Transportation Capital Programming in Massachusetts

Recommends implementing an explicit, policy-driven framework and criteria for prioritizing transportation capital spending at the Massachusetts Highway Department and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Outlines benchmarks and key elements

The Forest Service: A Study in Public Land Management. By Glen O. Robinson

  This report will provide an overview of climate modeling from a mathematical perspective, particularly with respect to the use of partial differential equations. A visit to the Swedish Meterological and Hydrological Institute's Rossby Center for climate research in Norrkoping, Sweden, is at the foundation of our investigations. An introduction and a brief history section will be followed by a description of the Navier-Stokes equations, which are at the heart of climate-related mathematics, as well as a survey of many of the popular approximations and modeling techniques in use by climate researchers today. Subsequently, a boundary value problem based on the one dimensional compressible Euler equations will be discussed from an analytical as well as a numerical point of view, especially with concern to the well-posedness of the same.

Putting a Price on Whales To Save Them: What Do Morals Have To Do with It?

The author explores the moral implication of a proposal to create an international market in whale shares as an alternative to the dysfunctional International Whaling Commission. She finds the proposal amoral because whales, like humans, have an intrinsic right to life. Since this leaves whales vulnerable to whale hunting nations, she suggests that international environmental organizations might help a whale preservation norm emerge in whaling nations by using education and interventionist activities that focus on whaling’s cruelty to ultimately encourage the citizens and governments of those nations to change their self-image as whale eating cultures

Preservation and conservation decisions in the local library

For a period of years, I have been aware that the decisions regarding preservation which I have made, which I have shared in making, or which have been made by others have not all been of the same nature. The level or levels within the library's staff hierarchy of the persons involved make some decisions differ from other decisions; however, these levels of involvement are not the heart of the problem. The thing lacking was a clear way to designate other distinctions which seemed necessary in attempting to analyze such problems and decisions. I found little help in my reading or sharing experiences with others in attempting to work in this area. In reading the proceedings of the 1976 conference on A National Preservation Program at the Library of Congress, I was therefore quite interested to discover that Daniel Boorstin in opening the conference suggested a division of the questions comprising the problem of preservation. He characterized two rather distinct types of problems as epistemological and technical. He further described the epistemological questions as being social questions, meaning that they are questions relating to the interests of those who will use, administer, and service the materials comprising the collections. I must admit that the term epistemological sent me to the dictionary because it has been some time since I had studied formal philosophical language. At this point, it becomes necessary to understand Boorstin's exact meaning and intention in interjecting this term into the vocabulary of library preservation. Epistemology is defined as "the study of the methods and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity; broadly: the theory of knowledge."published or submitted for publicatio

A Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Road Salt Used in Winter Maintenance Operations

It is important to assess from a holistic perspective the sustainability of road salt widely used in winter road maintenance (WRM) operations. The importance becomes increasingly apparent in light of competing priorities faced by roadway agencies, the need for collaborative decision-making, and growing concerns over the risks that road salt poses for motor vehicles, transportation infrastructure, and the natural environment. This project introduces the concept of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), which combines Life Cycle Costing, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The combination captures the features of three pillars in sustainability: economic development, environmental preservation, and social progress. With this framework, it is possible to enable more informed and balanced decisions by considering the entire life cycle of road salt and accounting for the indirect impacts of applying road salt for snow and ice control. This project proposes a LCSA framework of road salt, which examines the three branches of LCSA, their relationships in the integrated framework, and the complexities and caveats in the LCSA. While this framework is a first step in the right direction, we envision that it will be improved and enriched by continued research and may serve as a template for the LCSA of other WRM products, technologies, and practices

Effectiveness of Agency and Non-Government Organizational Efforts in Rhode Island Environmental Conservation

The effectiveness of woodland conservation in Rhode Island is increasingly important as economic development pressures sacrifice critical forestland for commercial, residential and infrastructure purposes. This study looks to determine components of forest conservation practices that could be better suited to best protect this important land. Through the content analysis of interviews and citizen surveys, the most critical areas in need of improved efforts were revealed. It was discovered that the various lenses used by entities prevented the most beneficial cooperative efforts and further sharing of limited resources would increase efficiency. Additionally, educational efforts are limited and too often performed by government agencies as opposed to NGOs, something the citizens of Rhode Island stated they were less apt to believe. To unify the perspectives of woodland conservation entities, a natural capital model should be adopted. Greater emphasis should be placed on the need for NGOs to increase their educational efforts, with a resulting ratio of two parts NGO and one part agency education. Meetings and website forums should be used for the entities to better share resources needed to properly and effectively conserve woodlands. By making changes in the areas described woodland conservation entities can expect increased success in their overall field of work that is so important for the future of the state and the world as a whole

Next Steps to Reform the Regulations Governing Offshore Oil and Gas Planning and Leasing

The Department of the Interior manages offshore oil and gas activities in federal waters. While the agency has proposed and/or enacted important improvements to the rules that govern some of those activities, it has not modernized the regulations that govern offshore oil and gas planning, lease sales, or the review and permitting of exploratory drilling. These phases of the process are overseen by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and, as was shown in our earlier publication on this topic, are ineffective and in need of modernization. In this Article, we argue that fundamental reform is necessary and highlight a series of key themes and topics that must be addressed to improve the regulatory process and promote better, more consistent management outcomes. While the Article draws on examples from frontier areas—in particular the U.S. Arctic Ocean—the recommended changes would apply to and benefit all areas of the OCS