Resources

2006. Author: Marina Psaros. In recent months, evangelical environmentalism has been the subject of much media coverage and debate. The central questions are whether evangelical environmentalists could be potential allies for the mainstream environmental movement, and what impact pro-environment evangelicals might have on politics. I argue that evangelical environmentalists do not seek alliances with the mainstream environmental movement because the perception in the wider evangelical community...

Scientific and technical information is typically central to environmental policy and resource use disputes. Solutions are often justified based on what scientific data suggests is best, and scientists figure prominently into environmental policy disputes. The problem is that there is almost always room for various approaches to any technical question, and uncertainty in what the results mean. Uncertainty and varying approaches are a reality in science, but lead to conflict and confusion when...

2016. Authors: M. Matsuura and Schenk, T. The days of rationalist scientific management and deference to official data are behind us. The credibility of experts and the information they provide are regularly challenged; officials are routinely provided with conflicting sets of facts as they plan and make decisions; and decision makers and stakeholders alike are largely skeptical that technical information will adequately account for the various interests and concerns and lead to the right...

2009. Author: Haley Peckett. Miami-Dade County, Florida, was one of the earliest jurisdictions to adopt a climate change plan in 1993. Land use features prominently in this plan as a means to reduce greenhouse gases through development patterns that allow people to lower their Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). Travel data show that average per capita VMT for the Miami area increased approximately 24% between 1993 and 2005, signifying that the land-use policies are not meeting their goal of VMT...

2021. Authors: J. Domingo-Kame-enuni, Moore, D., Reynolds-Cuellar, P., and Saint, C. This project is in collaboration with KŪ-A-KANAKA, a social enterprise owned and operated by the Kahakalau ʻohana, a well-known family of cultural practitioners, educators and grassroots innovators. Our team has developed a land use plan to assist in the production of wetland taro; specifically, the plan highlights strategies for irrigation, invasive species and water quality. The goal of the project is to...

2009. Author: Jennifer Edwards. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a quantitative tool that measures the bundled impact of an individual product over its entire life cycle, from "cradle-to-grave." LCA has been developed over many decades to improve industry's environmental performance, and also to create environmental labels for consumer products. But in recent years, LCA has been used to inform policy and set regulatory standards. This thesis examines early experience with the first U.S. life-cycle...

2013. Author: Jessica Agatstein. The rapid rise of oil and gas production in the United States poses a new set of policy challenges for local governments. Striving to balance the goals of encouraging economic growth and mitigating its side effects, local governments across the country-especially the small, rural communities where most drilling occurs-are developing an impressive array of policy tools to limit the consequences of oil and gas drilling. In this thesis, I explore how local...

Authors: Catherine Ashcraft and Larry Susskind. A river management action team has been assembled to develop a scientifically sound instream flow action plan for the Long River. The team is made up of the governor’s special assistant and representatives from the State Department of Fish and Game, a nearby Tribe, the Regional Water Supplier, an irrigators' group, and a coalition of environmental and recreational interests. Unless at least five of the stakeholders on this team can agree on an...

2010. Author: Leanne Farrell. There is a risk that urban climate change adaptation planning - often led by city environmental agencies - will remain isolated from ongoing city decision-making processes, and thus irrelevant, unless adaptation is mainstreamed into municipal line functions' existing activities and planning processes. Yet little empirical research exists showing what the adaptation "mainstreaming" process actually looks like for a city government department. This thesis addresses...

2013. Author: Madhu Dutta-Koehler. This dissertation compares the responses of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Kolkata, India to the serious challenges posed by climate change, particularly in the water sector. Drawing on the theories of "adaptation as development" and cross-case analyses of ongoing planning initiatives in these two bellwether cities, this dissertation explores the factors that promote or hinder successful climate action. This work identifies practical, less resource-intensive adaptation...

2011. Author: Stephanie Stern. For the last 30 years, experts have claimed that energy efficiency upgrades in existing buildings can lead to significant reductions in energy use, yet efficiency programs, particularly those geared towards households, have failed to meet expectations. Through interviews with participants of the Community Energy Services program in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I identify the barriers to investing in energy efficiency facing homeowners, even with a cutting-edge program...

2018. Author: Sam Barnard. This thesis explores the way in which local government and community advocacy groups seek to influence the extent and nature of neighborhood change around new transit stops. My interest is in how transit investment can be used to ensure economically prosperous and environmentally sustainable communities while avoiding displacement and exclusion of less wealthy community members. I focus on three mass transit projects in Somerville, MA: the Red Line extension to Davis...