the need for positive human-wildlife interaction that will address the growing threat of biodiversity loss and heat vulnerability. This policy brief …

Maine Lobstermen And The North Atlantic Right Whale: The Ongoing Conflict And The Obvious Solution, Allison K. Briggs

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The majestic North Atlantic right whale is on the brink of extinction. With fewer than seventy breeding females left, every loss contributes to a decrease in biodiversity and brings us closer to an unrecognizable planet. Like most critically endangered species, the plummeting number of North Atlantic right whales is a direct result of human activity. Specifically, gear used by the lobster fishing industry is entangling and killing right whales off the coast of Maine. The federal Endangered Species Act, meant to protect vulnerable species like the North Atlantic right whale, is violated every time the State of Maine permits Maine …

Finding Better Words: Markets, Property, Rights, And Resources, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger Meiners, Bruce Yandle

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

To use or conserve environmental and natural resources effectively is complex. Many economists believe that institutional solutions built around markets and property rights can help improve results. This approach addresses what Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto termed the “missing lessons of U.S. history”— institutions whose designers may not have understood the outcomes that would occur, but the results were generally beneficial. However, technical economic analysis generally fails to persuade many at the policy level. Adding a focus on the practicality of solving issues by voluntary action will enrich the policy discussions. To do so requires economists to provide concrete examples …

Finding Better Words: Markets, Property, Rights, And Resources, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger E. Meiners, Bruce Yandle

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

To use or conserve environmental and natural resources effectively is complex. Many economists believe that institutional solutions built around markets and property rights can help improve results. This approach addresses what Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto termed the “missing lessons of U.S. history”— institutions whose designers may not have understood the outcomes that would occur, but the results were generally beneficial. However, technical economic analysis generally fails to persuade many at the policy level. Adding a focus on the practicality of solving issues by voluntary action will enrich the policy discussions. To do so requires economists to provide concrete examples …

The Political Economy Equilibrium Of Environmental And Trade Policies In The U.S., Linda Allen

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The U.S. has incorporated environmental policies into its all free trade agreements since it negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s. The inclusion of environmental policies represented a major shift in trade policy but the environmental policies have not drastically changed in subsequent trade agreements over the past 25 years despite the continued involvement of environmental constituencies and policymakers. The punctuated equilibrium model provides the analytical framework for understanding the factors that gave rise to the drastic policy shift under NAFTA as well as the subsequent policy stasis, in order to inform future policymaking efforts. …

Visual And Rhetorical Cues To Transform Nature: A Historical Analysis Of Mao Zedong’S Environmental Policy Through Print And Visual Media, Nathan P. Basch

Environmental Studies Electronic Thesis Collection

The contemporary mainstream media offers passionate praise for China’s recent improvements regarding renewable energy generation and sustainability. However, such articles make deliberate comparisons of these achievements to the state of China less than a decade ago, with the nation’s dense smog posing a public health crisis for the Chinese people. In this thesis, I step back into history to examine the environmental policy message promoted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong to better understand China’s swift turnaround and present-day environmental policy. The existing body of literature provides ample evidence of the land-use change and pollution that arose …

Rummaging Through The Attic Of New England, Brieanne Berry, Jennifer Bonnet, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Student Scholarship

The concept of the circular economy has taken off, gaining momentum along with concerns about resource depletion, waste, and the impending ‘end of cheap nature’ (Moore 2014). Environmentalists and industrialists alike have promoted the benefits of reuse as a means toward improved efficiency and reduced resource pressure. Some have called for a new ‘culture of reuse’ (Botsman and Rogers 2010; Stokes et al. 2014). It is in this context that we explore repair, resale, and reuse as practices with deep historical precedent and contemporary continuity. Are there lessons to be learned from places that are already home to circular economies …

Coping With Policy Paradoxes And Actor Interests In Peatland And Oil Palm Management In Indonesia, Erwan Agus Purwanto

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

The utilization of peatland is one of the important issues in Indonesian political economy. One of the pros and cons regarding the argument of peatland management is the problem of ecology, which refers to the involvement of actors in its policy formulation and implementation. Research found that extensive degradation of Indonesia peatlands by deforestation, drainage and recurrent fires causes the release of huge amounts of peat soil carbon into the atmosphere. This article aims to answer two research questions. First is related to problems arise from the management of peatland based on ecological, economic, and social-cultural perspective. Second is related …

A Fix For A Thirsty World - Making Direct And Indirect Reuse Legally Possible, Heather Payne

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Reliably providing safe drinking water to the public is an essential function of state and local governments. Across the United States, government officials and public water system managers are exploring mechanisms for ensuring water security. One method for increasing public drinking water security that has garnered the attention of water officials and the public is returning treated wastewater to the drinking water supply. However, in the absence of federal regulations on water reuse, states need guidance to develop the statutory framework necessary to make potable reuse legal. This Article details the processes of direct and indirect potable reuse and reviews …

The Human Right To Clean Air: A Case Study Of The Inter-American System, Varun K. Aery

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

Combatting environmental damage has become a primary goal of the international community. Unfortunately, international human rights law has not taken this aim seriously. Although the Inter-American regional human rights system, one of three regional human rights institutions, empathizes with protecting the environment, it enervates such goals by barring victims of air pollution and climate change from access to judicial remedies. Seeking to bridge the gap between human rights law and environmental protection, this article explains why clean air is a human right, develops the positive content for such a right, and evaluates the practical reasons that justify the right’s importance. …

Cultural Rights V. Species Protection: A Case Study Of Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtles, Mohit Khubchandani, Mehul Parti

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), sometimes called the lute turtle, is the largest of all living turtles. It is the fourth- heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodilians. These species are categorized as critically endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. These turtles avail pro- tection under the Convention on Illicit Trade in Endangered Species (CITES); a treaty enacted to protect wildlife against over-exploita- tion and with an aim to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. The said treaty is applicable to species in general …

Eating Invaders: Managing Biological Invasions With Fork And Knife?, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Sara Kuebbing

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As the public, academy, government, and private sector all turn increased attention to food systems, new ideas constantly emerge for healthy, sustainable, and just innovations in growing, marketing, and eating food. “Invasivory” — eating invasive species — is one such idea. Biological invasions occur when humans transport an organism from its ecosystem of origin into a new ecosystem and that organism adapts to its new location, spreading widely from the site of introduction. Invasive species can cause significant ecological, economic, and public health damage. Crops, homes, and native species are all at risk. “Invasivores,” as the proponents of invasivory are …

Climate Change And The Co-Production Of Knowledge And Policy In Rural Us Communities, George C. Homsy, Mildred Warner

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

Climate change requires action at multiple levels of government. We focus on the potential for climate change policy creation among small rural governments in the US. We argue that co-production of scientific knowledge and policy is a communicative approach that encompasses local knowledge flowing up from rural governments as well as expertise and power (to coordinate and ensure compliance) flowing down from higher level authority. Using environmental examples related to land use policy, natural gas hydro-fracturing, and watershed protection, we demonstrate the importance of knowledge flows, power, and coordination in policy creation. Co-production of knowledge and policy requires respect for …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2013: 11th Annual (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

The Difficult Problem Of Nonpoint Nutrient Pollution: Could The Endangered Species Act Offer Some Relief?, Zdravka Tzankova

Zdravka Tzankova

Nutrient pollution of rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries is one of the preeminent water quality issues in the United States today, and poses a significant threat to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Agricultural nonpoint discharges, the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous from animal manure and chemical fertilizers, are the primary sources of such nutrient pollution.

A pervasive and long-standing problem, nonpoint pollution, nutri- ent and otherwise, has proven to be one of the toughest challenges in contemporary environmental regulation. This situation is significantly attributable to the political and administrative dynamics of fragmented regulatory authority. The power to control such nonpoint …

News Media And Environmental Policy: The Case Of The Niger Delta Crises, Onimi Wilcox, Andrew I.E. Ewoh, Felicia Okoli

African Social Science Review

The article examines the Nigerian media coverage of the devastation and environmental impact of decades of oil spills in the Niger Delta. Using the agenda setting approach as a conceptual framework, the analysis aims to uncover the role played by the media in the environmental policy process. The article begins with a discussion of the modus operandi of various media outlets in reporting the nature and scope of oil spill. This is followed by a review of the national government’s effort in managing and reducing the incidents of oil spill on the environment and the affected communities. On the basis …

Use Of Remote Sensing To Support Forest And Wetlands Policies In The Usa, Audrey L. Mayer, Ricardo D. Lopez

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

The use of remote sensing for environmental policy development is now quite common and well-documented, as images from remote sensing platforms are often used to focus attention on emerging environmental issues and spur debate on potential policy solutions. However, its use in policy implementation and evaluation has not been examined in much detail. Here we examine the use of remote sensing to support the implementation and enforcement of policies regarding the conservation of forests and wetlands in the USA. Specifically, we focus on the “Roadless Rule” and “Travel Management Rules” as enforced by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service …

The Corporate Agenda For Environmental Property Rights, Sharon Beder

Sharon Beder

Market and property-rights based approaches to environmental problems have been heavily promoted by conservative think tanks. Consequently policies such as emissions trading, water markets, tradeable fishing quotas and conservation banking pervade environmental policy in English speaking nations. They have enabled the corporate neo-liberal agenda of deregulation, privatisation and an unconstrained market to be dressed up as an environmental virtue. This market-faith based approach is proving to be largely ineffective at protecting the environment and also inequitable.

Market Mechanisms, Ecological Sustainability And Social Equity, Sharon Beder

Sharon Beder

In most cases the use of market mechanisms to protect the environment aim to maximise economic efficiency rather than environmental effectiveness or equity. The use of emissions trading to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is used as a case study to demonstrate this.

Critical Habitat At The Crossroads: Responding To The G.W. Bush Administration's Attacks On Critical Habitat Designation Under The Esa, Mike Senatore, John Kostyack, Andrew Wetzler

Golden Gate University Law Review

In this article, we argue that the George W. Bush Administration's ("Administration") attacks on the critical habitat protections in the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") warrant priority attention from the environmental movement. Many species across the United States and, indeed, around the world, continue to slip towards extinction. As Congress recognized when it passed the ESA, the decline of most species can be directly traced to the destruction of their habitat. Protection and restoration of ecosystems that support endangered species is thus fundamental to species conservation.

Unbearable? Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Reintroduction & The George W. Bush Administration, Rob Roy Smith

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article begins by providing a brief overview of the history of the grizzly bear reintroduction efforts and the Clinton Administration's decision to move forward with plans to secure an experimental population of the threatened species in the remote wilderness of Idaho and Montana. Section III focuses on local reaction to the decision to reintroduce the grizzly bear, and in particular, the strong rhetoric of the Idaho congressional delegation opposing the reintroduction. Section IV brings new light on the subsequent legal challenge brought by Governor Dirk Kempthorne and the Republican legislative leadership of the State of Idaho to bar the …

The Corporate Agenda For Environmental Property Rights, Sharon Beder

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Market and property-rights based approaches to environmental problems have been heavily promoted by conservative think tanks. Consequently policies such as emissions trading, water markets, tradeable fishing quotas and conservation banking pervade environmental policy in English speaking nations. They have enabled the corporate neo-liberal agenda of deregulation, privatisation and an unconstrained market to be dressed up as an environmental virtue. This market-faith based approach is proving to be largely ineffective at protecting the environment and also inequitable.

Traditional Natural Resource Use And Development In Northeast Thailand, Christie Moulton

Senior Honors Projects

This paper explores the effects of development projects on traditional natural resource use in three communities in Northeast Thailand, a region known as Isan. I interviewed villagers in each community and asked them to describe their environmental perceptions, management practices and livelihood strategies. Participants described several subsistence livelihoods that have traditionally been present in Isan. These include rice farming, fishing, community forestry, and wetland use. Residents from the three communities all described various cultural activities, knowledge systems, and religious ceremonies that are closely tied to their local resources. Raising silk worms, making clay pots, and performing rituals for a spirit …

Environmental Justice: An Analysis, Dennis Bechtel

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract: -Importance of the Environmental Justice -EJ examples -Regulatory backdrop -Stigma effects -Recommendations

Environmental Standing: Who Determines The Value Of Other Life?, Francisco Benzoni

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2008: 6th Annual -- Science In The City (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

Market Mechanisms, Ecological Sustainability And Social Equity, Sharon Beder

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

In most cases the use of market mechanisms to protect the environment aim to maximise economic efficiency rather than environmental effectiveness or equity. The use of emissions trading to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is used as a case study to demonstrate this.

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2007: 5th Annual -- Seeking Science For Solutions (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

The Cultural Evolution Of Commercial Fishing Communities, Anthony Baker

School of Business Faculty Publications

This paper uses a Case Study method to examine the phenomena of cultural change within Commercial Fishing Communities (CFCs). Points of discussion include some of the basic principles of entrepreneurship such as risk, succession, and benefit to communities. Included is a focal discussion that reflects on past business models in comparison to newer possible models that detail the potential for extending the participation of family fishing business through innovation and diversity. A primary objective of this paper is to determine if alternate methods to govern a natural recourse are viable. This includes research of the effect of past, present, and …

The Science And Policy That Compels The Wetland Mitigation Of Phosphate-Mined Lands, Nejma Danielle Piagentini

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The State of Florida ranks fifth in the world's production of phosphate. The phosphate industry relies on surface mining to withdraw the phosphate ore, and this process can devastate the natural environment. One of the most impacted natural resources is wetlands. Federal laws permit the legal destruction of wetlands providing their loss is compensated by the mitigation (i.e., the restoration, creation, or enhancement) of other wetlands, but the complexity of wetland ecosystems makes the mitigation process difficult. One of the goals of this thesis is to review the established Federal, State and non-regulatory guidelines for the development and maintenance of …