Brief #159 – Environmental Policy Brief
by Inijah Quadri
In a world demanding urgent action on climate change, youth activists are going beyond marching…Are we on the cusp of a new era of environmental litigation?
Environment
Extreme Heat Ravages Arizona
Brief #158 – Environmental Policy Brief
by Carlos Avalos
NASA reported July 2023 as Hottest Month on Record Ever Since 1880…
Carbon Taxes: Balancing Climate Change Mitigation with Sustainable Economic Growth
Brief #157 – Environmental Policy Brief
by Inijah Quadri
Carbon tax implementation has emerged as a pivotal tool for promoting a transition towards a greener economy.
Temperatures are going up as the trees are coming down
Brief #156 – Environment Policy Brief
by Todd J. Broadman
There is good research to suggest that there is a tipping point in which the Amazon can become too dry due to lack of rainfall and turn into savanna.
Wetlands Protection Under Attack as a Result of New Supreme Court Decision
Brief #155 – Environment Policy
by Todd J. Broadman
SCOTUS has been taking up cases that concern the scope of EPA (as well as other agencies’) authority. The Court’s ruling on a recent case – Sackett vs. EPA – will have environmental protection implications for decades to come.
Can a UN Treaty Curtail Industrial Revolution on the High Seas?
Brief #154 – Environmental Policy
by Todd J. Broadman
Oceans make up over 70% of the Earth’s surface and contain 95% of total habitat – only 9% of which has been classified. Most of that watery habitat lies unprotected from human exploitation.
A Third of the Population Continue to Cook our Planet
Brief #153 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
The methods that many humans apply to cooking their food are proving to have a substantial effect on our environment and health. About 2.4 billion people cook food using a “dirty” biomass method of cooking which uses wood, animal dung, and charcoal fire pits or kerosene stoves.
America’s Old-Growth Forests in Need of New Protections
Brief #152 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
Just over a third of what remains as forested land in America is classified as “old-growth forest,” equivalent to 167 million acres. By definition, old-growth is at least 80 years old, and just 24% of old-growth forest is fully protected – the balance exposed to the risk of logging. 58 million acres of this old-growth forest are on federal lands under management by either the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.
The Latest Spill Finds Politicians Ankle Deep in Tar Sands Oil
Brief #151 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
Since the beginning of its operations in 2010, the Keystone pipeline has experienced 22 oil spills totaling 26,000 barrels of tar sands oil leaked into the surrounding land and water. The pipeline traverses approximately 2,700 miles, starting from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada and terminating at refinery locations in the Midwest and Oklahoma. The pipeline’s owner and operator is TC Energy.
The Move Away from Plastic is Looking Just as Flimsy
Brief #150 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
We are a world addicted to plastic, the most perceivable, persistent and pervasive indicator of the Anthropocene. Plastics are produced from natural gas, feedstocks derived from natural gas processing, and each year more is produced. The current production rate is 400 million metric tons and is the source of 5% of CO2 emissions. By 2030 it will be 600 million metric tons, and 800 by 2040.
Americans Find Toxic Water at The Bottom of Their Well
Brief #149 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
Worldwide, 1 in 10 people cannot access clean water within a 30-minute walk from their home and by 2030 this situation is projected to grow and displace up to 700 million. Closer to home, as the water treatment infrastructure in the U.S. continues to deteriorate, many Americans are facing a similar plight.
Environmental Provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act
Brief #148 – Environment Policy
By Jacob Morton
On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, H.R. 5376. The new law is a scaled-back version of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better Act, intended to reduce the national deficit and lower inflation while investing in domestic energy production, creating jobs, and lowering healthcare drug costs. Here is a look at how the new law impacts U.S. environmental and climate policy.