Environmental Policy Commons^™

Nevada: Powered By The Sun: The Impact And Potential Of Rooftop Solar In Nevada, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) and distributed energy resources can deliver net benefits to Nevadans today and, if thoughtfully utilized, play a significant role in Nevada’s energy future. However, these benefits are not being fully realized in practice today. Narrow accounting of distributed resources’ contribution to the grid, financial disincentives embedded in utility regulatory models, and outdated grid planning procedures are preventing full utilization of these assets. But these obstacles can be readily overcome. Doing so will deliver benefits to all Nevadans, as well as cement Nevada’s position as a leader in the transition to a clean, resilient, and affordable electric …

Environmental Protection And U.S. Foreign Policy & Decision-Making In Multilateral Development Banks, Maui Cheska L. Orozco

Honors College Theses

In recent decades, the promotion of policies that are environmentally friendly has become an important goal in U.S. foreign policy. One way that the United States has influence over protecting the environment is through the policies attached to projects funded by the multilateral development banks (MDBs). This gives the U.S. the ability to indirectly fund projects in developing countries. Using data provided by the United States Treasury, I examined U.S. voting decisions on projects from 2004 to 2011. These votes come from multiple development banks including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), African Development …

Adapting An American Non-Profit Model To An International For-Profit Model: A Case Study Of Clean The World Business Model In Hong Kong, Yun Guan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The non-profit sector in the United States had grown at a fast pace in the recent decades, partially as a result of the economic development and the influence of social and political factors. By pursuing mission rather other bottom line, nonprofit organizations faced fierce competition for government grants and private donations. Limited financial resources constrained their efforts to create social and environmental value. The emerging hybrid nonprofit business model offered a new approach for nonprofits to pursuing self-sustainable development both domestically and internationally. However, adapting a unique American nonprofit model into an international for-profit model could be challenging because of …

Explaining County Government Budget Transparency In An Age Of E-Government, Jonathan M. Birds, Leander D. Kellogg, E. Lee Bernick

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

This research seeks to explain budgetary transparency practices of individual US counties by examining the extent of information sharing with constituents via their websites. There are 3,138 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. This study evaluates a random sample of 400 US counties where 19% of the represented counties having populations of 100,000 or more residents, matching the same ratio of counties with populations of 100,000 or more residents nationally. We create a four-level categorical dependent variable measuring budget transparency. Using an ordered probit analysis with six independent variables we are able to explain the probability of counties having …

Examining The Target Levels Of State Renewable Portfolio Standards, Laurence D. Helwig

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

At present 37 US states have passed Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or have a legislative driven goal that supports investment in renewable energy (RE) technologies. Previous research has identified economic, governmental, ideological and infrastructural characteristics as key predictors of policy adoption and renewable energy deployment efforts (Carley, 2009; Davis & Davis, 2009; Bohn & Lant, 2009; Lyon & Yin, 2010). To date, only a few studies have investigated the target levels of renewable portfolio standards. Carley & Miller (2012) found that policies of differing stringencies were motivated by systematically different factors that included governmental ideology. The purpose of this study …

Environmental Correlates Of Physical Activity Among African-American Adults, Tim Bungum, Jennifer Pharr, Paulo S. Pinheiro, Maria Azzarelli

Nevada Journal of Public Health

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify perceived environmental correlates of meeting physical activity guidelines among African-American adults living in Southern Nevada. Trained interviewers phoned potential participants who lived in the 12 zip codes of Clark County, Nevada with the highest proportions of African-American residents. Respondents (n=237) answered 52 health-related and demographic questions. Slightly less than 50% of participants met physical activity guidelines. A factor analysis procedure produced two environmental variables, neighborhood safety and environmental supports for physical activity. Age, gender and educational attainment (p<.05) predicted the meeting of those guidelines (R2=.214), while neighborhood support for physical activity, neighborhood safety, and BMI failed to do so. This finding suggests that environmental factors are not strong predictors of physical activity among African- American adults, although environmental supports for physical activity approached significance. Future studies should consider assessing additional aspects of the built environment as an influence on physical activity.

Changing Policy Without Changing Law: Addressing Climate Change Under The Clean Air Act, Philip Wallach

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The evolution of our national climate change policy at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from the 1990s-2000s, is marked by a backdrop of congressional inaction. In 2007, litigation (Massachusetts v. EPA) required the EPA to re-interpret the Clean Air Act to also apply to greenhouse gases. This presentation will include a summary of the legal arguments in that case, and the narrow Supreme Court decision that supported the petitioners; a review of the legal and practical challenges emanating from this ruling; and consideration of the EPA's impact on continuing legislative debates. The speaker will explore the impact of this decision …

Estimation Of Performance Indices For The Planning Of Sustainable Transportation Systems, Alexander Paz, Pankaj Maheshwari, Pushkin Kachroo, Sajjad Ahmad

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

In the context of sustainable transportation systems, previous studies have either focused only on the transportation system or have not used a methodology that enables the treatment of incomplete, vague, and qualitative information associated with the available data. This study proposes a system of systems (SOS) and a fuzzy logic modeling approach. The SOS includes the Transportation, Activity, and Environment systems. The fuzzy logic modeling approach enables the treatment of the vagueness associated with some of the relevant data. Performance Indices (PIs) are computed for each system using a number of performance measures. The PIs illustrate the aggregated performance of …

U.S. Energy Policy: The Burdens Of The Past And Moving Forward, John P. Banks

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Since the oil embargo of 1973, the United States has struggled to implement a sustainable and comprehensive national energy policy. Forging a consistent policy approach has been complicated by more recent emerging trends: how to combat global climate change, the continued emergence of viable alternative energy options, and the hydrocarbon renaissance.

This presentation will discuss several major themes that have impacted energy policy-making since the 1970s and how they are reflected in key issues debated in the current election year. It will then pose some thoughts on how to move away from the burdens of the past and move forward.

Effects Of Climate Change On Spring Ecosystem Hydroecology As A Guide To Developing Alternative Water Policies, Scott Mensing, Saxon E. Sharpe, Scott Bassett, Don Sada, Jim Thomas

Climate Change Seminar Series (NNE)

Hydroecology: the interface of ecological systems and water which combines the scientific disciplines of hydrology and ecology

Goal: evaluate the hydrologic and climate history using pollen, loss on ignition, total inorganic carbon, and invertebrates from spring sediments in Spring Valley, Eastern Nevada and Snake Valley, Western Utah

Redefining Security In Sub-Saharan Africa, Winta Sintayehu Gebremariam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

New and challenging threats to humans are currently on the rise. These threats to human well being have been neglected and ignored within the traditional conception of security. Security studies have mainly focused on traditional threats, mostly military and political. Although still important, this perspective lacks the ability to address nontraditional threats that are killing and injuring millions each year. Each year, millions die of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, hunger, and water related diseases among others. Although these threats are widespread throughout the world, Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of these threats. This thesis proposes an ecological approach …

Unlv Stars Fact Sheet, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Reports (USI)

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by earning a 2011 Silver Rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Ratings System (STARS), is ahead of the curve among public universities – and improving.

STARS is a voluntary, self–reporting framework developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to help measure sustainability performance over time and among colleges and universities nationwide. The UNLV Sustainability Council oversaw STARS, which by measuring sustainability can help UNLV to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve education, attract research, and generate jobs.

A rating of Silver puts UNLV in great company – with …

Unlv Stars Unabridged Report, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Reports (USI)

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by earning a 2011 Silver Rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Ratings System (STARS), is ahead of the curve among public universities – and improving.

STARS is a voluntary, self–reporting framework developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to help measure sustainability performance over time and among colleges and universities nationwide. The UNLV Sustainability Council oversaw STARS, which by measuring sustainability can help UNLV to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve education, attract research, and generate jobs.

A rating of Silver puts UNLV in great company – with …

An Empirical Comparison Of Life Cycle Cost Of Green School Buildings And Non-Green School Buildings, Nitisha Pushpala

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the major economic concerns today of the world is reduction of energy consumption because of depleting energy sources in the world. The construction sector in the United States is also contributing in reducing the energy consumption and construction cost of the buildings by constructing cost and energy efficient buildings with energy efficient materials and techniques. The U.S Department of Energy introduced the Building Technologies Program that develops techniques, tools and technologies for making buildings more energy efficient. Other private bodies like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is developed by the U.S. Green Building Council …

Climate Change In Rural Nevada: The Influence Of Vulnerability On Risk Perception And Environmental Behavior, Ahmad Safi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this research, I examine the impact of vulnerability on risk perception, stated willingness to adopt individual mitigation behavior, and support for climate change mitigation policies. My major research question is, "Does vulnerability to climate change increase risk perception, encourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and enhance support for climate change mitigation policies?" But to understand the role of vulnerability I also pursue answers to questions regarding its three components: Physical vulnerability; sensitivity and adaptive capacity. I investigate the following sub-questions:

• Do physical vulnerability, and sensitivity to climate change increase risk perception, encourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and enhance support for …

The Size Of The Risk: An Environmental History Of The Nuclear Great Basin, Leisl Ann Carr Childers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Throughout the twentieth century, Congress has managed the nation's public lands for the greater good of the country under a multiple-use construct. Land-use decisions based on serving the nation's public interest entailed federal land management agencies finding the utility of the land in order to put as much of it as possible into some kind of economic production and provide equitable access, as much as was feasible, to all the various public land users. But every federal program enacted on the nation's public lands has had an associated cost; not everyone or every environment has benefited from multiple-use public land …

Estimating Wildfire Potential On A Mojave Desert Landscape Using Remote Sensing And Field Sampling, Peter F. Van Linn Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Landscape level wildfire prediction can be used to allocate wildfire resources and guide land management practices. Wildfire prediction in arid habitats in the Southwestern United States is of specific concern because of the negative ecological impacts of fire on desert habitats and the current lack of accurate fire prediction tools for such areas. This study examines the ability to predict previous fire occurrences and estimate future fire potential using satellite imagery and on the ground field survey techniques along with ignition potential data (lightning strikes and distance to roads), topographical data (elevation and aspect), and climate information (maximum and minimum …

Global Warming: At What Point Does Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Release Become Unethical?, Luke Good, Gladys Lopez

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

In recent decades, the concept of global warming has developed increasing concern among the scientific community and general public alike. What was initially dismissed as little more than unlikely has now become a severe warning for global climate crisis threatening not only our way of life but ultimate future existence on this planet? Global warming is defined as the steady mean increase in atmospheric temperature, the primary asserted cause thereof being increased emissions and inherent atmospheric concentrations of “greenhouse gases” – carbon dioxide in particular. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect by trapping radiation (from the sun) in the …

Keynote 2: The Alberta Oil Sands — Wrestling Bitumen Out Of The Wild North, David Rudolph

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Athabasca Oil Sand Reserve:

- Oil sands are contained within the Cretaceous McMurray Formation. (149,000 km2)

- 2.5 trillion barrels of extractable oil (~ 25 % of Canada Crude Oil Production)

- Surface mineable deposits cover 2,800 km2

- 450 billion L of process water used annually

- Currently over 130 km2 of tailings ponds (largest man-made structures in the world)

Panel Discussion Presentation: Everything Is Connected — Why Mexico’S Problems Are Everyone’S Problems On The Colorado River, And The Other Way Around, Bret C. Birdsong

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Colorado River Compact:

Allocates water among Upper Basin and Lower Basin
- 7.5 maf for each basin
- Extra 1 maf for lower basin

Supplies Mexico first from surplus above total apportionment to upper an lower basins
- If surplus insufficient to supply Mexico, then Mexico’s share supplied equally by upper and lower basins

Upper division states “shall not cause” flow to lower basin to be less than 75 maf in 10 years

Panel Discussion Presentation: Consequences Of Global Climate Change For Water Quality And Community Sustainability Along The U.S.-Mexico Trans-Border Region, Jorge Duran Encalada

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Case Studies of Reynosa/McAllen and Laredo/Nuevo Laredo:

- Water availability and quality in Reynosa/McAllen and Laredo/Nuevo Laredo

- Water Consumption

- Socioeconomic Conditions

- Water Quality Scenarios

- Conclusions & Recommendations

Panel Discussion Presentation: The Colorado River — Operation And Current Conditions, Lorri Gray-Lee

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

The Colorado River: Operation and Current Conditions

- Overview of Basin
- Overview of the Interim Guidelines
- Current and Projected System Conditions

Panel Discussion Presentation: Mexico-U.S. Transboundary Perspectives, Sally Spener

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

IBWC Mission:

The International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, is responsible for applying the boundary and water treaties between the two countries and settling differences that arise in their application.

- 1944 Water Treaty

- Colorado River Issues

- Colorado Water Minutes

Panel Discussion Presentation: U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Perspectives, Martin J. Pasqualetti

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Principal Question: What are the implications of the energy/ water nexus at the US/Mexico border?

1. Water Supply and Demand

2. Water Costs of Electricity

3. Virtual Water Transfers

4. Renewable Energy Resources

5. Solar/Water nexus at the US/Mexico Border

Panel Discussion Presentation: Columbia River Treaty, Kelvin Ketchum

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Slide titles:

- Columbia River Treaty – the setting

- What does the Treaty Do?

- Social & Environmental Costs of the Treaty in Canada

- Treaty benefits and term

- Treaty priorities for water usage

- Example of Flood Control Curves

- Actual Treaty operations

- Supplemental operating agreements

- Treaty Implementation

- Reasons for Treaty Success

Panel Discussion Presentation: Thoughts On Energy/Water Nexus – Energy Technologies, California Case, Terry Surles

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Energy/Security/Water Problem Confluence:

There remains a critical need to make the best use possible of indigenous
national resources
- Water in the Southwest
- Energy resources in the region and nation

International energy resource competition will require effective development and use of national resources
- Geothermal, solar, wind, coal, uranium

Changing climate can produce "winners" as well as "losers" — requires an
understanding of past climate events and the impact on cultures
- Northern countries may benefit: Canada, Russia
- Temperate countries may suffer due to loss of cropland and increase of
tropical diseases and …

Keynote 1: Energy And Water In The Western And Texas Interconnects, Vincent Tidwell

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

- Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals by Sector: 349 BGD

- U.S. Freshwater Consumption: 100 BGD

- Water for Energy, Energy for Water: Energy and power production requires water; Water production, processing, distribution, and end-use requires energy

Event Program, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

The North American Energy-Water Nexus roundtable was held April 1, 2011, to promote the discussion of how energy and water issues converge in addressing international relations. The roundtable focused on water issues specific to the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders, including stakeholder-driven solutions for water policies and water technologies. The event was co-sponsored by the UNLV Urban Sustainability Initiative; Desert Research Institute; the Canadian Consulate of Los Angeles; and the government of Ontario, Canada.

The Silver Spark For Nevada, Walt Borland, James A. Croce, Richard Seline

Publications (E)

The SILVER Spark for Nevada: Sustainable Innovation Leading a Vital Economic Renaissance

Nevada. A State of stark contrasts, with historic booms and devastating busts experienced throughout its modern history. A State frequently forced to reinvent itself as ever-evolving circumstances have demanded. A State that has been driven to the edge time after time and, yet again and again, has managed to discover another way to prosper. A State that now finds itself in a precarious position as the “Great Recession” hit it harder than any other and has left it struggling to recover.

As you will conclude by reading The …

Youth Initiative Hector’S Helpers: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering November 11, 2010 – February 10, 2011, Hector's Helpers

Anti-littering Programs

The Hector’s Helpers program provides an opportunity to bring environmental education and foster a sense of stewardship to students. We supply a once a week hands-on curriculum which includes a litter clean-up fieldtrip. Students learn general environmental concepts such as community, conservation, recycling, and litter prevention. They will also have access to Geographic Information Systems and Podcast technology. Through the use of GIS and Podcasts we hope to get community members to collect data and prevent litter and desert dumping. The students also participated in a marketing campaign for the Adopt-A-Block initiative. By participating in the Hector’s Helpers program, the …