Protect Transgender Scientists
I am co-author on a letter to Science discussing the need to protect transgender and gender-nonconforming (GnC) scientists in the face of politicized attacks by the Trump administration.
Economic inequality plays an important role in environmental migration
I have a new paper, with Kelsea Best and Bishawjit Mallick, in which we used pattern-oriented agent-based modeling to study environmentally-driven migration in rural Bangladesh and found that economic inequality in rural villages plays a crucial role.
Actions by Households Play a Surprisingly Large and Cost-Effective Role in IRA/IIJA Emissions Reductions
Mariah Caballero, Mike Vandenbergh, Elodie Currier, and I have a paper analyzing the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). These laws include incentives for households to take voluntary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as buying electric cars and performing energy-efficiency home renovations. We found that these incentives account for only around 11% of spending, but the household actions they stimulate are expected to produce around 40% of total emissions reductions.
These results confirm previous studies which found that incentives for individuals and households to voluntarily adopt energy efficiency actions can make powerful contributions to climate and energy policy, and should be emphasized in future policy proposals.
New paper on the sustianability of the Bengal delta
I have a new paper, led by Jess Raff, that analyzes sediment transport and sediment budgets in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, and assesses the implications of sediment flow for sustainability in the face of sea-level rise and the diversion and damming of major rivers.
New paper on employers who offer energy efficiency benefits to their employees
I have a new paper in the journal Energy Efficiency, co-authored with Alex Maki, Emmett McKinney, Mike Vandenbergh, and Mark Cohen, about employers who offer employee benefits to promote energy efficiency.
Political leaning influences city water policies as strongly as climate
Urban water conservation policies are reflecting the nation’s political polarization, with a new report demonstrating that a city’s water ordinances can be as much related to whether it leans left or right as to whether the climate is wet or dry.
Vanderbilt University environmental researchers found Los Angeles ranks No. 1 for number and strength of policies, followed by six other left-leaning California cities along with Austin, Texas. It takes until San Antonio, Texas, at No. 8 to find a right-leaning city with strong water conservation policies—probably because the amount of water it can withdraw from the Edwards Aquifer is strictly limited, said the study’s lead author, Jonathan Gilligan, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences.
Urban Water Conservation Policies in the United States
Cities face challenges on many fronts as they work to assure their residents of safe and reliable access to water. Changes in both supply and demand are driven by complex interactions among many human and natural factors, such as drought, infrastructure, population growth, and land-use. Climate change adds new complexities and uncertainties as cities plan for the future. In the past, challenges to water security were addressed by Promethean energy- and technology-intensive infrastructure projects, such as long-distance transfers, desalination, and artificial aquifer recharge; but in recent years, attention to soft approaches has grown. Soft approaches to water security focus on improving efficiency in obtaining and consuming water, and as John Fleck documented in his book, Water Is for Fighting Over, a number of cities have made impressive progress toward resilience and sustaniability.