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• 1. [Article] Transgenic Crops: An Environmental Assessment

  The report focuses on the environmental impacts of transgenic crops, and covers biosafety regulations in the US and EU, intellectual property rights, and market and trade developments.

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Transgenic Crops: An Environmental Assessment Author: Ervin, David E., Batie, Sandra S., Welsh, Rick, Carpentier, Chantal L., Fern, Jacqueline I., Richman, Nessa J., Schulz, Mary A. Year: 2000 The report focuses on the environmental impacts of transgenic crops, and covers biosafety regulations in the US and EU, intellectual property rights, and market and trade developments. Title: Transgenic Crops: An Environmental Assessment Author: Ervin, David E., Batie, Sandra S., Welsh, Rick, Carpentier, Chantal L., Fern, Jacqueline I., Richman, Nessa J., Schulz, Mary A. Year: 2000 The report focuses on the environmental impacts of transgenic crops, and covers biosafety regulations in the US and EU, intellectual property rights, and market and trade developments. Close

• 2. [Article] Leaner Environmental Policies for Agriculture

  Farmers and ranchers face a most troubling dilemma. Complex political forces have mapped two quite different paths to environmental management-a rollback of federal regulations or a buildup of traditional ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Leaner Environmental Policies for Agriculture Author: Ervin, David E., Graffy, Elisabeth A. Year: 1996 Farmers and ranchers face a most troubling dilemma. Complex political forces have mapped two quite different paths to environmental management-a rollback of federal regulations or a buildup of traditional subsidies. In the words of a famous modern philosopher, "When you reach a fork in the road, take it!" But either choice poses risk for the industry and will not likely ameliorate nettlesome environmental problems. A third path could help the industry maintain competitiveness and meet environmental challenges. This path uses me latest science to identify agroenvironmental problems and emphasizes economically attractive technology to sustain environmental improvements. Title: Leaner Environmental Policies for Agriculture Author: Ervin, David E., Graffy, Elisabeth A. Year: 1996 Farmers and ranchers face a most troubling dilemma. Complex political forces have mapped two quite different paths to environmental management-a rollback of federal regulations or a buildup of traditional subsidies. In the words of a famous modern philosopher, "When you reach a fork in the road, take it!" But either choice poses risk for the industry and will not likely ameliorate nettlesome environmental problems. A third path could help the industry maintain competitiveness and meet environmental challenges. This path uses me latest science to identify agroenvironmental problems and emphasizes economically attractive technology to sustain environmental improvements. Close

• 3. [Article] The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon

  In this article the authors comment on the oil spill incident from the Deepwater Horizon, particularly on its economic and ecological damages. The authors highlighted the disaster as an event wherein much ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon Author: Costanza, Robert, Batker, David, Day, John W., Feagin, Rusty A., Martinez, M. Luisa, Roman, Joe Year: 2010 In this article the authors comment on the oil spill incident from the Deepwater Horizon, particularly on its economic and ecological damages. The authors highlighted the disaster as an event wherein much is needed to be learned so that future oil spills can be avoided. One lesson refers to the valuability of natural capital assets and other public entities that are at risks due to private interests and that better regulations and incentives are needed to protect these assets against risks. Title: The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon Author: Costanza, Robert, Batker, David, Day, John W., Feagin, Rusty A., Martinez, M. Luisa, Roman, Joe Year: 2010 In this article the authors comment on the oil spill incident from the Deepwater Horizon, particularly on its economic and ecological damages. The authors highlighted the disaster as an event wherein much is needed to be learned so that future oil spills can be avoided. One lesson refers to the valuability of natural capital assets and other public entities that are at risks due to private interests and that better regulations and incentives are needed to protect these assets against risks. Close

• 4. [Article] Toward a new sustainable economy

  The current financial meltdown is the result of under-regulated markets built on an ideology of free market capitalism and unlimited economic growth. The fundamental problem is that the underlying assumptions ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Toward a new sustainable economy Author: Costanza, Robert Year: 2009 The current financial meltdown is the result of under-regulated markets built on an ideology of free market capitalism and unlimited economic growth. The fundamental problem is that the underlying assumptions of this ideology are not consistent with what we now know about the real state of the world. The financial world is, in essence, a set of markers for goods, services, and risks in the real world and when those markers are allowed to deviate too far from reality, ?adjustments? must ultimately follow and crisis and panic can ensue. To solve this and future financial crisis requires that we reconnect the markers with reality. What are our real assets and how valuable are they? To do this requires both a new vision of what the economy is and what it is for, proper and comprehensive accounting of real assets, and new institutions that use the market in its proper role of servant rather than master. Title: Toward a new sustainable economy Author: Costanza, Robert Year: 2009 The current financial meltdown is the result of under-regulated markets built on an ideology of free market capitalism and unlimited economic growth. The fundamental problem is that the underlying assumptions of this ideology are not consistent with what we now know about the real state of the world. The financial world is, in essence, a set of markers for goods, services, and risks in the real world and when those markers are allowed to deviate too far from reality, ?adjustments? must ultimately follow and crisis and panic can ensue. To solve this and future financial crisis requires that we reconnect the markers with reality. What are our real assets and how valuable are they? To do this requires both a new vision of what the economy is and what it is for, proper and comprehensive accounting of real assets, and new institutions that use the market in its proper role of servant rather than master. Close

• 5. [Article] Gathering “Wild” Food in the City: Rethinking the Role of Foraging in Urban Ecosystem Planning and Management

  Recent “green” planning initiatives envision food production, including urban agriculture and livestock production, as desirable elements of sustainable cities. We use an integrated urban political ecology ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Gathering “Wild” Food in the City: Rethinking the Role of Foraging in Urban Ecosystem Planning and Management Author: McLain, Rebecca J., Hurley, Patrick T., Emery, Marla R., Poe, Melissa R. Year: 2013 Recent “green” planning initiatives envision food production, including urban agriculture and livestock production, as desirable elements of sustainable cities. We use an integrated urban political ecology and human–plant geographies framework to explore how foraging for “wild” foods in cities, a subversive practice that challenges prevailing views about the roles of humans in urban green spaces, has potential to also support sustainability goals. Drawing on research from Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, we show that foraging is a vibrant and ongoing practice among diverse urban residents in the USA. At the same time, as reflected in regulations, planning practices, and attitudes of conservation practitioners, it is conceptualised as out of place in urban landscapes and an activity to be discouraged. We discuss how paying attention to urban foraging spaces and practices can strengthen green space planning and summarise opportunities for and challenges associated with including foragers and their concerns. Title: Gathering “Wild” Food in the City: Rethinking the Role of Foraging in Urban Ecosystem Planning and Management Author: McLain, Rebecca J., Hurley, Patrick T., Emery, Marla R., Poe, Melissa R. Year: 2013 Recent “green” planning initiatives envision food production, including urban agriculture and livestock production, as desirable elements of sustainable cities. We use an integrated urban political ecology and human–plant geographies framework to explore how foraging for “wild” foods in cities, a subversive practice that challenges prevailing views about the roles of humans in urban green spaces, has potential to also support sustainability goals. Drawing on research from Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, we show that foraging is a vibrant and ongoing practice among diverse urban residents in the USA. At the same time, as reflected in regulations, planning practices, and attitudes of conservation practitioners, it is conceptualised as out of place in urban landscapes and an activity to be discouraged. We discuss how paying attention to urban foraging spaces and practices can strengthen green space planning and summarise opportunities for and challenges associated with including foragers and their concerns. Close

• 6. [Article] The Role of Habitat Restoration and Conservation in the Changing Socio-economic Conditions of Grant County, Oregon

  Habitat restoration has socio-economic as well as biophysical impacts. In Grant County, Oregon a recent influx of funding and technical resources for habitat restoration has led to focused monitoring efforts ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The Role of Habitat Restoration and Conservation in the Changing Socio-economic Conditions of Grant County, Oregon Author: Senkyr, Kristen Lauren Year: 2012 Habitat restoration has socio-economic as well as biophysical impacts. In Grant County, Oregon a recent influx of funding and technical resources for habitat restoration has led to focused monitoring efforts there to better understand the impacts. This study explores how local land use and land management practices are changing in Grant County as a result of restoration and other drivers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 landowners, land managers, and long time residents to document the change they have observed and identify how they are adapting. The results suggest that many interconnected social, economic, and ecological changes have taken place in Grant County in the recent past, of which the increased focus on restoration and conservation is just one. Other significant changes include the decline of the timber industry, shifting land ownership patterns, intensified regulation of natural resources, and increased environmental awareness. Ways that the community is adapting and additional ways in which they might more successfully adapt to these changes were identified. Recommendations for how to contribute to a more resilient Grant County are presented for the regulatory, academic, and scientific communities. Title: The Role of Habitat Restoration and Conservation in the Changing Socio-economic Conditions of Grant County, Oregon Author: Senkyr, Kristen Lauren Year: 2012 Habitat restoration has socio-economic as well as biophysical impacts. In Grant County, Oregon a recent influx of funding and technical resources for habitat restoration has led to focused monitoring efforts there to better understand the impacts. This study explores how local land use and land management practices are changing in Grant County as a result of restoration and other drivers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 landowners, land managers, and long time residents to document the change they have observed and identify how they are adapting. The results suggest that many interconnected social, economic, and ecological changes have taken place in Grant County in the recent past, of which the increased focus on restoration and conservation is just one. Other significant changes include the decline of the timber industry, shifting land ownership patterns, intensified regulation of natural resources, and increased environmental awareness. Ways that the community is adapting and additional ways in which they might more successfully adapt to these changes were identified. Recommendations for how to contribute to a more resilient Grant County are presented for the regulatory, academic, and scientific communities. Close

• 7. [Article] Ecosystem Services in Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, and Cross-Regional Patterns

  Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Ecosystem Services in Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, and Cross-Regional Patterns Author: Larson, Kelli L., Morse, Jennifer L., Groffman, Peter M., Bettez, Neil D., Trammell, Tara Year: 2016 Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems—namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively value various ecosystem services, 2) explore distinctive dimensions of those values, and 3) test the urban homogenization hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that urbanization leads to similarities in the social-ecological dynamics across cities in diverse biomes. By extension, the thesis suggests that residents’ ecosystem service priorities for residential landscapes will be similar regardless of whether residents live in the humid East or the arid West, or the warm South or the cold North. Results underscored that cultural services were of utmost importance, particularly anthropocentric values including aesthetics, low-maintenance, and personal enjoyment. Using factor analyses, distinctive dimensions of residents’ values were found to partially align with the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s categories (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural). Finally, residents’ ecosystem service priorities exhibited significant homogenization across regions. In particular, the traditional lawn aesthetic (neat, green, weed-free yards) was similarly important across residents of diverse U.S. cities. Only a few exceptions were found across different environmental and social contexts; for example, cooling effects were more important in the warm South, where residents also valued aesthetics more than those in the North, where low-maintenance yards were a greater priority. Title: Ecosystem Services in Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, and Cross-Regional Patterns Author: Larson, Kelli L., Morse, Jennifer L., Groffman, Peter M., Bettez, Neil D., Trammell, Tara Year: 2016 Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems—namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively value various ecosystem services, 2) explore distinctive dimensions of those values, and 3) test the urban homogenization hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that urbanization leads to similarities in the social-ecological dynamics across cities in diverse biomes. By extension, the thesis suggests that residents’ ecosystem service priorities for residential landscapes will be similar regardless of whether residents live in the humid East or the arid West, or the warm South or the cold North. Results underscored that cultural services were of utmost importance, particularly anthropocentric values including aesthetics, low-maintenance, and personal enjoyment. Using factor analyses, distinctive dimensions of residents’ values were found to partially align with the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s categories (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural). Finally, residents’ ecosystem service priorities exhibited significant homogenization across regions. In particular, the traditional lawn aesthetic (neat, green, weed-free yards) was similarly important across residents of diverse U.S. cities. Only a few exceptions were found across different environmental and social contexts; for example, cooling effects were more important in the warm South, where residents also valued aesthetics more than those in the North, where low-maintenance yards were a greater priority. Close

• 8. [Article] A Global Investigation of Stakeholder and Contextual Influences on Firm Engagement in Sustainability

  Global sustainability issues cross all sectors of society, including businesses, governments, and communities and come with substantial costs. Business organizations are increasingly expected to address ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A Global Investigation of Stakeholder and Contextual Influences on Firm Engagement in Sustainability Author: Nemetz, Annette M. Year: 2014 Global sustainability issues cross all sectors of society, including businesses, governments, and communities and come with substantial costs. Business organizations are increasingly expected to address sustainability issues in a responsible manner and to disclose socially responsible behaviors accurately and transparently, showing that they are effective at managing and being proactive about sustainability challenges. In light of these pressures and expectations for business organizations, the fundamental research question for this study was whether variation existed in the levels of engagement in sustainability efforts across firms globally, and, more importantly, why such variation existed. The level of strategic firm engagement in sustainability was proposed to be influenced by stakeholders and other factors that had relevance to sustainability. Three types of stakeholders with the potential power and legitimacy for influencing strategic decisions regarding firm engagement in sustainability were investigated - executive management, community and government. Multiple firm-related and country-related contextual factors were also investigated as influencers. The study was global in nature, consisting of four hundred companies in twenty-five countries. Stakeholder theory, as the foundation of the investigation, was supported by the results of the study. Executive management, community, and government as stakeholders were found to have significant influence on the level of firm engagement in sustainability. Firm size, country economy, country technological readiness, country fossil fuel dependence, and industry sector were also found to have significant influence on the level of firm engagement in sustainability and approximately 26% of the variation in firm sustainability engagement was accounted for by the combined influence of executive management, government and community as stakeholder influences and firm size and country technological readiness as contextual factors. Specific findings showed that there were higher levels of firm engagement in sustainability when executive management provided explicit support for sustainability as a strategic issue, in communities with positive supportive norms for sustainability and a higher propensity for citizen-based political action and when there was an optimal level of government regulation and formalized institutional power. Other factors that led to higher levels of firm engagement in sustainability were for firms in energy-related and automotive industry sectors, for larger firms based on revenue size, and for firms with headquarters located in countries with developed economies and higher technological readiness. Title: A Global Investigation of Stakeholder and Contextual Influences on Firm Engagement in Sustainability Author: Nemetz, Annette M. Year: 2014 Global sustainability issues cross all sectors of society, including businesses, governments, and communities and come with substantial costs. Business organizations are increasingly expected to address sustainability issues in a responsible manner and to disclose socially responsible behaviors accurately and transparently, showing that they are effective at managing and being proactive about sustainability challenges. In light of these pressures and expectations for business organizations, the fundamental research question for this study was whether variation existed in the levels of engagement in sustainability efforts across firms globally, and, more importantly, why such variation existed. The level of strategic firm engagement in sustainability was proposed to be influenced by stakeholders and other factors that had relevance to sustainability. Three types of stakeholders with the potential power and legitimacy for influencing strategic decisions regarding firm engagement in sustainability were investigated - executive management, community and government. Multiple firm-related and country-related contextual factors were also investigated as influencers. The study was global in nature, consisting of four hundred companies in twenty-five countries. Stakeholder theory, as the foundation of the investigation, was supported by the results of the study. Executive management, community, and government as stakeholders were found to have significant influence on the level of firm engagement in sustainability. Firm size, country economy, country technological readiness, country fossil fuel dependence, and industry sector were also found to have significant influence on the level of firm engagement in sustainability and approximately 26% of the variation in firm sustainability engagement was accounted for by the combined influence of executive management, government and community as stakeholder influences and firm size and country technological readiness as contextual factors. Specific findings showed that there were higher levels of firm engagement in sustainability when executive management provided explicit support for sustainability as a strategic issue, in communities with positive supportive norms for sustainability and a higher propensity for citizen-based political action and when there was an optimal level of government regulation and formalized institutional power. Other factors that led to higher levels of firm engagement in sustainability were for firms in energy-related and automotive industry sectors, for larger firms based on revenue size, and for firms with headquarters located in countries with developed economies and higher technological readiness. Close