Public Policy Commons^™

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 …

Participatory Wetland Governance In Ramsar – Assessing Level Of Participation In India, Seema Ravandale

Masters Theses

Due to the alarming rate of global wetland depletion, the Ramsar Convention, an international wetland conservation and management treaty, was signed in 1971. As of today, 172 countries are signatories. The intricate connection of local communities, their indigenous knowledge and hence their participation in the wetland governance has been recently recognized by Ramsar to protect the community's right over wetlands and to establish the joint stewardship of government and communities on these vital resources. Ramsar Convention provides a broader framework for participatory wetland governance; however, there needs to be more clarity on how various countries understand, perceive, and adopt community …

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 …

Tribal Governance In American Indian Country, Terry E. Mcdonald

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Public Administrators seek to synthesize, comprehend, and clarify challenging problems of social progress as it relates to the administration of public services. We must, therefore, think about all forms of governance to have a comprehensive understanding of the discipline. If civilization ignored the prehistory of the past 600 million years, from the Late Precambrian Era through the Mesozoic, there would be a consequential loss of knowledge. A comprehensive understanding would be absent regarding one of the fundamentals in our evolution – life's ability to avoid demise by symbiosis and adaptation. In the same way, we may have overlooked an essential …

Mining The Evidence: Public Comments, Evidence-Based Policymaking, And A Controversial Mine, Sun V. Nguyen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In policymaking, evidence-based policymaking is an essential method for influencing policies and decisions by telling decision-makers “what works” (Head, 2008). Western sciences typically make up most of the evidence decision-makers use, but because people are boundedly rational in understanding and incorporating it—politics, values, and beliefs impact thought processes— scholars and policymakers also include other types of knowledge to make decisions. One way for decision-makers to incorporate other types of knowledge into policies is through public comments. Although public comments may provide different types of knowledge to improve policy decisions, decision-makers face challenges with valuing different types of knowledge as evidence. …

An Assessment Of The Sharing Economy And Its Policy Solutions Through The Lens Of Sustainability, Chloe An

Pomona Senior Theses

This senior thesis in environmental analysis explores the promise of sustainability of the sharing economy, its shortcomings from this positive potential, and possible policy solutions to help it reach its fullest, positive potential. At its core, the sharing economy enables shared access to goods and services that would otherwise sit in idle or underutilized capacity – popular platforms such as Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and craigslist all fall within the sharing economy. By enabling affordable and convenient access to goods that would otherwise sit idle, the sharing economy encourages maximal use of a good that already exists rather than seeking out …

Article Critique: “Shifting Winds: Explaining Variation In State Policies To Promote Small-Scale Wind Energy”, Luke Eastin

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

This paper is a review of Tomas Koontz and Joshua Wiener's case study analysis that considered the extent of variance among three states in regard to their particular small-scale wind energy policies. Through this critique, the author provides both the benefits and difficulties with the research, along with the future prospects for research in this area of policy studies.

Environmental Advocacy: Insights From East Asia, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

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 …

Food Policy: Urban Farming As A Supplemental Food Source, Bessie Didomenica, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Food policy has a unique role for public, nonprofit, private, and academic stakeholders. Growing food in the city is a challenge worldwide. Food systems can be destroyed by external (weather extremes) and internal (zoning regulations) forces. This study explores urban farms as a secondary food source and their common themes across four sectors. A Northeastern U.S. city was the case study to examine how it implemented its formal urban agriculture program. The positive social change implications of urban farms include greater food visibility and food access in low-income areas and more consumer awareness about growing fresh food. This study contributes …

Successes And Shortcomings In The Implementation Of National Sustainable Development Strategies: From The Greening Of Governance To The Governance Of Greening, Rachel Emas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The interdependence between the economy and the environment necessitates integrated policymaking that recognizes the biological limits of our world and the scarcity of these natural resources. At the 1992 Earth Summit, countries agreed to adopt a National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) which should comprise the integration of economic, social, and environmental policies across sectors, territories, and generations; country ownership and commitment; broad participation and effective partnerships; development of the necessary capacity and enabling environment; and focus on outcomes and implementation. Working from these key factors and based on decades of international research and peer reviews of these policies, this study …

The First Step In Repairing The Colorado River’S Broken Water Budget: Summary Report, Colorado River Research Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

4 p. : color illustration and chart ; 28 cm.

The First Step In Repairing The Colorado River’S Water Budget: Technical Report, Colorado River Research Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

22 p. : charts (some color) ; 28 cm.

Contents: Introduction -- Diagnosing the problem -- Plans to increase use of basin water: Overview; Upper basin states: Colorado; New Mexico; Utah; Wyoming; Lower basin states: Arizona; California; Nevada; Tribal demands -- Reconciling fantasy with reality: Upper basin; Lower basin -- Conclusion -- Literature cited.

Tables and figures: Declining reservoir storage on the Colorado River -- Average supplies versus demands on the Colorado River mainstem -- Relationship between Lake Powell storage and Lee Ferry virgin flows -- Relationship between Lake Powell releases and Lake Mead storage -- Tribal water rights/demands: upper …

Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Partnerships In Teaching And Research, Adenrele Awotona, Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

CRSCAD assists local, national, and international agencies as well as the victims of disasters to develop practical, sustainable, and long-term solutions to the social, economic, and environmental consequences of disasters.

We also host international conferences and workshops at UMass Boston to provide a space for partners to network, exchange ideas, and share best practices.

Slides: Why Public Lands? A Question Not Addressed 40 Years Ago, Thomas Michael Power

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Thomas Michael Power, Consulting Economist, Power Consulting; Research Professor and Professor Emeritus, Economics Department, University of Montana (Missoula, MT)

17 slides

Saving Saba Bank: Policy Implications Of Biodiversity Studies, Paul C. Hoetjes, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Saba Bank has always been an area of special importance to the neighboring island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles. Sabans traditionally fished on the Bank as far back as 1907, but increasing foreign fishing pressures on the Bank in the 1970s and 1980s forced many Saban fishermen out. Concerns were compounded by the suspicion that shipping was also damaging the benthic habitat of the bank. Fishery legislation, enacted in 1996, brought an end to unlicensed fishing and established Coast Guard enforcement on the Bank, but also led to protests from neighboring countries that previously fished on the Bank.Research was …

Geopolitics Of Global Change: The Melting Of The Arctic, Charles K. Ebinger

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Arctic Melt:
- Climate change, feedback loops
- More than one million square miles of ice melted in 2007
- We could have ice-free Arctic summers as early as 2013 or 2015
- New environmental and strategic challenges

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Restoring The Public Interest In Western Water Law, Mark Squillace

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

20 slides

Improved Drought Planning For Arizona, Katharine Jacobs, Barbara Morehouse

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

Presenter: Barbara Morehouse

7 pages and 22 slides

Includes bibliographical references

"Katharine Jacobs is currently the Special Assistant for Policy and Planning, Arizona Department of Water Resources."

"Barbara Morehouse is Associate Research Scientist at the University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth. She manages the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) project, which is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Global Programs."

Reducing Automobile Emissions In Southern California: The Dance Of Public Policies And Technological Fixes, Rudi Volti

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

For many years I have taught at a small liberal arts college in Southern California. When first-year students arrived at the college in the early 1970s, they settled into the usual things that occupy freshmen. A few weeks would go by, and then they would make a remarkable discovery: tall mountains would appear to the north as autumn weather dissipated the heavy blanket of smog that had obscured them. Today, the air is not perfectly clear in September, but students are aware of the mountains from the day they move into the dormitories. The region's partial victory over smog illustrates …

Agenda: Dams: Water And Power In The New West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Conference organizers and/or speakers included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Douglas S. Kenney, Kathryn M. Mutz, Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Rieke, Charles F. Wilkinson and Lawrence J. MacDonnell.

The keynote address by Charles F. Wilkinson is titled Coming to Grips with Growth in the West: Traditional Communities, Free Rivers and the New Megalopoli, and it will be held on Monday, June 2, at 12:30 p.m. in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom of the law school. Wilkinson is a noted law professor, writer and authority on Western issues.

The conference will begin by providing historical context for the …