Environmental Policy Commons^™

Collaboration In Conservation: Examining Environmental Policy Perspectives Among Ranchers In Rural America, Adeline Braun

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Rural Americans play an essential role in environmental protection policy in the United States due to their political influence and their management of large amounts of land. This study examines what factors affect rural support for and opposition to environmental management policies in order to gain a deeper understanding of when and why rural Americans support and oppose certain environment-related policies. Data collected from interviews with seven current and former ranchers in Wyoming along with information gathered from three relevant environmental organizations is analyzed through the lenses of economics, partisan politics, rural identity, and policy framing. The findings of this …

Discord Is Still A Chord: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Discourse Networks, Brokerage, And The Fiscal Consequences Of Fracking Policy In The Delaware River Basin, In Hae Noh

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Beneath the policy debates of many environmental controversies lies a dynamic network of actors making claims, forming coalitions, and contesting policy discourses. Drawing on theories of discourse coalitions, discourse networks, network brokerage, and public finance, and using the Delaware River Basin hydraulic fracturing debate as a case study, this dissertation examines how discourse coalitions evolve, how discourse brokers shape coalition dynamics, and whether resulting policy decisions produce meaningful fiscal consequences. The first paper investigates how discourse coalitions shifted across three periods of the Delaware River Basin fracking debate, using a mix of methods integrating discourse network analysis, computational text analysis, …

“Land Back With Strings Attached”: Centering California Indian Perspectives On The Integration Of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Into California Environmental Policy, Lauren Crane

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In response to a changing climate and while reckoning with their treatment of California Indians, the State of California has embraced Traditional Ecological Knowledge (T.E.K.) and is working to integrate it into their environmental policies. While many scientists and policymakers view T.E.K. as an important resource for environmental management, how do the holders of this knowledge perceive its integration? This research centers the perspectives of California Indian tribes who engaged with the state in the 2024 Tribal Nature-Based Solutions program - an example of a State policy to integrate T.E.K. Their perspectives highlight the different concerns, priorities, and preferred methods …

Regulatory Impacts On Us Hazardous Waste Exports, Xiaofan Ji, Mengyu Wang, Tianyi Zhang

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This paper examines the impact of key domestic and international regulations on US hazardous waste exports, focusing on shifts in export destinations and waste types from 2002 to 2023. Since 2005, OECD countries and US Trade Agreement Partners have become primary destinations for US hazardous waste, with significant surges after 2018 and a notable decline in 2022. An analysis of the regulatory landscape reveals that, while international frameworks such as the Basel Convention of 2021 have had a relatively limited impact on reducing US hazardous waste exports, domestic policies—particularly those in California—have more directly influenced export behaviors. Additionally, the US …

Compensation, Horizontal Diffusion, And Bottom-Up Pathways: State Climate Policies In The United States And Australia, Ian Bailey, Roger Karapin

Publications and Research

Recent years have seen growing interest in subnational governments as arenas of climate governance, but limited systematic research exists on the extent, conditions, or pathways through which subnational climate policies can influence, or compensate for deficits in, national policies. This article addresses this gap by examining options for states to influence climate policy in the United States and Australia, two countries where federal governments have made limited progress in developing national climate policies. As an analytical framework, it conceives a typology of state government approaches to climate policy that distinguishes among compensating, horizontal diffusion, and bottom-up pathways. It then uses …

Advocacy Under Authoritarianism: Civil Society's Impact On Environmental Treaty Ratification In Southeast Asia, Christianna Sirindah Parr

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Does civil society in competitive authoritarian and authoritarian countries impact environmental policy? Specifically, does civil society speed up the ratification of international environmental treaties? Treaty ratification is a crucial step for translating international commitments to domestic politics. I argue that in competitive authoritarian regimes, where civil society operates under constraints but retains some space for advocacy, more robust civil society accelerates the ratification of environmental treaties compared to states with weaker civil society. These regimes often tolerate civil society pressure on non-threatening issues, such as environmental governance, which allows for strategic concessions without undermining state authority. Focusing on Southeast Asia, …

A Comprehensive Parcel-Level Dataset On Farmland Assessment: Addressing Grid-Cell Data Bias Estimation, Wai Yan Siu, Man Li, Arthur J. Caplan

ODU Articles

Grid-cell data are increasingly used in research due to the growing availability and accessibility of remote sensing products. However, grid-cell data often fails to represent the actual decision-making unit, leading to biased estimates in socio-economic analysis. To this end, this paper presents a comprehensive parcel-level dataset for Salt Lake County, Utah, spanning from 2008 to 2018. This dataset combines detailed spatial and temporal data on land ownership, land use, and preferential farmland tax assessments under the Greenbelt program. Compiled from multiple geospatial sources, the dataset includes nearly 200,000 parcel-year observations, providing valuable insights into landowner decision-making and the impact of …

The Impact Of Student Engagement Activities On Future Climate Change Adaptation: The Case Of Student Simulation Models, Bassel Mostafa Elkalaf

Future Journal of Social Science

This paper explores the critical role of student engagement in addressing the growing challenges of climate change, with a focus on the Model United Nations (MUN) as a case study. As climate-related security threats increase globally, educational platforms that prepare youth for effective leadership in climate politics are more essential than ever. MUN, a widely practiced student activity simulating global policy-making, provides a valuable opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of the interconnectedness between climate change, peace, and security. By participating in MUN simulations, students engage in debates, develop innovative solutions, and practice diplomatic skills, all while exploring the …

Historical Fire And Forest Structure In Western Dry Forests: Alternative Models, Controversies, And Management Plan Revision, Gordon Steinhoff

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Management plan revision is currently underway for national forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, the Pacific Northwest, and other regions of the country under the U.S. Forest Service’s 2012 Planning Rule. With respect to dry ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Northwest, agency scientists and others claim that these forests were historically open and parklike, with primarily large, well-distributed trees, few smaller trees, and sparse underlying vegetation, leaf litter, and woody debris. Large, high-severity fire was rare. Fire exclusion since the early 1900s has led to the “densification” of these forests and unnatural …

Leading The Charge: How Increased Adoption Of Electric Vehicles Renews Calls For Data Privacy Protection In The United States, Patrick Rogers

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will examine the privacy risks associated with constructing the nationwide [electric vehicle] EV charging network and propose solutions to mitigate this risk. Part I of this Note will discuss the Biden Administration’s climate policy and legislation and focus on the transportation sector. Part II will explain EV charging and expound on the cybersecurity and privacy concerns of the charging process. Part III will survey the current regulatory landscape at the federal level and highlight California’s approach to data privacy. Finally, Part IV examines recently proposed federal and model state legislation in light of the Fair Information Practice Principles …

Water Management And Conservation In India Fostering Water Justice: Arguing For Adopting Just Sustainability In Water Governance, Gayathri D Naik Dr, Sanjay Shenoi P

Articles

The water sector is characterised by everyday water injustices where factors like social discrimination, economic disparities, and political preferences influence the determination of water resource access, allocation, and management. The increasing anthropogenic impacts on water resources and consequent threats to sustainability add to the water injustices, often impacting the poorer, socially downtrodden communities that bear the brunt of water scarcity and cannot afford alternatives. The current water governance patterns, prioritising equality over equity, fail to address the issues of water injustices created by social, political, and economic factors in water management and sideline the ecological impacts on water resources. Moving …

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 …

Power & Planning: A Critical Comparison Of Tribal And Non-Tribal Wildfire Protection Plans, Christian J. Heisler

Student Research Symposium

In 2003, the US government passed the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which urged wildfire-prone communities to develop Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs). These plans allow local groups to contextualize risk, practice social learning, and develop social capital while addressing wildfire risk. Within planning realms, however, decision-making power is usually concentrated unequally between social groups which can limit the influence of marginalized communities. Tribal nations, specifically, have been excluded from wildfire planning since European contact, signaling that CWPPs may not reflect Indigenous worldviews and priorities. Given the recent push from the federal government to increase land management collaboration with tribes, it …

Three Essays On Environmental Risk And Policy, Samuel Owens

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

This dissertation comprises three essays that investigate different facets of environmental hazards and their implications for policy and governance. While each essay examines a different topic area, they are all linked by examining how entities respond to incentives at the intersection of environmental risk and public policy. Each chapter informs a distinct literature within environmental policy and utilizes different methodologies to examine largely unexplored research questions.

In the first essay, I examine how individuals respond to the low-visibility, long-term environmental risk presented by radon. I employ radon zone data from the Kentucky Geological Survey and home information from Zillow to …

Performance And Policy Indexes In Carbon Pricing Efficacy: A Cross-Country Analysis Of Policy Impact (2012-2020), Ke (Zoky) Zhou

Honors Theses

Climate change poses a significant threat to global ecosystems and human societies, driven largely by CO2 emissions from various economic activities. This macroeconomic cross-country study empirically assesses the effectiveness of carbon pricing in reducing CO2 emissions across three periods: 2012-2017, 2015-2019, and 2015-2020. Building on the foundational research by Best et al. (2020), the analysis extends to more recent data, capturing the evolving impacts of carbon pricing amid changing global economic and policy landscapes. A key advancement in this research is the creation and integration of two comprehensive indexes—a performance index and a policy index—constructed from 14 environmental performance or …

Integrating Biodiversity Protection And Climate Mitigation In Nature-Based Climate Solutions: An Indicator Analysis, Tatyana Feiner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change and biodiversity loss have been recognized as complex, interconnected issues that require synergistic and mutually reinforcing policy solutions. Given the ambitious commitments by the Canadian government to abate the two “wicked problems”, this study investigates whether the government has constructed a policy framework that synthesizes climate and biodiversity concerns through policy integration and mainstreaming processes. Through a semi-systematic and comprehensive content analysis approach, this study assesses the degree to which biodiversity protection and climate mitigation have been effectively mainstreamed into federal policies, programs, and instruments. Specifically, the study constructs an evaluative framework based on established “best practices” of …

Analyzing Stakeholder Perceptions On Biogas Production Incentives Under California’S Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Emily Read

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Accounting for more than half of California’s methane emissions, the dairy and livestock sector has become a central focus for the state’s emission reduction efforts. As a leader in climate policy, California’s approach to addressing agricultural methane emissions has the potential to shape the future of livestock agriculture on a national and global scale. The state has prioritized anaerobic digesters as the primary strategy for addressing livestock methane, a decision that has been both widely contested and strongly supported by stakeholders. This thesis investigates stakeholder perceptions on livestock biogas under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) using interview and survey …

Federal Climate Policy Successes: Co-Benefits, Business Acceptance, And Partisan Politics, Roger Karapin, David Vogel

Publications and Research

While most literature on federal climate change policies has focused on failures to adopt broad policies, this article describes and explains successes in two important sectors. Regulations to improve the fuel economy of motor vehicles and efficiency standards for appliances and equipment have produced substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions although they largely have other goals and hence can be considered implicit climate policies.

We synthesize existing literature with our analyses of case studies to offer three explanations for the adoption of effective sectoral policies in these two sectors. First, the policies delivered politically popular co-benefits such as reducing consumers’ …

E-Dsge Model With Endogenous Capital Utilization Rate, Ying Tung Chan, Maria Teresa Punzi

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Environmental policy research has increased due to stricter policies aligned with climate goals. However, to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions, the adoption of even stronger policies and increased carbon taxes is necessary, with transition risk becoming a major concern for companies. Even though governments worldwide have been employing a range of methods such as carbon tax, cap-and-trade, and intensity targets to mitigate the impact of climate change, a pivotal debate around determining the optimal policy that reduces emissions without harming the economy continues. Our paper delves into the environmental policy assessment emphasizing the role of endogenous capital utilization rates, …

Sea Level Rise And Vulnerable Infrastructure: Wastewater, Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Sea Level Rise And Vulnerable Infrastructure: Roads, Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Sea Level Rise And Vulnerable Infrastructure: Wells, Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Wildfire Risk In Mountain West States, 2017-2021, Olivia K. Cheche, Corryn Richardson, Zachary Billot, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet examines data on wildfire destruction in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report from the Insurance Information Institute presents findings on percent of properties at risk of wildfire destruction, the number of wildfires by state, and numbers of acres burned per state.

From The Northern Plains To The Carolina Coast: An Environmental Perspective On Nationwide Injunctions, Daniel Z. Tick

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note offers a perspective on nationwide injunctions informed by a selection of environmental cases from roughly the last two decades. In doing so, it attempts to draw broader conclusions about when, if ever, federal courts should prohibit the enforcement of environmental policies nationwide. This Note proceeds as follows: Part I defines “nationwide injunction,” discusses the recent history of nationwide injunctions against the federal executive branch, and describes the absence of a clear legal standard governing nationwide relief. Part II examines six environmental cases in which plaintiffs have sought, or federal courts have ordered, nationwide relief. Part III suggests that, …

Diagonal Federalism: How States Should Respond To Inconsistent Federal Climate Change Mitigation Policy, Michael Arnone

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will argue that diagonal federalism—a model of governance in which states partner with one another and local governments to pursue shared policy goals—is an ideal response to inconsistent climate change mitigation policy by the Federal Government. Part I provides an overview of the foundations of American environmental policy, how that policy is predicated on federal-state partnership, and the historical precedent for state-led action on climate change mitigation policy. Part II discusses how and why federal environmental policy, and by extension, federal climate change mitigation policy, has been so inconsistent. Part III illustrates how collaboration between the Federal Government …

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. …

Beyond The Politics Of Climate Change: How Education And Income Level Affect Environmental Values, Joanna Falla

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Human-caused climate change has been acknowledged for decades, but public opinion on its validity and severity has been consistently questioned in the United States. Despite the overwhelming evidence pointing towards fossil fuel emissions and unsustainable practices as the leading causes of global climate change, its politicization during the beginning of the century has seriously slowed down America’s path towards a green future. Because this has become a partisan issue for many voters, considerable research has been done on the affiliation between party identification and public opinion on climate change. Although party identification has been studied as a major factor, other …

Effectiveness Of Plastic Ordinances In Santa Monica, Ca: Do Regulations At The Municipal Level Reduce Plastic Waste?, John W. Hayes

School of Public Policy Capstones

Plastic is a cheap, robust and versatile material with numerous practical uses that contribute to the convenience of modern day life. However the very same properties that make it uniquely diverse and hardy also contribute to the hazards it poses to the ecosystems and human health. If current consumption and manufacturing practices remain unchanged, there will be hundreds of millions of additional tons of plastic introduced into the environment over the coming decades. To mitigate this issue, some cities, such as Santa Monica, have implemented ordinances and policies directly aimed at this growing problem, albeit with ambiguous results. To better …

Green Inequities: Examining The Dimensions Of Socioenvironmental Injustice In Marginalized Communities, Akiebia S. Hicks, Zachary Malone, Megan A. Moore, Roslynn Powell, Austin Thompson, Patricia A. Whitener, Rowan Williams

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

In the realm of socioenvironmental justice, much discourse centers on equal access to green areas and on climate injustice in the United States. Marginalized communities, including Indigenous populations, are being excluded from current narratives surrounding the natural spaces that in many cases are historically tied to under-represented groups. This article aims to explore some of the many dimensions of environmental racism, green inequities, climate injustice, and access. The dimensions include but are not limited to racial gatekeeping, nature deprivation in low-income communities, green gentrification, light pollution, and access to clean water. The recommendations section serves as a guide during decisionmaking …

Environmental Protection, The Military, And Preserving The Balance: “Why It Matters, In War And Peace”, Kurt Smith

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

International military operations around the world are major actors on the world stage of global pollution. The United States military remains subject to federal, state, and local environmental laws. However, many exemptions exist to assist the military despite its status as a global polluter. Many environmental policies have incrementally developed over the last one-hundred years largely as a reaction to the most extreme circumstances. Scientific knowledge continues to increase our awareness of the lasting impacts of policy decisions relating to the environment, giving rise to the precautionary principle, that notion that we should do no lasting harm, in our care …