Yale Environment Review

05/08/2023

Creating a sustainable world requires evaluating all dimensions--including children's toys. While many toys still offer benefits after normal wear and tear, 80 percent end up in landfills. Often controversial for the direct risks posed to humans, toys also pose a risk to the environment in their design, production, and life cycle. YER writer Dilara Karademir summarizes recent research in our newest article.

Toy consumption is a global contributor for ongoing issues about environmental justice and climate change. Each year, 60 million Barbie dolls are sold, contributing emissions equivalent to burning 381 million gallons of gasoline. In France, 40 million toys are discarded into landfills annually, and....

05/05/2023

Bison in North America are in trouble. Bison today occupy less than 1% of their historic range. However, many are working hard to ensure that bison have a future. One of these people working on this complex project is Dr. Jeff Martin .

Recently, YER writer Ross Martin interviewed Dr. Martin (no relation to author) to learn about his “hooves on the ground” approach to bison conservation to restore herds throughout North America.

Dr. Jeff Martin’s bison journey began on the ranch he grew up on in west central Wisconsin. His family purchased their first herd in 2001 after years of interest in the charismatic North American grazer. It was a small-scale operation, a family ranch. But he did not always plan to become an expert...

03/29/2023

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are important pathways in the clean energy transition. However, valuing these pathways is challenging. New research examines what value these technologies bring to the grid and how utilities should structure payments for them in the distributed energy system of tomorrow. Sarah Gledhill summarizes research on these strategies for expanding the clean energy markets in our newest article.

The energy system is changing. Solar panels pop up in neighborhoods, utility companies advertise smart thermostats, and more people drive electric vehicles every year. These energy technologies scattered around the grid are called “Distributed Energy Resources” (DERs). Traditionally, utilities s...

02/14/2023

The emerging offshore wind industry presents a significant opportunity for the United States to achieve its decarbonization goals. However, the nation lags considerably in offshore installations compared to the rest of the world.

Mary Marshall explains new research which suggests that US offshore wind development has been hindered by connectivity, technology, and policy constraints.

Wind power will be critical to achieving aggressive decarbonization goals in the United States. Offshore systems are particularly attractive due to the higher speed and reliability of oceanic wind. Although wind energy makes up seven percent of total U.S. power generation, offshore wind is less than...

02/07/2023

Biofuels may make climate change worse. Read more about this new research from Molly Charles here:

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program—a federal policy requiring that biofuels make up a gradually increasing percentage of transportation fuel. The program’s goal was to reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation, t...

01/30/2023

Where bison roam, prairies thrive. While there are many socio-cultural and environmental justice reasons to ensure bison can thrive on the prairie, there are also incredible ecosystem health reasons as well. As this long term study shows, bison enhance biodiversity, support native plants and help prairies withstand severe drought.

The Konza Prairie Biological Station in eastern Kansas, operated by Kansas State University, is a world-class prairie research site. It’s part of the Flint Hills ecoregion, home to the largest intact tallgrass prairie on the North American Continent. Researchers are using the site to compare manag...

01/20/2023

Nearly 2.4 billion people (about 40 percent of the world’s population) live within 100 kilometers of the coast. As coastal cities continue to grow, so too will their influence as actors in shaping sustainable development.

A new paper highlights the largely overlooked role of ocean cities in international legal frameworks to address environmental degradation in marine and coastal environments.

Kirsten Williams explains more in our latest article:

Traditionally, international legal frameworks only include national governments. Those governments then dictate whether cities can act independently in exercising authority over natural resource management and land use development. The established frameworks generally underestimate the unique contri...

12/29/2022

Do you eat meat? Or are you plant-based all or most of the time?

A cultural shift away from animal consumption (e.g. ) has been met with a counter-cultural glorification of meat ( scented candles, anyone?)

These two societal trends reflect a redrawing of moral boundaries – the lines people draw to assert moral status.

Zack Steigerwald Schnall explains an interdisciplinary approach threading philosophical, psychological, and sociological perspectives that offers unique insight to understand the formation and evolution of moral boundaries in meat consumption.

In the last five years, both markets and media have documented a cultural shift in meat consumption.

12/15/2022

How much do U.S. fossil fuel companies benefit from the absence of appropriate regulation? What is the most appropriate level of carbon taxation? Yale professor and YER advisor Dr. Matthew J. Kotchen sheds light on the impact of lenient government policies on the fossil fuel industry.

Dr. Kotchen is a scholar of many experiences. As an undergraduate, he studied plant community ecology. As a master’s student in Maine, he estimated the social value of peregrine falcons. Now, as a professor of economics in Yale School of the Environment, he seeks to shed light on the implicit cost...

12/12/2022

Women advance food sovereignty by feeding their families

Achieving more equitable and sustainable food systems is not just realized by larger systems transformation. Women practice everyday provisioning activities that empower communities and free them from dependencies on market economies. Nisreen Abo-Sido explains recent research in the newest article from YER.

Food sovereignty describes people’s rights to determine their own food systems.

12/10/2022

Seagrass meadows are dynamic and critical ecosystems that provide numerous benefits to humans living in coastal areas. They are also at the center of exciting new research into the potential of “blue carbon” sequestration to help combat climate change.

12/08/2022

Fear is a powerful force--and can be misdirected with devestating effects. When discussing climate change, media and news outlets often focus on its negative impacts and the threats it poses. Current research reveals that this approach not only fails to promote more pro-environmental behavior, but it may also heighten racist attitudes.

These findings highlight the importance of discussing global warming in a way that does not solely focus on its negative consequences, but also provides actionable suggestions on how to tackle climate change.

When discussing climate change, media and news outlets often focus on its negative impacts and the threats it poses. Current research reveals that this approach not only fails to promote more pro-environmental behavior, but it may also heighten racist attitudes. These findings highlight the importan...