Resources

2022. Authors: L. Susskind, Chun, J., Gant, A., Hodgkins, C., Cohen, J., and Lomar, S. Many policy analysts believe that once electricity from renewable energy becomes less expensive than electricity from fossil fuel , new renewable energy facilities will be built quickly across the United States. Cost-effective renewable energy has largely been achieved, but there appear to be substantial barriers to building new renewable energy facilities. We identified 53 utility-scale wind, solar, and...

Most disputes around public policy are fueled by the presence of competing interests and perspectives. Parties advocate for different outcomes based on what will advance their respective interests and support their own views of the problem and how it is best solved. Too often, parties with stakes in environmental disputes find themselves locked in intractable conflict, talking past each other and using the courts and political arenas to advance their individual positions and weaken others. We...

2015. Author: Julie Curti. As the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, many coastal and riverine communities in the United States will face severe flooding from sea level rise and increased frequency of storms. From a municipal perspective, planners and elected officials will be confronted with questions of what tools and resources are available to help private property owners adapt to climate change impacts, when those tools and resources should be used, and who they should help...

2012. Author: Michael Tuori. A large degree of economic activity in developing countries operates unregulated and unreported in what has become known as the informal economy. Within the informal economy, a large number of individuals work in waste picking and recycling. In Indonesia, up to 70% of all employment is within the informal economy. In Bandung, the nation's third largest city, there are estimated to be more than 3000 individuals working in the informal recycling sector as waste pickers...

2008. Author: Siobhan Watson. Citywide sustainability planning creates a vision of how environmental concerns will shape urban development, but the way these plans are incorporated into individual development projects plays a large role in determining how that vision will be achieved in practice. I propose a system for evaluating the extent to which individual urban development projects contribute to urban environmental sustainability and use it to evaluate the proposed redevelopment of Willets...

2019. Author: P. McAteer. During the last 150 years, we have stressed the oceans, warmed the planet and overextended almost every natural resource. To create real change will require a generation of leaders and businesses that think and act differently. "Sustainability Is the New Advantage" identifies the skill sets, best practices, and new ideas needed to teach a new generation to start, grow, and manage sustainable organizations. The shift to more sustainable business practices is the third...

2018. Author: Alexis Schulman. It is widely argued that a sustainable future depends on the capacity of cities to substantially alter how they grow and consume natural resources. Research on sustainable cities has typically emphasized how this change ought to be achieved, outlining specific interventions in the form of new policies and technologies. Problematically, we know far less about why urban institutions change, when they do, in the support of sustainability objectives. Why have some...

2022. Authors: W. Atkinson, Hertz-Velázquez, S., and Teng, M. Ancestral wisdom tied together through storytelling, rooted in common values, and shared across generations is critical to CHamoru identities in the Mariana Islands. However, these identities are threatened by the rise of fossil fuel emissions, climate change, and land occupation issues from the Marianas' geopolitical circumstances. Public education in the Marianas - not unlike the U.S. - currently lacks a concrete curriculum about...

2021. Authors: D. Kelly, Lopez, D., and Rivera, T. From moose hunting to berry gathering to salmon fishing, traditional subsistence life ways are an essential component of Alaska Native identities, history, values, and cultures in the Interior. But this sacred way of life is under threat. Dual state and federal processes that shape subsistence regulations in Alaska systematically fail to ensureAlaskaNative voices, values, and ways of knowing/being are reflected in regulatory decisions that...

2006. Author: Basilia Yao. Since 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has served as the main instrument for analyzing the environmental impacts of federal agency decisions and providing the public with opportunities to participate in the decision making process. For over 35 years, NEPA has defined the process by which agencies assess environmental impacts and disclose those assessments to the public. During this period however, NEPA has come under increasing scrutiny due to the...

2017. Author: Nick Allen. Land building is the infilling of littoral or wetlands systems with developable dryland. It has long been used by state actors to overcome territorial constraints and conquer "wastelands" for economic development, but is increasingly used for large-scale, privately-financed real estate development. For these projects, land building is especially advantageous to both state and development interests because it can bypass traditional land acquisition and because it is...

2022. Author: H. Jaicks. The book is a firsthand account of Dr. Hannah Jaicks’ journey through western Montana's ranching landscapes to showcase the stories of ranchers and affiliated groups who are pioneering strategies for reducing conflicts with wildlife, while also stewarding the landscape. Americans depend on these people who live by working on the land. Ranchers have the power to shape the future of our lands, waterways, and wildlife communities, but enduring perceptions frame ranching as...