Health effects stemming from animal feeding operations pollution in the contiguous United States are analyzed using a 20-year, county-level data set. Several quasi-experimental, potential outcome models are used to estimate the impact of high concentrations of animal units on mortality rates and other health and economic outcomes over a 20-year...
The goal of this thesis is to identify the factors which have most significantly contributed to historical dam removals in the United States. The trend of increased dam removals over time is specifically analyzed for evidence that increased scarcity of environmental goods and services is motivating dam removals. A theoretical...
This thesis seeks to analyze the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality, in this case measured by forest cover, and analyzes whether this relationship is consistent with an Environmental Kuznets Curve. Additionally the relationship between population density and forest cover was analyzed. A simple theoretical model is derived that...
This study seeks to explore the determinants of the relationship of economic growth and water quality in the United States using an Environmental Kuznets Curve framework. Specifically this study seeks to determine whether there is evidence of improvement in water quality since passage of the 1972 amendments to the Clean...
Signs of climate change across the Pacific Northwest indicate changing patterns of timing and availability of stream flow. Declining summer low flows, decreasing snow pack, higher temperatures and an increasing fraction of mountain precipitation falling as rain, raise concerns about future reliability of stream flows. These changes will likely affect...
Agricultural water supplies are becoming increasingly uncertain in the western United States due to elevated demands from competing water users, environmental restrictions on surface water withdrawals as a result of the establishment of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, and potential climatic changes. Since many rural communities in the West...
The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen an upsurge in petroleum prices and an increased concern over greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, the interest in biodiesel production has heightened. Policy at the Federal level, such as the blender’s tax credit which provides $1 for every gallon of biodiesel blended with...
A plethora of land use policies are implemented at the local, state, and federal levels to influence the manner in which land is utilized. The distribution of the costs and benefits associated with implementing such land use policies always has been, and will continue to be, a source of contention....
Numerous development projects are implemented in developing countries to attain economic and ecological development. However, in most cases, the encouraging results observed during the implementation phase terminated with the project period, raising concerns on these projects' sustainability after the project period has ended. This study focuses on this sustainability issue...
In 2001, an extreme drought tightened water supply in the Upper Klamath Basin (basin) while earlier increases in Endangered Species Act (ESA) water requirements for basin fish species that same year elevated demands. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), which manages irrigation water in parts of the basin located near the...