Showing papers in "Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences in 2014"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the current status of water resources in Iran and recognized three major causes for the current water crisis: rapid population growth and inappropriate spatial population distribution; inefficient agriculture sector; and mismanagement and thirst for development.
Abstract: Despite having a more advanced water management system than most Middle Eastern countries, similar to the other countries in the region, Iran is experiencing a serious water crisis. The government blames the current crisis on the changing climate, frequent droughts, and international sanctions, believing that water shortages are periodic. However, the dramatic water security issues of Iran are rooted in decades of disintegrated planning and managerial myopia. Iran has suffered from a symptom-based management paradigm, which mainly focuses on curing the problem symptoms rather than addressing the main causes. This paper reviews the current status of water resources in Iran and recognizes three major causes for the current water crisis: (1) rapid population growth and inappropriate spatial population distribution; (2) inefficient agriculture sector; and (3) mismanagement and thirst for development. The country is faced with serious challenges in the water sector, including but not limited to rising water demand and shortage, declining groundwater levels, deteriorating water quality, and increasing ecosystem losses. If immediate actions are not taken to address these issues, the situation could become more tragic in the near future. The paper suggests some crisis exit strategies that need to be immediately adopted to secure sustainable water resources, if Iran does not want to lose its international reputation for significant success in water resources management over thousands of years in an arid area of the world.
461 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyzed data from extensive fieldwork in Pennsylvania's Bradford, Susquehanna, and Washington counties and found that many farmers utilize neoliberal logic when assessing impacts of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development, particularly as rapid energy development relates to their land use decisions.
Abstract: Finewood and Stroup (J Contemp Water Res Educ 147(1), 72–79, 2012) observe that as hydraulic fracturing for natural gas spreads across the USA, neoliberal ideologies normalize fracking’s potential dangers, including impacts to water and more general environmental quality. Theoretical observations like these must be tested empirically. I do so here, analyzing data from extensive fieldwork in Pennsylvania’s Bradford, Susquehanna, and Washington counties. Drawing on comparative mixed method data from fieldwork in northeastern Pennsylvania’s ‘Endless Mountains’ region and the Pittsburgh area, I compare how small-scale farmers perceive and sometimes enact elements of market-based, neoliberal rationality when assessing hydrofracking’s community, environmental, and economic outcomes. This paper explores why this matters sociologically, given small-scale farmers’ roles as land-use decision-makers, stewards of related natural resource development, and marginalized producers with limited access to market shares and subsidies. In counties like Bradford and Washington, impacts of fracking small-scale farmers have been under-studied. To address that gap, I examine impacts on farmers operating around natural gas development and within neoliberal economic structures. Analyzing extensive interview and ethnographic data, the following research questions are addressed: (1) Among small-scale farmers impacted by hydraulic fracturing, what evidence exists that neoliberal logic helps farmers normalize fracking? and (2) How does normalization interact with decisions to sign natural gas leases? My findings indicate that many farmers utilize neoliberal logic when assessing impacts of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development, particularly as rapid energy development relates to their land-use decisions. Neoliberal normalization of hydraulic fracturing emerges most saliently regarding environmental outcomes and economic development. I connect this to small-scale farmers’ economic vulnerability and the limited agency in dictating land use near their farms.
88 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines and theorizes the legal geographies that have been essential elements of the recent boom in extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, examining the ways in which laws and the authority of the state more broadly have been changed, deployed, and invoked, particularly through the passage of Act 13, to enable the extraction of the gas in the shale and its circulation as a viable commodity.
Abstract: Recent work on legal geographies has arguably paid far too little attention to the environment as both an object of governance and a terrain of struggle with respect to the law. Conversely, political ecology as a field, with its focus on informal and extra-legal dynamics, has arguably engaged too little with the legal geographies that are central to environmental conflicts in many locations. This paper examines and theorizes the legal geographies that have been essential elements of the recent boom in extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Specifically, it examines the ways in which laws and the authority of the state more broadly have been changed, deployed, and invoked, particularly through the passage of Act 13, to enable the extraction of the gas in the shale and its circulation as a viable commodity. This analysis of the relevant multiscalar legal geographies illustrates the productivity of a more direct engagement between political ecology on one hand, and legal geography on the other.
82 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a content analysis of newspaper coverage in two newspapers in the northern tier of Pennsylvania and two in the southern tier of New York from 2007 to 2011, with a total sample of 1,037 articles.
Abstract: What first comes to mind when you think of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale region? The information and ideas we hold about shale gas development can strongly influence our discussion of this issue, the impacts we associate with it, and the types of regulation we view as appropriate. Our knowledge and beliefs are based in part on social representations—common sense understandings of complex, often scientific, phenomena, generated in the public sphere and reliant on the history, culture, and social structure of the context in which they emerge. In this article, we examine social representations of environmental, economic, and social impacts of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale, as reported by major regional newspapers. We conducted a content analysis of newspaper coverage in two newspapers in the northern tier of Pennsylvania and two in the southern tier of New York from 2007 to 2011, with a total sample of 1,037 articles. Effects on water quality were by far the most prevalent environmental representation in each newspaper. Economic representations focused on jobs, leases, and royalties, but varied substantially across geographical contexts. Representations of social impacts were relatively rare in each media outlet. We also interviewed the journalists who wrote the most articles on shale gas development at each newspaper. Their perspectives provide some explanations for why certain impacts were mentioned more frequently than others, and for differences between newspapers. We conclude with implications for communicating about impacts associated with shale gas development, and for regulating development.
76 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored how Ohioans' understandings of the environment are being transformed as a result of shale gas extraction and found that responses to energy development are being contoured not only by culturally constituted ways of imagining ideal human-environment interactions but also by the broader sociopolitical structures that ultimately determine whose perspectives are prioritized and which policies are implemented.
Abstract: Portions of Ohio are experiencing a surge in the development of unconventional sources of natural gas and other fossil fuels using controversial hydraulic fracturing technologies. Natural gas has been celebrated as a clean-burning bridge fuel capable of leading our society beyond its dependence on fossil fuels, a key to energy independence, and a critical catalyst for regional economic recovery. But serious concerns have been raised about possible detrimental impacts on public health and safety, water and air quality, and environmental integrity. Informed by a landscape studies perspective that encourages careful consideration of how people conceive of the world around them, this paper examines how Ohioans' understandings of the environment are being transformed as a result of shale gas extraction. Based on ongoing participant–observation research and open-ended interviews with grassroots anti-fracking activists, nonprofit organization affiliates, and government agents as well as a review of publicly available corporate responsibility statements, it surveys emergent themes in citizens' perspectives—including legacy, way of life, disempowerment, vulnerability, displacement, and prosperity—in order to explore what the contested landscape of unconventional energy development can reveal about the diverse and dynamic ways in which contemporary citizens comprehend the natural environment and their relationships to it. It suggests that responses to energy development are being contoured not only by culturally constituted ways of imagining ideal human–environment interactions but also by the broader sociopolitical structures that ultimately determine whose perspectives are prioritized and which policies are implemented.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the current state of water in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) using a water-energy-food (WEF) nexus approach and discussed various proposals for meeting future water needs in the GCC such as renewable energy-powered desalination and foreign direct investment in agricultural land.
Abstract: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) inhabits of one of the most water-scarce regions in the world, once comprised small impoverished desert principalities. However, since the 1970s, the GCC has witnessed rapid population growth and economic development, brought on by sharp increases in oil revenues. Population growth coupled with increased urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural output has placed tremendous pressure on the region’s scarce groundwater resources. GCC countries are all using hundreds to thousands times more water than sustainable recharge would allow. Their water footprints, among the highest in the world, are sustained by unconventional sources of water such as desalination, wastewater reuse, and the import of “virtual” water via agricultural goods. This paper analyzes the current state of water in the GCC using a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus approach. The paper discusses various proposals for meeting future water needs in the GCC such as renewable energy-powered desalination and foreign direct investment in agricultural land and addresses the various tradeoffs involved.
60 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A system dynamics model is used to demonstrate the likely effects of a pandemic on the USA’s food system and reveals that a severe pandemic with greater than a 25 % reduction in labor availability can create significant and widespread food shortages.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of hydraulic fracturing on people's relationships to the environment in western Pennsylvania has been explored through publically engaged projects rooted in political ecology, and the possibilities and pitfalls encountered in ethnographic projects by student researchers have been discussed.
Abstract: This paper draws from data provided by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2012 Ethnographic Field School to accomplish two goals: to open questions about the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on people’s relationships to the environment in western PA and to explore the pedagogical possibilities and limitations of teaching through publically engaged projects rooted in political ecology. The history of local land use, whether coal mining and its consequences or the creation of conservation zones, captures the imagination of differing publics and influences their interpretation of energy extraction, particularly its acceptability and risks. At the same time, the encounter with Marcellus Shale has prompted people to explore, question, and redefine their relationships to place and to the legacy of coal in the community. This paper details the possibilities and pitfalls encountered in ethnographic projects by student researchers designed to explore and prompt public dialogue about people’s changing relationships to land and water. Despite theoretical and methodological challenges, this paper argues for the value of community-based ethnographic field schools and publically engaged political ecology research in creating a context for productive dialogue between stakeholders on a controversial issue.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report the results of a survey of civil society organizations that are monitoring surface water for impacts of Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania and New York and find that water monitoring organizations typically operate in networks of two main types: centralized networks, with one main "hub" organization connecting many chapter groups or teams, and decentralized networks consisting primarily of independent watershed associations and capacity building organizations.
Abstract: This paper reports the results of a survey of civil society organizations that are monitoring surface water for impacts of Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania and New York. We argue that enlisting volunteers to conduct independent monitoring is one way that civil society organizations are addressing knowledge gaps and the “undone science” of surface water quality impacts related to gas extraction. The survey, part of an ongoing 2-year study, examines these organizations' objectives, monitoring practices, and financial, technical, and institutional support networks. We find that water monitoring organizations typically operate in networks of two main types: centralized networks, with one main “hub” organization connecting many chapter groups or teams, and decentralized networks, consisting primarily of independent watershed associations and capacity building organizations. We also find that there are two main orientations among water monitoring groups. Roughly, half are advocacy-oriented, gathering data in order to improve regulation, support litigation, and change industry behavior. We characterize the other half as knowledge-oriented, gathering data in order to protect natural resources through education and awareness. Our analysis finds that many monitoring programs function relatively independently of government and university oversight supported instead by a number of capacity building organizations in the field. We argue that this reflects neoliberal tendencies toward increased public responsibility for environmental science. We also find that new participants in the field of water monitoring, mainly large environmental NGOs integral to the operations of centralized networks, are shifting monitoring programs towards more advocacy-oriented objectives. We believe this shift may impact how civil society water monitoring efforts interact with regulatory bodies, such as by taking normative positions and using volunteer-collected data to advocate for policy change.
28 citations
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as discussed by the authors assessed the impacts of economic affluence and ecologic degradation on the likelihood of environmental concern for over 3,000 individuals across 26 provinces in China.
Abstract: Despite being the world’s second largest economy and the single largest producer of carbon dioxide, few studies have analyzed the nature of the Chinese general public’s concern over environmental quality. This paper engages in the longstanding discussion of the postmaterialist values theory and the objective problems subjective values (OPSV) theory that might explain that concern. Specifically, I assess the impacts of economic affluence and ecologic degradation on the likelihood of environmental concern for over 3,000 individuals across 26 provinces in China. I initially use principal component factor analysis to identify three distinct dimensions of general environmental concern. I then employ correlation and regression methods to analyze the associations between these aspects of environmental concern and potential explanatory variables. Individual-level analysis and provincial-level analysis indicate that ecological degradation and economic affluence influence one’s overall environmental concern. By using empirical evidence in China to test theoretical frameworks that were originally proposed in the Western world, this paper contributes to the ongoing study of environmental concern. In addition, the formation of public environmental concern can serve as an important prerequisite to initiate collective protests and promote policy changes to improve the deteriorating environment.
25 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the connections between veg- etation cover change, environmental stewardship, and build- ing footprint change in New York City neighborhoods from the years 2000 to 2010 using a mixed-methods multidisci- plinary approach to analyze spatially explicit social and eco logical data.
Abstract: This study explores the connections between veg- etation cover change, environmental stewardship, and build- ing footprint change in New York City neighborhoods from the years 2000 to 2010. We use a mixed-methods multidisci- plinary approach to analyze spatially explicit social and eco- logical data. Most neighborhoods lost vegetation during the study period. Neighborhoods that gained vegetation tended to have, on average, more stewardship groups. We contextualize the ways in which stewardship groups lead to the observed decadal- and neighborhood-scale changes in urban vegetation cover. This multidisciplinary synthesis combines the strengths of quantitative data to identify patterns, and qualitative data to understand process. While we recognize the complexity of cities and the potential confounding factors, this exploratory analysis uses sound theory and data from a mixed methodo- logical approach to show the role of urban environmental stewardship in affecting the New York City landscape.
TL;DR: A series of workshops to provide a space for interdisciplinary groups of synthetic biologists, natural and social scientists, and other stakeholders to identify priority ecological hazards and to begin to design research programs to inform ecological risk assessments and risk management of synthetic biology applications.
Abstract: Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary field that brings together biology and engineering at its core. Understanding and evaluating the ecological effects of synthetic biology applications also require broad interdisciplinary convergence and the ability to adapt to rapid technological developments. This article describes a series of workshops designed to provide a space for interdisciplinary groups of synthetic biologists, natural and social scientists, and other stakeholders to identify priority ecological hazards and to begin to design research programs to inform ecological risk assessments and risk management of synthetic biology applications. Participants identified gene flow, fitness, and competition as the key hazards of synthetic biology applications using engineered microorganisms. The rapid pace of synthetic biology research and product development, the potential environmental release of numerous applications, and the diffuse and diverse nature of the research community are prompting renewed attention on how to design robust ecological risk research programs to investigate such hazards.
TL;DR: In the early 1970s, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) developed a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) for nuclear power, which was used to assure the public of nuclear power's safety.
Abstract: Nuclear power plays an important role in the global energy economy, but its safety has been a contentious issue for over 50 years. Based on new designs of nuclear power plants, new methods of assessing risks, and calculations of cost efficiency, proponents of nuclear power see it as safe and necessary, but skeptics do not. How can people be so divided on a fundamental issue like safety? Part of the answer lies in the history of risk assessment’s invention, development, and deployment. The US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) developed a form of risk assessment extensively used today: probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). The AEC originally wanted to strategically assure the public of nuclear power’s safety. Controversy greeted PRA’s debut, however, and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, AEC’s successor agency, changed PRA into a tactical tool. Scientific and ethical criticisms, political opposition to nuclear power, and accidents combined to force the transition. In contrast to PRA for nuclear power, other forms of risk assessment successfully entered the regulation of toxic chemicals. The safety of nuclear power still elicits sharp disagreements between opponents and proponents of the technology, which in turn leaves a cloud over the future of the technology.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted interviews with consumer product company representatives and found that challenges in obtaining chemical-related information exist across sectors, and information on chemical hazards and uses can be conflicting, protected by trade secrets, lost in supply chains, or nonexistent.
Abstract: Although the US government has made important improvements in chemical management since the 1970s, these advances have not kept pace with scientific knowledge about chemical hazards. While US federal chemical policy reform is being debated for the first time since 1976, some US businesses have voluntarily sought to improve their knowledge of chemical hazards in their supply chains, and several US states, the European Union, China, and other countries have moved forward with chemical policy reforms. Until policy reforms occur in the USA, the US chemical market will continue to experience problems associated with poor information on hazardous chemicals in supply chains. These market conditions make it difficult for consumer product companies to identify hazards and create safer products. Results from interviews with consumer product company representatives demonstrate that challenges in obtaining chemical-related information exist across sectors, and information on chemical hazards and uses can be conflicting, protected by trade secrets, lost in supply chains, or nonexistent. Interview results illustrate how some consumer product companies are exceeding regulatory requirements by voluntarily restricting from their products chemicals that could harm human health or the environment. Understanding the motivations behind—and barriers to—these actions could inform efforts to modernize US chemicals policies in ways that promote effective chemical management in supply chains. Using examples from the European Union and some US states, we introduce policy suggestions that would increase knowledge, market transparency, and information flows regarding hazardous chemicals and their uses; these would support the efforts of companies to develop and market safer products.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the causes of the water crises by reviewing the historical hydropolitical international relations of the region and analyzed the historical water scarcity in the Euphrates-Tigris river basin.
Abstract: The Euphrates-Tigris river basin now faces severe water crisis that have been fueled by national development projects in a mainly water-scarce region. Increasing demand-induced scarcity is further complicated by a history of international tensions between the three riparian nations of Turkey, Syria and Iraq and has occurred in a changing climate. Water is a critical security issue for these nations. This essay analyses the causes of the water crises by reviewing the historical hydropolitical international relations of the region.
TL;DR: It is argued that adaptive management that targets listed species represents a complex process that can be resource intensive, including in its demand for guidance from research, monitoring, and modeling, therefore requiring substantial technical and institutional capacity.
Abstract: Scientists and policy makers have shown great industry in popularizing the concept of adaptive management for imperiled species, principally by promulgating slightly varying, multi-step adaptive-management cycles. Thirty years after the appearance of adaptive management in the scientific literature, the concept has gained acceptance as a readily recognized, conceptually simple conservation-planning vehicle, despite its lackluster track record. Successful adaptive management must be implemented as a step-wise, structured approach to incorporating scientific information into decision making. This may necessitate reconsideration of the overly simplified, cartoonish version of adaptive management being presented to policy makers, resource managers, and the public. We contend that adaptive management that targets listed species represents a complex process that can be resource intensive, including in its demand for guidance from research, monitoring, and modeling, therefore requiring substantial technical and institutional capacity. That considered, adaptive management has a great potential to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of resource management actions provided it is properly implemented.
TL;DR: The Ramsar Convention as mentioned in this paper is an international environmental agreement addressing wetland conservation with a key provision that acknowledges wetlands may transcend political boundaries, which is defined as transboundary wetlands.
Abstract: Shared conservation projects, especially those involving water, can help build trust and confidence between bordering countries to build or maintain peace. The essential nature of water has brought countries such as Pakistan and India together to develop the Indus Water Treaty, a shared management plan. The Ramsar Convention is an international environmental agreement addressing wetland conservation with a key provision that acknowledges wetlands may transcend political boundaries. These are defined as transboundary wetlands. Shared management of these systems provides an opportunity to build trust among neighbors, hence the prospect for “ecological diplomacy.” Enlisting the scientific process into diplomacy can address issues of uncertainty related to hydrological resources and help create more resilient agreements. Prioritizing countries with Ramsar transboundary wetlands according to the Global Peace Index, which ranks countries according to their prospects for peace, reveals participating countries with the greatest need for peacebuilding. With over 40 years of experience, the Convention has built a significant measure of international trust, though it often operates “under the radar.” This is an underutilized diplomatic opportunity. A more proactive approach to transboundary wetland conservation can provide new diplomatic energy to help end conflicts and build peace.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarize trends among six existing carbon-pricing programs and present a taxonomy of the most efficient and least efficient carbon pricing programs. But they do not consider the distributional consequences that affect the political economy and the likelihood and durability of climate policy.
Abstract: The introduction of a price on CO2 is expected to be more efficient than prescriptive regulation. It also instantiates substantial economic value. Initially, programs allocated this value to incumbent firms (grandfathering), but the growing movement toward auctioning or emissions fees makes carbon revenues into a payment for environmental services. This paper asks to whom should this payment accrue? If the atmosphere resource, as a common property resource, is viewed as the property of government, then the decision of how to use the revenue can be viewed as a fiscal problem, and efficiency considerations dominate. If the atmosphere is viewed as held in common, then the revenue might be considered compensation to owners and delivered as payment to individuals. This decision has efficiency and distributional consequences that affect the political economy and the likelihood and durability of climate policy. We summarize trends among six existing carbon-pricing programs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a review of emerging body of research showing that nurturing environmental literacy requires more than the clear explication of evidence, and instead requires interrogating one's existing worldview and comparing alternative options for action, as opposed to analyzing energy options in isolation.
Abstract: Potential development of shale gas presents a complicated and controversial education problem. Research on human learning and our own experiences as educators support the conclusion that traditional, disciplinary-focused educational experiences are insufficient due to the nature of the concepts necessary for understanding the development of shale gas within the energy system as a complex, contextualized phenomenon. Educators engaging in communicating complex phenomena such as shale gas development can also increase sophistication of learner understanding by taking into account the sociocultural and psychological mechanisms that shape one’s understanding of the change processes at work. We therefore review an emerging body of research showing that nurturing environmental literacy requires more than the clear explication of evidence, and instead requires interrogating one’s existing worldview and comparing alternative options for action, as opposed to analyzing energy options in isolation. We then apply the results of this research to the challenging task of creating meaningful learning experiences and engagement with complex issues such as emerging energy systems and shale gas development in particular.
TL;DR: This Forum addresses water security in the region, particularly in the Iran, the Gulf Cooperation Council states, and the Tigris-Euphrates basin, and contextualize the changing notions of security and the growing water security paradigm Forum authors are writing about.
Abstract: Water security in the Middle East and North Africa region has changed dramatically over the last few decades. The region has a history of political conflict, making effective cooperative water management difficult. Meanwhile, leaders of these stats have pursued large supply-side projects like dams to satisfy large population increases and growing agriculture and industry, but these projects increase tensions with neighbors. At the same time, climate change is reducing the supply of water, and groundwater is being unsustainably mined. This Forum addresses water security in the region, particularly in the Iran, the Gulf Cooperation Council states, and the Tigris-Euphrates basin. While this Forum is far from comprehensive, important trends and water security threats are identified, and “exit strategies” are discussed. In this essay, we contextualize the changing notions of security and the growing water security paradigm Forum authors are writing about.
TL;DR: In this article, a special issue of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences intentionally focuses on hydrocarbon development in the Marcellus shale, but situates this dialogue in the context of a broader, transdisciplinary approach to realizing a sustainable energy system.
Abstract: The term “fracking” simultaneously conjures up images of extractive technologies, community tensions, and stories of overnight wealth and environmental nightmares. The introduction and rapid expansion of hydraulic fracturing technology to develop oil and gas resources in shale plays across the USA has created complex and interrelated socio-economic, biophysical, and geopolitical challenges. In the Marcellus shale region, distinct but interrelated issues of water security, health, energy, and community overlap in the broader socio-ecological system and further illuminate the daunting character of drilling for natural gas and other hydrocarbons. This special issue of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences intentionally focuses on hydrocarbon development in the Marcellus shale, but situates this dialogue in the context of a broader, transdisciplinary approach to realizing a sustainable energy system. The interdisciplinary research published here examines the far-reaching complexities and consequences of the impacts of rapid, intensive natural resource development, including the role that access to information and inclusion in decision making have in connecting the global to the local facilitating critical evaluation of the long-term sustainability of development decisions at multiple scales.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a Sankey diagram of the US energy economy as a novel way to orient students to the entire energy economy, not just individual fuels, and argue that without enhanced energy literacy among both the energy workforce and citizens, society will be hard to make strategic choices about energy.
Abstract: This study argues that enhanced energy education will help resolve the dilemmas of mitigating climate change and thus promote sustainability. Without enhanced energy literacy among both the energy workforce and citizens, society will be hard-pressed to make strategic choices about energy. We build on previous work that defined energy literacy and piloted programs to teach Energy 101 classes. We present a Sankey diagram of the US energy economy as a novel way to orient students to the entire energy economy, not just individual fuels. Higher education must provide two distinct pathways, one for the general education of all students and one for students in programs that specialize in energy in preparation for joining the energy workforce. Four challenges face faculty and administrators: accommodating diversity in the student body, rewarding faculty, building new curricular pathways and courses, and integrating theory and practice. More concerted action is needed despite recent reports of reductions in carbon emissions and some growth of energy education. The changes to date are small, politically contested, and inadequately supported. Institutions need to build new programs and communicate their progress to peers. This paper’s novelty lies in (a) the argument that inadequate energy education hinders the development of sustainability education, (b) the distinctions made between climate and energy education, (c) identification of major steps needed and challenges to be expected in energy education, and (d) the proposition that reform must jointly address both general students and students specializing in energy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how politics and proximity affects Virginia state legislators' perceptions of the saliency of sea level rise (SLR) and suggest areas of further study regarding SLR policy at the state and local government levels.
Abstract: The acceleration of sea level rise (SLR) has become a threat to the stability of nation-states worldwide and associated with risks to environmental sustainability, economic infrastructure, and public health. However, from both an international and U.S. perspective, there is a lack of research examining legislative decision makers’ perceptions about policies regarding SLR. This study addresses that gap by examining how politics and proximity affects Virginia state legislators’ perceptions of the saliency of SLR. A survey of these legislators reveals their perceptions of credible sources of information, SLR-related risk, and who should take the lead to address SLR. While this study confirms other research about the effects of political party, it finds that proximity to coastal areas also greatly influences the perceived saliency of SLR. The findings from this research project enhance our understanding of the challenges inherent in addressing SLR at the state level. Finally, this study points to implications for agenda setting and suggests areas of further study regarding SLR policy at the state and local government levels.
TL;DR: The InTeGrate workshop as discussed by the authors focused on teaching environmental justice as a topic of instruction in environmental studies and the geosciences, with a focus on race, class, and privilege.
Abstract: Environmental justice recognizes the connections between social and environmental concerns and interrogates power dynamics related to environmental issues. Courses in environmental studies and the geosciences provide an opportunity, and perhaps an obligation to explore environmental justice, but few resources exist to help instructors do so effectively. A 2013 interdisciplinary workshop at Carleton College sponsored by InTeGrate—Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future—convened instructors interested in environmental justice as a topic of instruction and produced a series of insights and challenges for doing so. Environmental justice instruction provides opportunities to tackle tough issues of race, class, and privilege in a variety of disciplinary contexts particularly in geoscience courses, where course content regarding hazards, climate change, and other topics may contain social justice components which are not often included in instruction. Teaching environmental justice, though, presents a number of challenges: how can instructors teach the conceptual and theoretical explanations of environmental justice while giving students the necessary tools to address environmental injustices? The InTeGrate workshop provided insights for addressing these challenges and developing materials for future pedagogical use in a variety of higher education contexts.
TL;DR: In this paper, a multidisciplinary approach that draws on policy analysis, spatial and demographic analyses, and life cycle assessment was used to evaluate state-level policies to promote solar installations in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Abstract: The success of alternative energy policies is usually measured in terms of energy capacity. By this metric, state-level policies to promote solar installations in New Jersey and Massachusetts have been a success. To fully evaluate these policies, however, it is necessary to consider how these policy programs are structured and funded, who participates in these programs, and the complete life cycle consequences of “clean” energy technologies. This paper focuses specifically on residential solar installations, which represent more than half of the total US rooftop solar capacity potential. It takes a multidisciplinary approach that draws on policy analysis, spatial and demographic analyses, and life cycle assessment. The analyses reveal three key conclusions: first, state-level policies have shifted from subsidies for solar installations to incentive-based support based on system performance, which has reduced the payback period for residential solar to less than 10 years and has contributed to the growth of third-party leasing companies. Second, communities with low median income and/or a high percentage of non-white residents generally remain at lower than expected levels of participation. Third, while residential solar installations significantly offset greenhouse gas emissions and compounds that harm human respiratory health after 18 months, switching to photovoltaic panels generates a net increase in the production of ecotoxic chemicals. Drawing on these observations, we recommend policy changes to encourage broader geographic and demographic participation, to recognize the importance of solar leasing companies and landlords, and to promote the use of solar panels with lower environmental impacts across the life cycle.
TL;DR: The authors argue that service learning contributes to teaching and learning about cities and sustainability by enriching students' understanding of urban political ecology, including questions of race, gender, and class, through a real-world case study.
Abstract: Sustainability education increasingly emphasizes experiential, high-impact learning practices, and the under- standing that changes in mind-sets, values, and lifestyles are required for the sustainability of a finite planet. In this essay, I discuss service learning as a sustainability education pedago- gy for teachers in higher education interested in teaching and promoting sustainability in an urban environment. I combine examples from scholarly literature with reflections from my students in an undergraduate mid-level environmental service learning course and argue that service learning contributes to teaching and learning about cities and sustainability by enriching students' understanding of urban political ecology. Service learning promotes at least three distinct goals: First, it helps students to explore intricate connections between eco- logical, social, and economic issues, including questions of race, gender, and class, through a real-world case study. Sec- ond, students actively participate in a democratic learning environment, where community stakeholders, students, and professors are invited to analyze, critique, and articulate what they have learned. Third, participation in service learning improvesstudents'senseofefficacytowardachievingsustain- ability goals.
TL;DR: A major step in our evolution occurred when we first began to organize and settle in cities as mentioned in this paper, and with more than half of the world population living in cities and all urban development since those first settlements expected to double by 2060 (UN 2011), cities are now very much the dominant habitat for our species.
Abstract: A major step in our evolution occurred when we first began to organize and settle in cities. With more than half of the world’s population living in cities and all urban development since those first settlements expected to double by 2060 (UN 2011), cities are now very much the dominant habitat for our species. We are faced with a challenge to resolve our domesticated tendencies with resource and space limits of our planet. A fundamental aim of sustainability is to preserve the existence of our species; it is clear that we will need to embrace urbanism as a human quality to achieve that end. Our commitment to a global urban future demands that we move toward more sustainable urbanism. Accomplishing such a goal requires several important steps, all of which expand the fields of environmental and sustainability science and reinforce the value of considering urbanism. First, our relationship to urbanism should be expected to continue. Second, studies of cities and natural systems must recognize their inherent interdependencies. Finally, the local differences that make some cities healthier and ecologically supportive must be better understood. Each of these steps can generate broad research themes for new discovery. Recognizing our urban nature is a prerequisite.
TL;DR: An obligatory validation procedure should clearly articulate the reasoning behind the selection of the surrogate, including describing the similarities in responses by the surrogate and target species to the same environmental phenomena, linking demographic responses to habitat extent and condition.
Abstract: The US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service recently proposed to amend existing regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act’s interagency consultation process by codifying their pre-existing practice of using surrogates to express the amount or extent of incidental take of listed species. The agencies contend that amendments both are necessary as a practical matter and are defensible on ecological grounds. They propose the use of surrogates, either in the form of a substitute species filling in for a species that is challenging to observe or measure, or a land-cover type or another habitat attribute, as proxies for the amount or extent of anticipated take. We contend that the proposed rule leaves the process of surrogate selection and application without essential implementation details and describe five essential steps in surrogate selection and validation. In sum, an obligatory validation procedure should clearly articulate the reasoning behind the selection of the surrogate, including describing the similarities in responses by the surrogate and target species to the same environmental phenomena, linking demographic responses to habitat extent and condition, and describing the uncertainties that accompany the relationship between the status and trends of the surrogate and those of the target species or its habitat under common circumstances.
TL;DR: In this paper, the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and an ally organization known as Neighbors of Ononaga Nation (NOON) as they cooperate to oppose slick water high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as hydrofracking, in the Marcellus Shale.
Abstract: The introduction of an Indigenous perspective by Native spokespeople and their allies is a significant factor in an ongoing legal and discursive struggle over the future of unconventional gas drilling in New York. This paper analyzes the alliance between the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and an ally organization known as Neighbors of Onondaga Nation (NOON) as they cooperate to oppose slick water high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as hydrofracking, in the Marcellus Shale. We trace the history of cooperation between NOON and the Onondaga Nation and locate it in relation to other Native/non-Native alliances. We characterize the responsibility-based approach to law that is suffused throughout Haudenosaunee worldviews and legal systems and contrast it with the rights-based approach of New York State and US environmental and property law, in particular as this rights-based approach structures and constrains the process used to determine the future of hydrofracking in New York. We also consider these differences in the context of Onondaga self-determination and Native American treaty derived sovereignty. We conclude by suggesting that alliances between Native Nations and non-Native organizations might expand opportunities for including Indigenous perspectives on the relationship between society and nature in important decision-making processes.