Environmental Policy Commons^™

A Clean Energy Future: The Policy Environment Of Public Service Enterprise Group, Justin T. Letizia

Student Publications

The very nature of environmental policy permeates all areas of society; climate change, in its essence, is inherently a public dilemma. Thus, strategies to address and mitigate the adverse effects of the climate crisis, whether originating from governmental actors or private corporations, must consider and account for the many stakeholders who stand to be impacted by its far-reaching policy. For a company such as PSEG to implement effective climate policy, it is required that they develop, maintain, and leverage relationships with multiple stakeholders at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels, as well as promote a positive reputation among its …

Weaponizing The Epa: Presidential Control And Wicked Problems, Craig A. Jones

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In its broadest sense, presidential control encompasses all the actions, in both word and deed, whereby presidents “go it alone” to adopt policies in the absence of congressional will to do so, and sometimes directly contrary to it. This dissertation studies how President Obama used rhetorical and administrative tools of presidential control to address the “wicked problem” of climate change. The “administrative presidency” and the “rhetorical presidency” are familiar political science terms, but in the case of climate change policy, they appear to be moving policymaking in a new and perhaps profound direction, which this study refers to as “post-deliberative …

Delay And Geographic Discounting Exert Multiple Control Over Climate Change Policy Preference, Celeste Noelle Unnerstall

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The procedures were informed by a pilot investigation conducted by this research team that is described below. In the primary study, students attending Missouri State University chose between a policy with no restrictions or taxation on their carbon emissions versus a restriction on the amount of mileage driven per month and taxation related to the mileage. The main study also included an added variable of the influence a redistribution taxation policy into different geographic distances would have on policy preference. Results were interpreted in terms of a multilevel hyperbolic discounting model using the “R” program. The results suggest that there …

The Effectiveness Of The European Union’S Environmental Policies, Wendolyn Borkoski

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The European Union has some of the highest environmental standards in the world. However, multiple member states fail at reaching the deadlines set by the European Union (EU). This thesis examines the effectiveness of the European Union’s environmental directives on gaining compliance from member states to reach the agreed-upon standards. This is assessed by using three European Union directives from different environmental areas and analyzing their requirements. Each directive represents either a hierarchical policy, negotiated policy, or voluntary policy transfer. This study hypothesizes that the hierarchical policy, represented by EU Directive 2008/98/EC, will be more effective at gaining compliance than …

Lewisburg Shade Tree Commission: Tree Inventory Repair, Community Awareness, And Policy Recommendations, Jiaxuan Zhao, Brian Gockley

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

Towards A Resilient Future: Federal Policies For Adapting The U.S. Coasts To Climate Change, Samuel Horowitz

Pitzer Senior Theses

Climate change is projected to have a devastating impact on the American coast, yet coastal communities and states have largely failed to prepare for projected impacts. This is in large part due to a lack of resources. This thesis analyzes innovative federal policy mechanisms that will address the current gap between actions and forecasted impacts, and will make U.S. coastal communities more resilient in the face of climate change.

Ecosystem Services And Disservices Of Mangrove Forests And Salt Marshes, Daniel A. Friess, Erik S. Yando, Jahson B. Alemu I, Lynn-Wei Wong, Sasha D. Soto, Natasha Bhatia, S. J. Hawkins (Ed.), A. L. Allcock (Ed.), A. E. Bates (Ed.), A.J. Evans (Ed.), L. B. Firth (Ed.), C. D. Mcquaid (Ed.), B. D. Russell (Ed.), I. P. Smith (Ed.), S. E. Swearer (Ed.), P. A. Todd (Ed.)

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coastal wetlands such as mangrove forests and salt marshes provide a range of important benefits to people, broadly defined as ecosystem services. These include provisioning services such as fuelwood and food, regulating services such as carbon sequestration and wave attenuation, and various tangible and intangible cultural services. However, strong negative perceptions of coastal wetlands also exist, often driven by the perceived or actual ecosystem disservices that they also produce. These can include odour, a sense of danger, and their real or perceived role in vector and disease transmission (e.g. malaria). This review provides an introduction to the ecosystem services and …

The Determinants Of Citizens’ Preference Of Policy Instruments For Environmental Policy: Do Social Trust, Government Capacity, And State-Society Relations Matter?, Beomgeun Cho, M. Jae Moon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study aims to investigate the determinants of citizens’ preferences for policy instruments. In particular, this study examines the impacts of social trust, government capacity, and the state-society relationship on citizens’ preferences for policy instruments. To test the relationships among those variables, the study utilizes data from the ISSP (International Social Survey Program) Environmental III 2010, which includes 32 countries. The results show that regardless of policy target groups, social trust makes citizens prefer market-based policy instruments most, and a high level of government capacity leads citizens to favor indirect policy instruments over regulation. The influence of the state-society relationship …

International Environmental Agreements On Climate Change, Katie Crawford

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

This paper analyzes International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) as tools to fight the threat climate change poses on the environment and sustainable development. The paper reviews the literature that provides a theoretical foundation for the IEAs. Particularly, the issues such as the greenhouse gas emissions levels, investments in green technology, the duration of agreements, and the process of negotiation that goes behind these agreements are reviewed. Past agreements (such as the Kyoto Protocol, Copenhagen Accord, and Paris Agreement) are studied to determine their effectiveness and potential problematic aspects related to the contracts.

Recognizing And Addressing Risk Ambiguity In Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning: A Case Study Of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Mary Ann Rozance

Dissertations and Theses

As coastal cities around the world identify and implement adaptations to sea level rise, they are faced with competing interests around what should be done and how to prioritize actions. Often, environmental problems--like confronting the challenge of sea level rise--are posed as requiring expert driven, technical solutions to identify and mitigate risks across the landscape. This framing, however, ignores the way in which diverse knowledge can help inform long-term planning horizons that address complex ways that sea level rise affects communities. The failure to integrate diverse knowledge into sea level rise adaptation can result in barriers to implementation and outcomes …

Climate Change: A Call To Action, Kathy K. Dhanda

WCBT Faculty Publications

On Dec 15, 2018, in the town of Katowice, Poland, diplomats from 200 countries adopted a detailed set of rules to uphold and implement the Paris Agreement, the international treaty drafted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This deal will require every country to track its emissions and climate policies by following a uniform set of standards. Furthermore, countries are to cut their emissions ahead of the next round of talks in 2020. Climate change is a complicated problem, one that will not be solved by national governments alone. A lot of …

Incentive Compatible Climate Change Mitigation: Moving Beyond The Pledge And Review Model, Gabriel Weil

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Climate change represents a global commons problem, where individuals, businesses, and nation-states all lack sufficient incentives to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to levels consistent with meeting their collectively agreed upon mitigation goals. The current “pledge and review” paradigm for global climate change mitigation, which many see as a major breakthrough, relies primarily on moral pressure, reputational incentives, and global public opinion to foster cooperation on mitigation efforts over and above those driven by maximization of narrow conceptions of national interests. Given the scale of the emissions reductions required to meet stated mitigation goals, the substantial economic costs of deep …

The Environment And Nafta Policy Debate Redux: Separating Rhetoric From Reality, Linda J. Allen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Comparing German And Us Energy Transitions: Centralized Vs. Decentralized Government Approaches, Sarah Greenway

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

The German Energiewende (“energy transition”) is often credited with being the most ambitious renewable energy transition in the world. Germany’s rapid transition is mainly led by their Renewable Energy Act of 2000, which has been amended several times in order to remain relevant during changing conditions. In contrast, the United States’ energy transition seems stagnant and lacks an overall direction from the Federal Government. Despite this, the United States is making progress towards implementing renewable energy technologies due to the efforts of several states. Germany’s transition has experienced a number of challenges along the way, while the United States’ transition …

When Need Meets Opportunity: Expanding Local Air Networks, Luke Fowler

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Though the Clean Air Act (CAA) relies on a traditional inter-government partnership, new initiatives from local governments that fall outside of the conventional implementation strategy have created a unique public service delivery network by adding layers to the implementation scheme. Using both logistic and multinomial logistic models and a dataset of 497 Metropolitan (MSA) and Micropolitian (µSA) areas, this research tests a model of network membership for local governments based on internal organizational and external network factors. Findings indicate policy problems, perceptions of resource availability, network density and structure, and socio-economic and political factors affect local initiative to expand networks.

Water Supply Planning In Virginia: The Future Of Groundwater And Surface Water, Jonathon Lubrano, Jeffrey Moore

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

This paper begins by exploring the current state of water resources planning and permitting. Then, considers current water demand in Virginia, as well as future challenges. Next is an examination of management structures from other states and a discussion of potential solutions to the water scarcity issue, including wastewater purification, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s (HRSD) Sustainable Water Initiative For Tomorrow (SWIFT) project, and desalination. The paper concludes with various next steps and policy recommendations that the Commonwealth should consider as dwindling water resources could hamper economic growth and threaten drought conditions, such as regional planning to achieve the optimal …

Pope Francis, Laudato Si', And U.S. Environmentalism, Jonathan Z. Cannon, Stephen Cushman

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Water, Lead, And Environmental Justice: Easing The Flint Water Crisis With A Public Water Contamination Liability Fund, Jonathon Lubrano

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

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 Contribution Of Sense Of Place To Social-Ecological Systems Research: A Review And Research Agenda, Vanessa A. Masterson, Richard C. Stedman, Johan Enqvist, Maria Tengö, Matteo Giusti, Darin Wahl, Uno Svedin

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

To develop and apply goals for future sustainability, we must consider what people care about and what motivates them to engage in solving sustainability issues. Sense of place theory and methods provide a rich source of insights that, like the socialecological systems perspective, assume an interconnected social and biophysical reality. However, these fields of research are only recently beginning to converge, and we see great potential for further engagement. Here, we present an approach and conceptual tools for how the sense of place perspective can contribute to social-ecological systems research. A brief review focuses on two areas where relation to …

European Community Law And Institutions In Perspective: Text, Cases And Readings, Josef Rohlik

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Using An Equilibrium Displacement Model To Simulate The Impact Of An Environmental Meat Tax On Grain And Livestock Markets, Regan Gilmore

UCARE: Research Products

Research Question

What are the potential effects of imposing a hypothetical environmental tax on meat consumption, including beef, pork, and poultry, on the livestock and grain markets in the United States from farm to fork?

Faculty advisor: Azzeddine Azzam

This was the first half of my research project; the second half (with the results) is shown on the following poster: "Simulating the Impact of a CO2-equivalent Meat Tax on Grain and Livestock Markets" @ https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ucareresearch/151/

Inquiry Into The Implementation Of Bush’S Executive Order 13211 And The Impact On Environmental And Public Health Regulation, Elizabeth Ann Glass Geltman, Gunwant Gill, Miriam Jovanovic

Publications and Research

Executive Order 13211, promulgated in 2001, requires the federal government to consider the impact of federal action on energy independence as part of the George W. Bush’s National Energy Policy. This law review examines whether EO 13211 was used to curtail environmental protection and natural resource conservation. The article begins with a review of the procedure required of federal agencies under EO 13211 and its associated documents. The paper then examines case law and published federal rulemaking proceedings and examines how federal agencies apply tests to evaluate the potential energy effect. The study concludes that EO 13211 strikes a reasonable …

Agenda: A Celebration Of The Work Of Charles Wilkinson: Served With Tasty Stories And Some Slices Of Roast, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

A Celebration of the Work of Charles Wilkinson (Martz Winter Symposium, March 10-11)

Conference held at the University of Colorado, Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom, Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th, 2016.

Conference moderators, panelists and speakers included University of Colorado Law School professors Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, William Boyd, Kristen Carpenter, Britt Banks, Harold Bruff, Richard Collins, Carla Fredericks, Mark Squillace, and Charles Wilkinson

"We celebrate the work of Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson, a prolific and passionate writer, teacher, and advocate for the people and places of the West. Charles's influence extends beyond place, yet his work has always originated in a deep love of and commitment to particular places. We …

Drilling For Common Ground: How Public Opinion Tracks Experts In The Debate Over Federal Regulation Of Shale Oil & Gas Extraction, Elizabeth Ann Glass Geltman

Publications and Research

Public interest in environmental and health impacts from shale oil and gas extraction (what the public calls “fracking”) is growing. Industry claims the public outcry against the new technology is not grounded in science. In February 2013, Resources for the Future (“RFF”) published a list of high priority “risk pathways” that experts from NGOs, academia, government, and industry all agreed were real concerns about fracking. This article used the risk matrix to evaluate whether public comments in dockets of federal agencies that proposed regulation concerning hydraulic fracturing tracked expert concern. The article found that the public tracked many of the …

Towards A New International Law Of The Atmosphere?, Peter H. Sand, Jonathan B. Wiener

Faculty Scholarship

Inclusion of the topic ‘protection of the atmosphere’ in the current work programme of the UN International Law Commission (ILC) reflects the long overdue recognition of the fact that the scope of contemporary international law for the Earth’s atmosphere extends far beyond the traditional discipline of ‘air law’ as a synonym for airspace and air navigation law. Instead, the atmospheric commons are regulated by a ‘regime complex’ comprising a multitude of economic uses including global communications, pollutant emissions and diffusion, in different geographical sectors and vertical zones, in the face of different categories of risks, and addressed by a wide …

Environmental Regulation Going Retro: Learning Foresight From Hindsight, Jonathan B. Wiener, Daniel L. Ribeiro

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Coming Into The Anthropocene, Jedediah Purdy

Faculty Scholarship

This essay reviews Professor Jonathan Cannon’s Environment in the Balance. Cannon’s book admirably analyzes the Supreme Court’s uptake of, or refusal of, the key commitments of the environmental-law revolution of the early 1970s. In some areas the Court has adapted old doctrines, such as Standing and Commerce, to accommodate ecological insights; in other areas, such as Property, it has used older doctrines to restrain the transformative effects of environmental law. After surveying Cannon’s argument, this review diagnoses the historical moment that has made the ideological division that Cannon surveys especially salient: a time of stalled legislation, political deadlock, and …

Eco-Environmental Risk Management, Jonathan B. Wiener

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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 …