The role of democracy in promoting environmental performance is an important and enduring issue. Former U.S. President Al Gore declared, “I have come to believe that an essential prerequisite for saving the environment is the spread of democratic governments to more nations of the world.” Was President Gore correct? The results of this thesis support… Read more »
It is no secret that addressing climate change nationwide has been almost impossible. Political partisanship, differing state priorities, corporate interests, and bureaucratic red tape have largely stagnated federal-level policy measures in the United States. The question begs, how will our communities be ready to respond when disasters and extreme weather events strike? In recent years,… Read more »
The adverse effects of climate change are largely due to an increase in harmful human behaviors, such as, greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and natural resource extraction. These harmful human behaviors are leading to rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, and biosphere. A National Public Radio (npr) headline reads, “Earth has 11 years to cut… Read more »
Indiana is a state built on fossil fuels. This statement is supported by the presence of fifteen coal-fired plants found throughout the state. While these power plants are essential to provide energy for major population centers throughout the state, they are also major polluters, emitting millions of pounds of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and… Read more »
Since 2003, social psychologists have agreed that in the United States, political party identification is one of the chief determinants for levels of policy support and concern for certain issues. The intimate tie between political identity and climate attitudes, motivations, and beliefs in the U.S. has only tightened over the past 15 years. Studies still… Read more »