Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Cost Of Green Infrastructure: Worth The Investment?, Martha Sheils

Green Infrastructure

Is GI worth the investment?

• LID techniques often lead to cost savings when we look at WHOLE PROJECT COSTS

• Natural Infrastructure investments for flood control, drinking water protection and wildlife habitat can yield SIGNIFICANT AVOIDED COSTS and additional co-benefits to communitites

Long-Term Environmental Problems And Strategic Intergenerational Transfers, Timo Goeschl, Daniel Heyen, Juan B. Moreno-Cruz

Juan B. Moreno-Cruz

The impacts of long-lived stock pollutants and the measures supposed to address them link current and future generations. Altruism towards successor generations is a prerequisite for resolving the resulting inter-generational equity issues. Preference asymmetry and imperfect altruism introduce strategic conflicts between generations. Here, a current generation decides on a combination of abatement and whether to provide an imperfect backstop. The future generation decides whether to use the backstop or not. We identify three outcomes: (1) Technology denial, in which the current generation deliberately rejects the imperfect backstop to avoid misuse by the future generation. (2) Under-abatement, in which the current …

Uganda’S Cotton And Textile Sectors: Current Production Challenges, Motivations And Effects On Development, Daniel Geiser Chell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Current policies promote value addition industries and increased cotton yields. On the ground, however, cotton production and textile industries continue to lag behind previous rates of production. The study therefore sought to understand the conditions contributing to the current economic climate of the cotton industry. Once context was established, the researcher explored factors both promoting and discouraging cotton cultivation. Finally, the research explores the developmental consequences of increasing cotton and textile production in Uganda. In order to meet the aforementioned objectives, the researcher carried out a value chain analysis of the cotton and textile industry, taking note of the policies …

Las Raíces De La Deforestación En El Departamento Pando, Jeremy Levine-Drizin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper examines the phenomenon of the recent trend of deforestation in the Pando department in northwestern Bolivia. Historically, the economy of Pando has always been based primarily in agro-forestal extraction activities that provided income to communities without the need to destroy the surrounding forests. The most important of these agro-forestal products have been rubber (primarily during the beginning of the 20th century) and more recently Castaña (Brazilian Nut). Recently however, as the result of various forces, the inhabitants of Pando have begun to cut down there forests at an alarming rate. The most relevant causes of this phenomenon …

Carbon Can’T Buy Happiness: An Analysis Of Ecological Footprints And Happiness Of University Students In The City Of David, Panama, Samantha Burlager

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Global climate change is perhaps the most pressing issue our world faces today. Greenhouse gas emissions reductions are urgently needed, however, there is currently a lack of action due to the fear that a reduction in the ecological footprint will lead to a reduction in GDP and happiness levels of a society. Increasing GDP and economic progress are equivocated with increasing happiness and overall well-being of society. However, based on the literature I discuss in this paper, instead of GDP, an objective measurement of happiness is a better indicator of success. In this paper, I investigate the ecological footprints (in …

Balancing Conservation And Development: A Case Study Of Economic Efficiency In Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, Louisa Dunwiddie, R.Turner Shaw

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study is a comprehensive economic analysis of Queen Elizabeth National Park’s revenue and expenditures. Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in Southwest Uganda. It is the most visited park in Uganda, welcoming over 34,000 visitors annually and generating more than $1,705,000 US per year in tourist expenditures. The researchers spent three weeks in the field at Queen Elizabeth National Park, and three weeks in the capital city of Kampala, Uganda to assemble a collection of literature, statistics, and interviews with all stakeholders to fully analyze the national park’s current level of economic efficiency. The study includes data on stakeholder …

Issue Brief: Auditing Your Town's Development Code For Barriers To Sustainable Water Management, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This issue brief is intended for town officials who want to understand how development regulations in their community affect local water resources. Municipal development codes – the set of regulations that control the built environment – can have a great influence on the availability of clean and healthy water for drinking, recreation, and commercial uses. This in turn affects the community’s social, environmental, and economic vitality.

Comprehensive plans, zoning codes, and building standards are just a few examples of regulations that intentionally or unintentionally regulate the way water is transported, collected and absorbed. Regulations that produce dispersed development or large …

Issue Brief: Saving By Mitigating, University Of Louisville, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Natural disasters can cause loss of life, inflict damage to buildings and infrastructure, and have devastating consequences for a community’s economic, social, and environmental well-being. Hazard mitigation means reducing damages from disasters.

Local governments have the responsibility to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens. Proactive mitigation policies and actions help reduce risk and create safer, more disaster-resilient communities. Mitigation is an investment in your community’s future safety, equity, and sustainability.

The Role Of The Ocean Industry In The Chinese National Economy: An Input-Output Analysis, Rui Zhao

Working Papers

The OEAS (Ocean Economy Accounting System) has been established in China for 6 years. However, the economic impact of the ocean economy in China’s national economy has not yet been understood clearly at the national or regional levels. The direct impact of ocean industries in China at national and regional levels has been compiled for the period of 2001-2011, but it is still unclear what the overall economic impacts of ocean industries are in the national economy, and how the ocean industries interact with other industries in the national economy. China is similar to other ocean countries in that, - …

An Evaluation Of Environmental Education Programs On Pemba Island, Lindsay Kingston

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Pemba Island, a member of the Zanzibar archipelago, is intimately connected and highly dependent on their natural resources, which are rapidly deteriorating. How to sustain their agrarian-based economy whilst also conserving the environment is the current challenge facing this island. Key to overcoming this dilemma is the development of knowledgeable and effective environmental organizations, such as environmental clubs and NGOs. A small-scale assessment of the environmental education (EE) and associated clubs was established primarily through a student survey, on-site visits, and interviews. It focuses primarily on evaluating three schools and their associated clubs, but also provides information on the Island’s …

Cultivating Change: Women Transforming Holland’S Food System, Meg Vandeusen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Women are influential in the production and reproduction of food systems. Historically, domesticity positioned women as gatekeepers to their family’s food consumption; these food practices have in turn informed cultural codes that construct personal identity. Feminist scholars have investigated how cooking and feeding practices affect a woman’s perception of self and interaction with society. Both practices are viewed as a simultaneous burden and pleasure, as an act of victimization and empowerment. These binaries must be deconstructed in order to create change within the food system. The impact of women taking control of the full cycle – gaining knowledge of where …

The Infinite And The Finite: An Analysis Of The United States’ Energy Future, Elise Voorhis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Last year the New York Times published a newsworthy article stating that the United States could become “Energy Independent” from the tumultuous OPEC countries. This groundbreaking revelation, supported by statistics from the International Energy Agency, claimed that newfound energy resources were spread throughout North America in the form of shale oil and gas. Politicians and the public clung to this possibility in the face of strenuous relations with the Middle East as the Arab Spring and the War on Terror waged on. However, the consequences of becoming “energy independent” have not been considered. What are the geopolitical implications of pursuing …

Lara Ngom Ii Acoli: Identifying Root Causes And The Impact Of Cultural Cataclysm On Land Conflict Resolution In Nwoya District, Northern Uganda, Madison Stevens

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Endemic land insecurity is a critical aspect of the negative peace presently felt by the Acoli sub-region in the wake of two decades of conflict,2 as well over two thousand instances of land disputes have been recorded in the region since the cessation of hostilities in 2006.3 This study examines the dynamics of land conflicts in Nwoya district, Northern Uganda. The research was conducted over four weeks of independent research in Nwoya district, and incorporates the perspectives of various actors involved in land conflicts and the dispute resolution process. Findings incorporate field-based information gathered primarily from interviews with key stakeholders, …

Overcoming Environmental Injustices: An Analysis Of Citizen Assemblies’ Fight Against Open-Pit Mining In Bariloche And Esquel, Sara Kleinkopf

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Worldwide, environmentalism and environmental concern is growing. Additionally, environmental issues like pollution and contamination are no longer considered simply environmental problems; environmental issues are now frequently analyzed from a sociological perspective. Beginning in the 1980s in the United States, the investigation of the relationship between environmental and social issues developed into the theory of environmental justice. This theory postulates that the unequal distribution of environmental harm occurs in correlation with (or is a direct result of) a lack of political recognition and participation.

In this investigation, I utilize the theory of environmental justice to analyze the development of open-pit mining …

Creating Sustainable Economic And Ecological Growth In The Congo Basin: Bushmeat Consumption And Biodiversity Protection, Richelle Lynn Warnock

Masters Theses

This research examines the economic and ecological sustainability of bushmeat hunting in the Congo Basin, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo. Although bushmeat hunting has provided short term gain for individuals in the region, long term solutions focusing on micro and macro level interventions may provide community wide benefits, while protecting Congo Basin wildlife. Research shows that a focus on the development of key economic sectors such as agriculture, mineral resources and hydroelectricity, as well as the growth of infrastructure may provide viable economic gain for the Congo Basin. Ecotourism and improvements to forest management …

Design, Implications And Analysis Of Household Survey: Practical Issues To Note, O. O. Akanji

Bullion

This paper is to enhance the analytic processes of survey data as generated in the established household survey framework for economic policy management and decision making. The paper is divided into four sections. Section 1 is the introduction while Section 2 is the descriptive statistics emphasizing the models that bring out the relationship between the survey variables, Section 4 concludes and proffers recommendations.

Essays On Rethinking African Development: Contextual And Methodological Advances, Olumayokun Soremekun

2013

This research study sets out to provide analytical answers to the questions of African development and inequality. We examine various aspects of development from the issue of inequality among African countries to unravelling the synergies among the MDG goals and finally to investigating the progress if any that African countries have made towards attaining the MDG goals.

This research is broken down into three main studies: measuring inequality of opportunity, examining the synergies between the Millennium development goals at a particular point in time and lastly assessing the progress that has been made towards attaining the MDG goals in Africa. …

Sustainable What? An Overview And Assessment Of "Sustainable Development", Jeffrey K. Hass

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Occasionally an academic term becomes a meme in broader media and popular discourse. Among such terms are "stagflation", "globalization", and the concept that this chapter and volume addresses: "sustainable development". Like many other such terms, this concept implies an important subject and broad outlines of research programs and policy initiatives. Yet while provoking consideration of important and often uneasy issues, such a term can also mystify or deflects attention from other related issues. Given the clear evidence of global warming trends and the costs of environmental degradation, the eventuality of peak oil and increasing demand for increasingly scarce fossil fuels …

Decomposition Of Ireland’S Carbon Emissions From 1990-2010: An Extended Kaya Identity, Tadhg O'Mahony

Articles

In recent decades, Ireland has been an important example of a development pathway where rapid economic growth was accompanied by rising energy demand and increasing carbon emissions. Understanding the driving forces of carbon emissions is necessary for policy formulation and decomposition analysis is widely used for this purpose. This study uses an extended Kaya identity as the scheme and applies the log mean Divisia index (LMDI I) as the decomposition technique. Change in carbon emissions is decomposed from 1990 – 2010 and includes a measure of the effect of renewable energy penetration. Results illustrate that scale effects of affluence and …