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Maxwell School News and Commentary

Filtered by: Environment

Koch Weighs in on Western States Banning Foreign Groundwater Use in Stateline Article

March 16, 2023

“The U.S. has always been promoting and setting up this entire thing,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “It’s not like the Americans are passive in this. We have absolutely helped sow the seeds for that Saudi agricultural industry that has come back to us now.”

Sultana Talks to Inside Climate News About the COP27 Loss and Damage Agreement

March 3, 2023

“When you can’t adapt to climate change at all and face interconnected issues surrounding loss and damage, the unbearable heaviness of climate coloniality is worsened,” says Farhana Sultana, professor of geography and the environment. “This means destruction, devastation and loss are so profound that one can’t finance one’s way out of it.”

Wilson Discusses the Impact of Warming Winters in CNN Article

February 23, 2023

“In coming decades, winter—as most people understand it—will get shorter and warmer, with less snow and more rain,” says Robert Wilson, associate professor of geography and the environment. “This poses a serious threat to winter recreation: snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and downhill skiing.”

Koch Talks to KTVK About Arizona’s Outdated Water Law

February 21, 2023

Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment, argues that state lawmakers need to update the state’s 43 year old water law and create more active management areas to regulate water use across Arizona. “There needs to be some way of monitoring and regulating who is drawing what from the aquifers,” says Koch.

See related: United States, Water

Powering the Next Wave of Green Energy Innovation

January 17, 2023

"Powering the next wave of green energy innovation," co-authored by David Popp, professor of public administration and international affairs, was published in PLOS Climate.

Koch Article on Arizona Depleting its Groundwater Supply Published in New York Times

January 10, 2023

“Pumping groundwater in Arizona remains largely unregulated,” writes Natalie Koch, professor of geography. “It’s this legal failing that, in part, allows the Saudi company to draw unlimited amounts of water to grow an alfalfa crop that feeds dairy cows 8,000 miles away.”

Mihm Report on Practical Approach to Emergency Preparedness Published by IBM Business of Government

January 3, 2023

How can governments properly prepare now for when the next disaster strikes? Chris Mihm, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs, provides six steps that give leaders a practical approach to emergency preparedness in a report published by the IBM Center for The Business of Government.

Golden Discusses the Use of Heat Pumps as an Energy Efficient Upgrade for Homeowners in CNBC Article

December 22, 2022

Rather than generating heat, these devices transfer heat from the cool outdoors into the warm indoors and vice versa during warm weather. Heat pumps rely on electricity instead of natural gas or propane, both of which have a higher carbon emission than renewable electricity such as wind or solar, says Jay S. Golden, Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability and Finance. 

Catching Air: Risk and Embodied Ocean Health among Dominican Diver Fishermen

November 23, 2022

"Catching Air: Risk and Embodied Ocean Health among Dominican Diver Fishermen," authored by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Kyrstin Mallon Andrews, was published in Medical Anthropology Quarterly.

Huber Weighs in on the Effectiveness of the International Climate Summit (COP) in the Toronto Star

November 9, 2022

“I don’t think they’ve proven to be effective in actually coming up with a kind of international agreement with binding limits on countries that would penalize them if they were not to abide by the pledges,” Matt Huber, professor of geography and the environment, tells the Toronto Star.

See related: Climate Change

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