Science and Technology Policy Commons^™

Progress And Prospective Of New Pollutants Study, Ruan Ting, Chunyang Liao, Yawei Wang, Maoyong Song, Yaqi Cai, Guibin Jiang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The governance of new pollutants has been becoming a critical strategic demand for the high-quality development of China. The policy will be further advanced during the coming National 15th Five-Year Plan period. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain in aspects such as list of controlled chemicals, standard development, measurement methods, alternative approaches, and remediation techniques. Existing experience in addressing traditional pollutants remains insufficient to adequately address the concealed and complex ecological and/or health risks associated with new pollutants. Thus, a strengthening of basic research is the optimal approach to tackling these challenges and avoiding detours. To better identify the critical scientific challenges …

Shaping Egypt’S Transition To Sustainable Electric Transport: Current Policies And Future Directions, Noha A. Ragab

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt has enacted policies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to reduce their overall carbon footprint. However, the pace of transition remains limited, so the research aims to answer the following question: “How do current policies shape Egypt’s transition towards sustainable electric transport, and what additional measures can support this transition?" The study employs a qualitative analysis methodology, based on diffusion of innovation theory and conceptual framework, to analyze current policies in Egypt and identify challenges and gaps in their implementation. It also analyzes responses from 23 interviews with experts in the field, manufacturers, dealers, EV …

Data Centers In Mountain West Markets, 2026, Cason Noll, Krish Sharma, Maisoon Faris, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Transportation & Infrastructure

This fact sheet reports on the distribution and geographic concentration of data centers across the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah as of March 6th, 2026. Using data from DataCenterMap, this fact sheet examines the number of data centers in each Mountain West state and further analyzes market-level  distribution, defined as cities within each state where data centers are located. The data are used to compare state totals and to rank Mountain West markets from highest to lowest based on the number of data centers operating in that area.

When Words Flow Like Water: How The Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement Failed To Prevent Hydrogeologic Harm In Minnesota, Carly Gutzmann

Journal of Earth and Life Science

For the aquifers of Minnesota, the environmental impact statement (EIS) was a promise of protection that never left the page. An environmental impact statement is meant to be an aid in the decision making process in order to ensure that projects consider potential environmental harms that may occur. However, they are often used instead as another regulatory box to check, rather than as active considerations when planning. As such, a project plan can be flawed from the start—if project developers only consider environmental impacts after they have already put considerable time, effort, and funding into their project as-is, they may …

Localized Air Pollution Impacts From Data Centers In Northern Virginia, Damian Pitt, Ivan Suen, Ellie Plisko

Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment Publications and Presentations

This report examins the extent of air pollution emissions resulting from the use of backup generators at data centers in Northern Virginia, including both actual current emissions and potential future emissions, and how those emissions totals compare to other sources of air pollution in the Northern Virginia region. It also examines how exposure to data center emissions correlates with demographic characteristics such as race, income, and education.

We while the air pollution emissions from individual data centers is minor, the collective impact from the 100+ such facilities in the Northern Virginia region is significant. Notably, the cumulative emissions exposure in …

Powering The Machine, Draining The Planet: Whether U.S. Environmental Law Is Equipped To Regulate The Energy And Water Demands Of Ai Data Centers, Michael Marcu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have become one of the United States' fastest-growing and least-regulated sources of environmental stress. In 2024 alone, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity more than the entire nation of Pakistan and consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water (IEA, 2025; Berkeley Lab, 2024). By 2030, electricity demand from these facilities is projected to reach 426 TWh, a 133% increase in six years (Pew Research Center, 2025). This paper examines whether the existing U.S. environmental regulatory framework put by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the …

Rule-Mediated Connectivity In Social-Ecological-Technological Systems: A Comparative Network Analysis Of Reservoir Operation Rules In Coyote Valley Dam (United States) And Ameghino Dam (Argentina), Tomás Olivier, Hoon C. Shin, David J. Yu, Margaret Garcia

Center for Policy Design and Governance

This brief summarizes "Rule-mediated connectivity in social-ecological-technological systems: A comparative network analysis of reservoir operation rules in Coyote Valley Dam (United States) and Ameghino Dam (Argentina)," co-authored by Tomás Olivier, Hoon C. Shin, David J. Yu, and Margaret Garcia in the Journal of Environmental Management.

Recent U.S. Government Policy Literature On Critical And Strategic Minerals, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Critical and strategic minerals have become increasingly important in U.S. government civilian and military policymaking in recent years. This is demonstrated by the heavy use of such minerals in many critical civilian and military infrastructures. This work will discuss how this subject has been addressed in laws, presidential documents, and works by government agencies along with congressional oversight committees and support agencies. It will stress how the United States is heavily dependent on strategic minerals from adversarial foreign countries such as China and will examine U.S. efforts to increase its ability to produce such materials in the United States by …

Private Management Of African Protected Areas Improves Wildlife And Tourism Outcomes But With Security Concerns In Conflict Regions, Sean Denny, Gabriel Englander, Patrick Hunnicutt

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Protected areas can conserve wildlife and benefit people when managed effectively. African governments increasingly delegate the management of protected areas to private, nongovernmental organizations, hoping that private organizations’ significant resources and technical capacities actualize protected areas’ potential. Does private sector management improve outcomes compared to a counterfactual of government management? We leverage the transfer of management authority from governments to African Parks (AP)—the largest private manager of protected areas in Africa—to show that private management significantly improves wildlife outcomes via reduced elephant poaching and increased bird abundances. Our results also suggest that AP’s management augments tourism, while the effect on …

Insights On Further Deepening Carbon Peaking And Carbon Neutrality Strategy And Pathways, Baihe Gu, Donghui Yu, Chen Wang, Yi Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The low carbon transition pathway is a series of goals, technologies, fundings, policies, and other integrated driven system action roadmap. With the deepening of society’s understanding of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, China’s dual-carbon faces the challenge of systemic advancement of comprehensive deepening implementation. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China once again emphasized that achieving the dual-carbon goal will bring about extensive and profound economic and social systemic changes, and pointed out that based on China’s energy endowment, we should adhere to first establishment and then phase-out and implement the carbon peaking actions in a planned …

Evolution, Stage Characteristics And Governance Model Transformation Of China's Low-Carbon Policy, Yigang Wei, Jiawei Shi, Guannan Xu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

A systematic review of China’s low-carbon policy and paradigm transformation is imperative for establishing a well-designed policy system to achieve the “dual carbon” goals. Based on the theory of policy change, this study constructs an analytical framework of “policy objectives—policy themes—policy fluctuations”. This study uses text mining techniques and policy measurement methods to analyze 1 743 low-carbon policies implemented in China from 2000 to 2021. The study summarizes the stage characteristics and evolutionary path of low-carbon policy development in China, evaluates the contribution of each policy theme at different stages, and portrays the paradigm shift in low-carbon governance. The findings …

Yearly Population Data At Census Tract Level Revealed That More People Are Now Living In Highly Fire-Prone Zones In California, Usa, Slade Lazeweski, Shenyue Jia, Jessica E. Viner, Wesley Ho, Brian Hoover, Seung Hee Kim, Menas C. Kafatos

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

In California (CA), the wildland-urban interface (WUI) faces escalating challenges due to surging population and real estate development. This study evaluates communities along CA's WUI that have witnessed substantial population growth from 2010 to 2021, utilizing demographic data and the 2020 WUI boundaries by the University of Wisconsin-Madison SILVIS Lab. Employing the Mann-Kendall test, we analyze yearly population trends for each census tract along the CA WUI and assess their significance. House ownership, affordability, and wildfire risk are examined as potential drivers of this demographic shift. Our findings indicate that 12.7% of CA's total population now resides in census tracts …

Improve Governance System Of National Parks, Build The World‘S Largest National Park System With High Quality, Baorong Huang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Improving the governance system of national parks is an inevitable requirement for China’s high-quality construction of the world’s largest national park system. This study analyzes the main challenges and problems faced by China’s national park governance based on long-term investigation on national parks and national park system pilot areas. Under the overall logic of modernization of China’s national governance system and governance capabilities, drawing on international experiences in sound governance of regional and watershed public goods and national parks, this study proposes a theoretical framework for establishing a “four in one” national park governance system in China, including a comprehensive …

Regime Of National Park Group Based On Protected Area System In Tibetan Plateau, Dong Chen, Yafei Wang, Dengsheng Wu, Jie Fan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China’s national park reform has entered a new stage of promoting reform based on the protected area system. The national park team of the second comprehensive scientific investigation and research on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) took the lead in putting forward the construction plan of the TP protected area, which is dominated by national park in area and function. The TP national park group, including “small group” which refer to national park, and “large group” which refer to different protected areas, innovates the long-term mechanism for the construction of national ecological security barriers on TP. The national park group requires …

Experience And Enlightenment Of Eu Natura 2000 Protected Area Network, Ling Tang, Baorong Huang, Tong Jin, Xuetian Hu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The EU Natura 2000 protected area network, covering nearly 19% of the land and 10% of the sea in the EU, has played an important role in protecting biodiversity and enhancing regional socio-economic well-being, and is regarded as the most successful protected area network in the world. Its successful experience is mainly reflected in five aspects. (1) The adoption of regional biodiversity conservation legislation and the promotion of compliance with the law by member countries to promote the construction of the protected area network. (2) The establishment of a decision-making and implementation mechanism that combines the EU resolution process and …

Problems And Suggestions Of Building Scientific Decision-Making And Advisory Mechanism Of National Parks—Governance-Based Perspective, Yu Wei, Duowei Cheng, Yi Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

National parks are multi-factor, multi-functional and multi-dimensional complexes, which makes them difficult to follow the traditional administration and management modes, and need to explore the construction of a modernized governance system. An important step in enhancing the effectiveness of governance is to establish a reasonable, and efficient scientific decision-making and consultation mechanism. China has made remarkable progress in scientific decision-making and consultation in national parks. However, there are still some problems with the national parks’ decision-making process and effectiveness due to vague definition of authority and responsibility, dependence on departmentalized management paths, and inadequate upward and downward transmission of information …

Clean Investment Monitor: Q4 2022 — Q3 2023, Madison Dwyer, Zachary Billot, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents investment trends in clean manufacturing, energy and industry, and retail in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet examines data from the Q3 2023 update of the Clean Investment Monitor (CIM), a joint project of Rhodium Group and the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.

Police Flight Oversight: Lapd Drone As First Responder Implementation, Nathaniel Worley

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the feasibility of implementing a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), analyzing the operational, social, and financial implications compared to traditional police helicopter usage. The thesis investigates helicopter flight patterns, demographic correlations, and the potential for drones to provide a less invasive and more cost-effective aerial support system. Key findings include the use of incorrect identifying hex codes by LAPD helicopters, suggesting potential transparency issues in aerial operations. The thesis recommends DFR due to substantial cost savings and enhanced surveillance transparency and asserts that a DFR program can mitigate negative …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Develop Sciences And Technologies To Support The Building Of A Beautiful China In All Respects—Preface On Special Issue “Efforts From Science And Technology To Promote The Building Of A Beautiful China In All Respects”, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

Ecological Operation In Yangtze River Basin With Yangtze River Simulator, Jun Xia, Zhonghui Lin, Chesheng Zhan, Wenjuan Gao, Yunliang Li, Jing Yao, Sidong Zeng, Renyong Huang, Hongzhu Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Ecological protection and green development in the Yangtze River basin are critical to the ecological construction of a Beautiful China. This study analyzes the current situation and main problems of the water ecology in the Yangtze River basin, and introduces the development of the Yangtze River Simulator, and the design for the ecological operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir, the main river, and the lakes connected to the river. Through the simulation of the main stream water ecology and lake water ecology by the Yangtze River Simulator, the optimization plan for the ecological regulation of the Three Gorges Reservoir was …

Opportunities And Challenges In Monitoring Cultivated Land Red Line In Big Data Era, Jinwei Dong, Yifeng Cui, Yuanyuan Di, Xuan Gao, Xi Chen, Linsheng Yang, Yumei Cai, Jia Ning, Jiyuan Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The demographic reality of a large population and limited land resources in China necessitates the implementation of the world’s most stringent cultivated land protection system. Effective, timely, and accurate monitoring of the status of cultivated land protection red line is essential to ensuring cultivated land protection and food security. The development of cutting-edge technologies such as remote sensing big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has provided new opportunities for cultivated land control and monitoring. This article systematically elaborates on the current research status and challenges in the field of cultivated land protection redline control and monitoring, including the establishment …

Synergism Utilization Of Urban Multi-Source Solid Waste And District Green Recycling Development—Taking Dongguan Haixinsha National Resource Recycling Demonstration Base As An Example, Yao Shi, Huiquan Li, Shaohua Chen, Weiqiang Chen, Caihong Xiong, Songgeng Li, Yin Wang, Peng Qian, Shuangde Li, Chao Hua, Ping Lu, Yupeng Liu, Chenmu Zhang, Jianwen Chu, Xin Lu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The long-term storage and extensive disposal of solid waste have caused serious water soil air composite pollution. It is necessary to strengthen the scientific and effective utilization of solid waste, which is not only conducive to solving the major pollution problem of solid waste, but also alleviates the shortage of resources and energy in China. This study summarizes three typical types of urban solid waste comprehensive treatment experience models, and points out that the solid waste circular economy model characterized by centralization, resource utilization, and greening is the main way to solve the complex problem of solid waste. Therefore, it …

Innovation And Practice On Biodiversity Conservation In Sanjiangyuan National Park, Xinquan Zhao, Shixiao Xu, Liang Zhao, Tongzuo Zhang, Linyong Hu, Qi Li, Tongqing Guo

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Sanjiangyuan National Park, is one of the first batch of national parks in China, and serves as the largest national park in China. As an important ecological security barrier and a alpine biological germplasm resource base, it has significant conservation value in China and even in the world. Lots of protocols have been taken aiming at ecological tacking protection issues including loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitats, degradation of alpine grassland and overgrazing in Sanjiangyuan National Park. It promotes the implementation of major ecological restoration projects, and has formed the Sanjiangyuan National Park Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Protection Program with …

Synthetical Solution Of Disaster Risk Reduction And Green Development: A Novel Mode Promoting High-Quality Development In Mountain Areas Of China, Ming Li, Qin Liu, Yukuan Wang, Peng Cui, Xing Gao, Baofeng Di, Jinfeng Liu, Shengwen Qi, Rong Chen, Chunping Tan, Mengzhen Xu, Hao Sun, Jianqiang Zhang, Jiangang Chen, Qiang Zou

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China is a mountainous country, with hills, mountains, and plateaus cover about two-thirds of its total land area. The vast area, huge population, rich natural resources, and great potential of development in mountain areas make them the most important “rear garden” supporting the sustainable development of the whole country. Nevertheless, China’s mountain areas are also prone to various kinds of natural disasters, and thus formed a scenario of high overlap between the high-risk zone of natural disasters and the lagging zone of social and economic development. And such scenario has caused significant waste of various related inputs, and becoming a …

Atmospheric 14Co2 Observation: A Novel Method To Evaluate Carbon Emissions, Zhenchuan Niu, Peng Wang, Shugang Wu, Weijian Zhou

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As an important carbon emitter, China faces the stress of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and international carbon reduction duty. The accurate data of carbon emissions are important to evaluate the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and fulfill the international duty of carbon reduction. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report recommends the combination of top-down atmospheric CO₂ observation with atmospheric inversion to verify the bottom-up inventory of carbon emissions, and the atmospheric ¹⁴CO₂ observation can make the verification more accurate. Radiocarbon (14C) is the most precise tracer of fossil fuel CO₂ and …

Challenges And Countermeasures For Treatment And Remediation Of Contaminated Mega-Sites In China, Xiaoyong Liao, Yixuan Hou, You Li, Tianyi Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The treatment and remediation of pollution at contaminated mega-sites poses a significant challenge in the environmental science both domestically and internationally. Contaminated mega-sites are characterized by their widespread impact, multiple types of pollutants, and significant ecological and environmental threats. The environmental behavior cognition and efficient remediation at contaminated mega-sites face enormous challenges, among which key technological issues such as the formation mechanism of soil and groundwater pollution, accurate identification of pollution sources, and intelligent decision-making optimization urgently need to be solved. In China, contaminated mega-sites are concentrated in economically developed regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and …

Scenario Simulation Of “35 Goals” And “50 Vision” For Beautiful China Initiative, Huiyi Zhu, Linsheng Yang, Wei Qi, Erqi Xu, Jiewei Chen, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Realizing the Beautiful China Initiative is the general goal of China’s ecological civilization construction in the next 30 years. The overall goal includes two phased goals: “35 goals” and “50 vision”. This study first expounds the understanding of the goal from the aspects of ecosystem elements, structure, process, and function, and then constructs an index system to describe the goal and simulates the “35 goals” and “50 vision” under the trend of climate change, population decline and economic growth. The results show that, by 2035, China will have a population of 1.44 billion (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) and …

An Innovative Restoration Mode “Macrophytes–Fishes–Benthons–Birds” Implemented In Aesthetic Plateau Wetlands, Junxing Yang, Xiaoai Wang, Xiaofu Pan, Yuanwe Zhang, Heqi Wu, Anli Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Affected by both increasing human activities and climate change, Yunnan Plateau lakes were faced with threats such as water level decreasing, water-body reducing, and severe pollution. Many indigenous species were endangered or even disappeared. The ecological restorations implemented since 1980s almost all used alien species. As an inevitable result, severe negative impacts from alien species were observed on the Plateau wetland ecosystem and indigenous species. To solve these problems, with the support of relevant projects, an innovative restoration mode mainly with indigenous flag-species “macrophytes – fishes – benthons – birds” was proposed. This innovative mode was implemented respectively in Dianchi …

Ten Problems And Solutions For Restoration Of Karst Ecosystem In Southwest China, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Chen Ran, Luhua Wu, Chaochao Du, Lei Dai, Xingyi Yang, Zilin Li, Yingying Xue, Mingkang Long, Minghui Li, Shu Yang, Qing Luo, Xiaoyun Zhang, Xiaoqian Shen, Fei Chen, Qin Li, Yuanhong Deng, Zeyin Hu, Chaojun Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The karst areas in southwest China are one of the key but difficult areas targeted in the “Beautiful China” construction initiative, which focuses on soil erosion, proportion of farmland, water pollution, karst drought, ecological restoration, carbon sink, ecological effects of urbanization, rocky desertification management indicators, and biodiversity and sustainability assessment. The study synthesizes the knowledge accumulated during ecological restoration practice in karst areas into 10 problems and solutions that are strong, universal and empirically supported. These problems and solutions help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in karst ecology restoration and thus point to solutions. They constitute a core …