Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy: Plan A and Plan B Papers

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    Minimizing Methylmercury Exposure in the Hmong Community from Sport-Caught Fish Consumption in Minnesota
    (Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2008-06) Endreson, Daniel
    Due to increasing levels of mercury emissions throughout the world, there is an increased threat to the human population from methylmercury, a biomethylated derivative of mercury. Methylmercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that can have adverse effects on the central nervous system and behavioral centers of the brain. Humans can become exposed to methylmercury through consumption of contaminated fish from polluted waters. Many states, including Minnesota, use fish consumption advisories to warn the public of methylmercury exposure, but these advisories may not always reach at-risk segments of the population. The Hmong community in the Twin Cities consumes a high quantity of sport-caught fish for a variety of reasons, including a desire to maintain cultural identity, recreation, or economic necessity, even though fish consumption advisories warn against such actions. Four alternatives were considered to provide better protection to the Hmong community from methylmercury exposure – (1) continue the use of fish consumption advisories as developed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), (2) alter the current program by reallocating advisory education efforts from state agencies to local governmental units and organizations, (3) impose a ban on the consumption of all fish from methylmercury-impaired waters in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, and (4) establish more Asian-specific food shelves in the Twin Cities area to provide food alternatives to sport-caught fish. Each of these alternatives were evaluated using six criteria – safety effectiveness, program awareness, social and cultural acceptability, administrative operability, program cost, and health benefit. This report concludes that efforts taken by the MDH in educating Hmong anglers have the promise of being effective in reducing methylmercury exposure from fish consumption. However, based on theories of risk perception and communication, more needs to be done at both the state and local level to effectively target this specific subpopulation in Minnesota.
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    Bioenergy Incentive Options for Minnesota Farmers: A Policy Perspective
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2008-09-11) Gangeness, Bjorn
    Programs that support farmers interested in growing perennial bioenergy crops do not currently exist in Minnesota. Perennial bioenergy production faces many hurdles technologically and market‐wise but the current social climate seems to be leading toward more concerted development in the direction of renewable energy. Cost‐sharing and Annual Rental Payment programs exist in various forms supporting other environmental objectives and they are used in this paper to project their applicability to bioenergy development specifically. Carbon markets are also discussed as a potential source of support. After considering the analysis, it seems that a functional market for selling energy crops must exist before any real change can occur, but an establishment cost‐share program would go the furthest in helping farmers get started in farming these types of crops. Getting an early start in helping farmers adopt these practices may position Minnesota in a favorable position in an impending carbon‐constrained economy.
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    Waste 2.0: Environmental Issues in the Use of Refurbished Computers for Development
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-20) Cayford, Steven
    An increasingly common strategy for promoting development over the past decade or more has been that of donating used computers to organizations in developing countries. Some organizations, such as Computer Aid International and World Computer Exchange, do this as a non-profit venture while companies such as Free- Com and Device Global do so on a for-profit basis (Bridges.org, 2004). In either case the fundamental process is the same: people or organizations in the more developed countries donate their used computers after the machines have reached their expected usable lifetime. This lifetime is usually three to four years for computers donated by companies and perhaps more for those donated by individuals. Considering that computers have an overall average lifetime of perhaps eight years, this leaves four or five years of functionality in the machine. Rather than dispose of this functional equipment, the machines are donated to organizations that sort them, do various amounts of refurbishment, and then ship them overseas. Of course those who donate used machines are not doing it solely out of altruism. Development of computer equipment progresses so rapidly that machines that are only four years old possess just a fraction of the capability of new machines and will quickly begin to experience problems with the latest versions of software applications written for newer generations of computers. Rather than expend maintenance energy on computers increasingly unable to handle the latest software, computer owners consider upgrading every three or four years simply part of the cost of ownership. The computers being shipped overseas are by definition obsolete, and yet they are still functional. Considering the financial constraints in developing countries it clearly makes sense from a private economic perspective to purchase obsolete but functional computers at low cost—or even better, to receive the machines free or for the cost of shipping. Since the fundamental principles of personal computer operation have changed little over the last 20 years, older computers still exhibit similar educational potential both for end users and technical staff. The used machines may not run the latest software, but they run some software and that is better than nothing. They may break down at a higher rate than new computers, but to ingenious computer lab managers in developing countries, failing equipment is simply an opportunity to teach hardware maintenance skills. On the face of it, shipping used computers to organizations in developing countries is a win win proposition. Those donating the machines have them taken off their hands—generally at no cost—and get warm recognition for helping to “bridge the digital divide,” while those on the receiving end get usable equipment at low cost. But this private economic perspective is too simplistic and overlooks the possibility of external societal costs. Ultimately the donated computers will be scrapped when no more use can be coaxed out of them. What happens to them at that point? Are they dumped in a landfill and left to leach out toxic material into the ground water? Are they broken down for recyclable materials, exposing local communities and those doing the processing to toxic dust and smoke? What environmental costs may they impose on the society they were intended to assist? And how can these environmental costs be balanced against the societal benefits of the computers? Further inspection of the transportation of used computers reveals that the non-profit scenario described above makes up only a small portion of the overall trade. The larger portion of the sector is driven by the private economic interests of companies and individuals seeking to profit from the exchange of used computers. Private, profit-seeking companies may be more prone than non-profit organizations to ignore the environmental and societal externalities of the trade. As a report by the Basel Action Network (BAN) says, “[t]he reality is that this burgeoning new trade is not driven by altruism, but rather by the immense profits that can be made through it, and those involved are oblivious to or unconcerned with its adverse consequences.” (Puckett, 2005, p. 2) Within the for-profit sector there is a division between a few large companies like Freecom and Device Global, which appear to see their mission much as the non-profits do, and innumerable small outfits interested in just shipping computers for profit. Although it may be impossible to quantify the effects of computer end-of-life issues to the degree necessary to compare them with the economic benefits incurred from computer use, it is only reasonable for the donating entities, processors, and recipients to consider these issues when deciding what machines to donate, process, and accept. This paper describes the primary benefits and costs of using refurbished computer equipment for development and places these costs and benefits in the context of the electronic waste issues. The paper does not reach strictly quantifiable conclusions, but frames the issues and indicates what concerns stake-holders should consider when deciding whether and to what extent to utilize refurbished computers. This approach necessarily examines the societal costs and benefits in addition to private concerns, which may hold weight for those interested in using refurbished computers for development and are interested in societal changes, not simply private benefits—particularly government and non-profit agencies.
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    Renewable Hydrogen: A Cost and Policy Analysis
    (Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-07-14) Haltiwanger, Julia
    The cost of hydrogen produced via the Zn=ZnO solar thermochemical cycle is compared to the cost of hydrogen produced via steam methane reforming and via electrolysis combined with wind and photovoltaic electricity. Prior work projects that H2 produced by the Zn=ZnO cycle will cost between $5 (7) and $8 (28) per kilogram. In comparison, electrolysis combined with wind is calculated to cost between $4:76=kg and $5:60=kg, and electrolysis with PV electricity is calculated to cost between $13:30=kg and $21=kg. Hydrogen pro- duced by SMR is found to cost between $2=kg and $4=kg. The cost di#27;erence between H2 produced via SMR and via the Zn=ZnO cycle is too great to be overcome with a carbon tax. Thus, policies that lead to public and private investment in the new technology will be necessary if the technology is ever to become cost competitive. The time frame for the Zn=ZnO cycle to become economically viable is assessed through the use of experience curves under di#27;erent policy scenarios. Future costs of hydrogen produced via the Zn=ZnO cycle are projected for progress ratios of 0:77, 0:82, and 0:87 using initial cost and batch sizes predicted in the literature (28). Future cost of hydrogen produced by SMR are predicted assuming increasing costs due to the rising cost of methane mitigated by a learning e#27;ect on the SMR plant operation and maintenance costs. Under the minimal input policy scenario, a small scale plant (producing 50 kg hr ) goes on-line in 2040 and a mid-sized plant (producing 250 kg hr ) goes on-line in 2070. Under this policy, and PR = 0:82, the Zn=ZnO cycle is expected to become cost competitive by 2070. Under the mid-range policy, the small scale and medium scale plants begin operating in 2025 and 2040, respectively. In this case, the Zn=ZnO cycle becomes cost competitive by 2050, again assuming PR = 0:82. Under the aggressive policy, the small scale plant begins operating in 2016, the medium scale plant goes on line in 2020, and a large scale plant (producing 792 kg hr ) goes on line in 2030. Under the aggressive policy scenario, the Zn=ZnO cycle becomes cost competitive in 2032. A sensitivity analysis on the assumptions used to predict these break even points indicates that the conclusions are relatively robust to 10% changes in the assumptions, with the exception of the progress ratio, which is accurate within 10 years given 5% changes in the assumed value.
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    Evaluating utility benefits of custom owned and sited photovoltaics
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-11-18) Miller, Stacy
    There is growing interest in grid-connected, customer owned solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and considerable disagreement about how to determine the value of grid- connected PV. The solar industry asserts that utilities should support customer-sited PV systems because of the high correlation between solar energy production and peaking loads. Some utilities maintain that a utility realizes no net benefit from PV above wholesale value of the electricity because the utility must still maintain adequate infrastructure to meet the PV owner’s peak demand. This paper evaluates the benefits of solar energy delivered by customer owned and sited PV systems on a monetary basis from the utility’s perspective by examining the capacity of the solar resource to deliver during times of high spot market prices. The analysis is completed for the Minneapolis Saint Paul electricity market using a single PV system’s electricity production data correlated with regional wholesale pricing data to identify whether PV can reduce utility exposure to spot market pricing, thereby creating value to the utility to purchase power from solar producers.
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    Maximizing Minnesota’s Competitiveness through Technological Innovation
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2010-05-21) Ryu, Youngbok
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    Nanotechnology Geoengineering - An Upstream Technology Assessment of Two Converging Technology
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2010-05-26) Hollenkamp, Lucas
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    Rhetoric and System Dynamics Modeling
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2010-08-02) Johnson, Roxanne
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    Policy Considerations for Green Nanotechnology: A Case Study of Nanosilver
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2011-06-21) Lynch, Daniel
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    Environmental Protection in Madagascar: An Evaluation of Program Viability
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2011-06-21) Wingen, Andrew
    Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot with many species found nowhere else on the planet. The island hosts many different climates, ranging from dry forests and savannah to tropical rainforests. Much like the Galapagos Islands, the results of Madagascar’s unique evolutionary history are highly coveted among scientists and international aid organizations. Much effort has been put into conserving the island’s ecoregions, especially following its nonalignment with the Soviet Union. Aside from recent international interest for conservation in Madagascar, the country has had a functioning environmental protection program for more than a century. The Madagascar environmental program has been historically protective, either incidentally or directly, of this biodiversity at the policy level, but enforcement has often lagged behind policy declarations. Since the mid-19th century, many environmental laws sought to exclude people from using forest resources outright. Between 2002 and 2009, environmental laws in Madagascar began to shift from seeking to exclude local people from natural resources to creating contracts for sustainable natural resource use. This transition of environmental law, coupled with a presidential political crisis that began in January of 2009, has been tenuous. It’s the second time environmental law has shifted tremendously in the past two decades. During this time, the Malagasy government has had to balance economic development and environmental conservation, a difficult prospect given how tied local people are to traditional land use practices. Local communities are especially sensitive and resistant to changes that prohibit traditional economic practices if a close substitute practice that preserves perceived economic sufficiency is not available. Despite this difficulty, the Malagasy government has set three policy goals for environmental protection beginning in the 5 early 1990s and these are: the environment must be conserved, local economies must be developed, and local people must be participants in resource management (Henkels 2001-2002). Four case studies are evaluated to determine how well these policy goals are being met. Meeting these three goals is an indicator of the viability of environmental protection in Madagascar. These case studies include the Masoala Peninsula Corridor, Ranomafana National Park, the Mikea Complexe, and the Vohidrazana-Mantadia Corridor. These case studies are different in more ways than the diverse environments they represent. Social groups, governance structures, and other local contexts are unique to each case study as well. The case studies are each evaluated by four criteria, including indicators of anthropogenic disturbance, perceived economic sufficiency and opportunities available for local people, enforcement ability, and political acceptability. These criteria are based on the three policy goals of the environmental protection program. The evaluation demonstrates that the environmental protection program’s viability differs across the case studies. Much of this variability is tied to differences in enforcement ability and governance structures in each protected area, combined with local reaction to the 2009 coup d’état that unseated a democratically-elected president in favor of a military-supported autocracy. This variability carries over into the viability of the environmental program of each case study area, with the national parks of the Masoala Peninsula Corridor clearly failing and not currently viable. Ranomafana National Park is another case study that is categorically failing to achieve majority community participation and options for local economic development. Parks within the Vohidrazana-Mantadia Corridor and Mikea Complexe are still viable, with the caveat that the 2009 political crisis was likely injurious to current program viability in these cases. Out of these two case studies, the Perinet Reserve from the Vohidrazana-Mantadia Corridor and the 6 Kirindy Forest from the Mikea Complexe are the most successful and viable protected areas of Madagascar’s environmental protection program. Despite Kirindy Forest’s and Perinet Reserve’s success in meeting the three policy goals of the environmental program, applying the strategies that make them successful may not be feasible across the many protected areas of the island. Three policy recommendations are given. The first relates to China’s importation of illegal rosewood, the second relates to how strict reserves are governed, and the third relates to the need for a shift away from slash-and-burn agriculture toward modernized agriculture. There are significant barriers to the implementation of these recommendations to increase the environmental protection program’s viability, and these barriers are largely contingent upon the resolution of the ongoing political crisis in Madagascar.
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    Decreasing Antibiotic Loading to Natural Water Systems from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: A Policy Analysis
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2011-07-19) Entinger, Monica
    The presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in natural water systems and their effects on human and ecosystem health is a recent emerging water quality concern. This analysis focuses on a specific class of pharmaceuticals; antibiotics, and their usage in commercial livestock production. Antibiotics are commonly used in livestock production both for treating illness (therapeutic use) and encouraging growth (sub-therapeutic use) (Burkholder, 2007). These antibiotic compounds have the potential to threaten human and ecosystem health through long-term exposure and increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The goal of this analysis is to evaluate multiple policy options for reducing antibiotic loading to natural water systems in the state of Minnesota using the Eight-Fold Path for Policy Analysis developed by Dr. Eugene Bardach. These alternatives were examined for their effectiveness in lowering antibiotics in water systems, cost effectiveness, political feasibility, public acceptance, feasibility for farmers and equity. The alternatives examined are: 1) Implementing more stringent regulations limiting use of antibiotics in livestock. Both a full ban on all antibiotics and a partial ban on only medically important antibiotics are discussed, 2) subsidizing organic farming methods to incentivize sustainable practices, 3) expanding National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and State Disposal System (SDS) permitting requirements to include manure composting requirements and more stringent flood protection, 4) and the status quo. Concerns with antibiotic-resistant bacteria specifically have brought this antibiotic use to the forefront in some discussions. The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act has been introduced to the United States Congress (Govtrack, 2011), but is opposed by powerful lobbies representing the agricultural and pharmaceutical lobbies. These lobbies are concerned with increases in production cost for farmers, and decreases in profits for the pharmaceutical companies. Through analysis of these alternatives using the stated criteria, it appears that instituting a partial ban of medically important antibiotics and expanding organic subsidies is the best approach at this time. These alternatives will face political opposition and do not fully address the problem, but the partial ban will help to mitigate the most pressing concern, which is antibiotic resistant bacteria, and expanding subsidies will incentivize farmers to move toward more sustainable practices.
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    Climate Change and the Federal Environmental Review Process
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2011-08-24) Peterson, Garrett
    In recent years, some state and local governments have moved towards incorporating climate change and greenhouse gas emissions into their environmental review processes. At the federal level, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the body that oversees the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), produced draft guidance in 2010 that laid out a framework for federal agencies to include climate change in the NEPA environmental review procedures. This paper examines four EISs that included climate change information prior to the release of CEQ's draft guidance. By examining the methods employed by the EISs and comparing them to the proposed guidance, it will illustrate the successes and shortcomings of the draft guidance, and it will give a glimpse into the potential style of future EISs.
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    Greenhouse Gas Accounting: Biogenic Carbon Emissions
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2011-12-16) Claflin, Anne
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    Innovation in Emerging Energy Technologies: A case study analysis to inform the path forward for algal biofuels
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2012-05-15) Haase, Rachel
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    Sustainability Decision Making Strategies: Palm Oil Management
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2012-05-15) Kemp, Mary
    This paper presents a new and integrated decision making approach for firms to utilize when facing a complex sustainability issue using palm oil as a case study. The approach, Sustainability Decision Making Protocol, includes five steps: mind mapping, stakeholder analysis, tradeoffs analysis, systems dynamics and analyses with decision trees. The steps are not implemented in a linear way, but as an iterative process. Outcomes from the different steps can be used help improve the implementation of others. Using the tools in this way also provides an opportunity for greater collaboration and communication among stakeholders. A decision is not developed for a specific client, as there are a multitude of variables that are unique to each company. Rather, this paper provides background and a protocol that can be used to inform sustainability strategy development around this agricultural commodity.
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    Water Scarcity in Minnesota A Policy Analysis and Recommendation
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2012-07-03) Teiken, Katherine
    Minnesota is facing forces that may lead to water shortfalls across the state. In order to proactively address this detrimental economic and ecological issue, the state government must take action. There are several alternatives that the legislature could use as the basis of new state water policy.
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    Estimating the Economic Impact of Ozone and Fine Particulate Nonattainment in the Twin Cities
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2013-04-10) Blankenheim, Courtney
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    Towards Effective Web 2.0 Public Engagement: A Case Study of REGULATIONROOM.ORG
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2013-05-13) Klaers, Kelsi
    The advent and subsequent growth of “Web 2.0,” the collection of Web development techniques and applications that evolved the Web environment from a passive platform to an active platform, has captured the interest of public engagement organizers. Specifically, Web 2.0’s pervasiveness and emphasis on many-to-many interactions are likely to reshape the traditional boundaries that define the public-government relationship and enable engagement on an unprecedented scale (Linders 2012). In partnership with Cornell University, RegulationRoom.org was the Department of Transportation’s “flagship initiative” under President Barak Obama’s Open Directive Initiative, which broadly called for a more transparent, participatory, and collaborative Federal government. Regulation Room represents a systematically designed and evaluated Web-based public engagement exercise and serves as the case this paper uses to address whether and if so, how Web 2.0 has been an effective means of public engagement. The case is analyzed with an adaptation of Rowe and Frewer’s (2000) classic public engagement evaluation framework influenced by Macintosh and Whyte’s (2008) novel e-participation evaluation framework. This paper also includes a brief backcasting exercise describing an ideal e-participation exercise, identifying major barriers, and suggesting possible remedies for overcoming them. In conclusion, Regulation Room demonstrates e-participation exercises have the potential to be effective public participation mechanisms though there is still significant room for future improvements.