Posts
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Ancient Leaves Link Loss of Antarctic Ice to a CO2 Spike
Twenty-three million years ago, the Antarctic Ice Sheet began to shrink, going from an expanse larger than today’s to one about half its modern size. Ancient fossilized leaves retrieved from a lake bed in New Zealand now show for the first time that carbon dioxide levels increased dramatically over a relatively short period of time…
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Tunisia Says Yes to Resource Contract Transparency
Tunisia’s commitment to disclose extractive industry contracts was a critical step in promoting improved governance in Tunisia’s natural resources sector, as well as an important move toward improving trust between the government, investors and extractive project-affected communities.
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Protecting Indigenous Land Rights Makes Good Economic Sense
Indigenous peoples and other communities hold and manage 50 to 65 percent of the world’s land, yet governments recognize only 10 percent as legally belonging to these groups, with another 8 percent designated by governments for communities. That’s bad economic policy.
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Urban Sustainability and the Sharing Economy
A growing aspect of sustainable urban living is the “sharing economy.” Sharing has always been a part of urban life; we have long shared books in public libraries, nature in parks, and seats on the stoops of row houses. But in the past few years, cities have seen a significant revival and acceleration in sharing…
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Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate
On Oct. 5, several small mountain countries with glaciers—Austria, Bolivia, and Nepal—undertook an important step in advancing global action on climate change. They helped the Paris Climate Agreement reach the threshold to enter into force and become legally binding.
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ESP Alumni Gabe Cowles: the MPA ESP Investment
Recognized as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star on the Albany 2016 list, Gabriel Cowles, Masters in Public Administration Environmental Science and Policy alumnus (2009), is the program manager for Build Smart NY, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to improve energy efficiency in state facilities by 20 percent by 2020. In just the first year, state…
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Faculty Profile: Edward Lloyd
Many young law school students dream of one day arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court or of teaching a classroom full of bright future activists who will use their legal skills to defend environmental causes and advocate for human rights. Professor Edward Lloyd is one of few lawyers who, in a vocation…
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Climate Change Has Doubled Western U.S. Forest Fires, Says Study
More Aridity Is Sending Thousands of Square Miles Up in Flames
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Trade Deals and the Paris Climate Agreement
With the approval of the Paris Climate Agreement comes a key question: Do our trade and investment agreements—current and proposed—create the space, send the right signals, and clear the path for the U.S. and other countries to meet their Paris commitments?
