Socioecology Research Today

The Supreme Court’s recently issued Tarrant v. Hermann decision presents an interesting case study of river withdrawal rights, a body of law that will probably be getting more attention both domestically and internationally as hydrology patterns and population demands fluctuate in the future. I will not discuss the facts of the case as these are [...]

Military base closures have left 600,000 acres of U.S. land contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Recent research has demonstrated a method for quantifying the probability of residual UXO harming future land users. Here, we explore how a community neighboring a closed, UXO-contaminated military base responds to the probabilistic risk information this method produces. We explore [...]

Stratospheric ozone loss is on course to become a solved environmental problem, with all significant producing countries (including China and India) undertaking complete phase-outs of ozone-depleting substances. The universal concurrence and speed with which ozone loss has been addressed are sometimes heralded as signs that effective international agreements on other problems of the global commons [...]

One of the prominent features of contemporary society is an increased anxiety over risks. The potentially adverse effects of industrial development and technological innovation are the subject of widespread social concern, leading to a surge in the number of ‘risk disputes’ that involve novel technologies and projected environmental catastrophes. These ‘risk disputes’ are taking place [...]

In a report released yesterday, the Bar Association makes these proposals related to environmental issues in New York City: II. INFRASTRUCTURE, THE ENVIRONMENT AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 A. Continue to Pursue an Ambitious Environmental Agenda ……………………………. 11 1. Continue to Advocate for Municipal, National and Global Action on Climate Change …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 2. Encourage [...]

The major obstacles to promoting biodiesel blends in marine transportation are examined in this study. The strategies proposed to overcome these obstacles include the comprehensive field testing of the biodiesel blends in marine vessels of various representative types, establishing a marine-grade biodiesel specification, increasing the price competitiveness of marine-grade biodiesel by reducing its manufacturing costs, [...]

This article focuses on uneven development within emerging economies. The result of this unevenness, which often separates urban from rural populations, is that emerging economies contain two large groups: one that is enjoying rapid economic growth and begins to see a trajectory toward developed country lifestyles, and another that is lagging behind and is still [...]

Here’s one compliance scenario for the 36 billion ethanol equivalent gallons and commentary on the likelihood of each sub-sector target being reached. Can the US still meet its 2022 biofuels targets? : Biofuels Digest

In Washington, the US Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule qualifying biofuels produced from camelina oil as biomass-based diesel or advanced biofuel, as well as biofuels from energy cane which qualify as cellulosic biofuel.This final rule also qualifies renewable gasoline and renewable gasoline blendstock made from certain qualifying feedstocks as cellulosic biofuel.“This decision adds [...]

Global environmental governance is widely regarded as suffering from process- and outcome-related shortcomings, above all problems with transparency, representation, and problem-solving capacity. These problems, whether presumed or real, have negative implications for popular legitimacy of (i.e., public support for) global environmental governance. One of the most frequently proposed remedies, in this context, is greater involvement [...]