Acceptance and Support of the Australian Carbon Policy

In July 2012, the Australian government instituted the Clean Energy Legislative Package. This policy, commonly known as the carbon policy or carbon tax, holds industries responsible for emissions they release through a carbon price. Because this will have an indirect effect on consumer costs, the policy also includes a compensation package for households indirectly impacted. This study, building upon past work in distributive justice, examines the determinants of the policy’s acceptance and support. We proposed perceived fairness and effectiveness of the policy, and endorsement of free-market ideology, would directly predict policy acceptance. We tested this through an on-line survey of Australian citizens and found that policy acceptance was predicted by perceived fairness and effectiveness. More Australians found the policy acceptable (43 %) than unacceptable (36 %), and many found it neither acceptable nor unacceptable (21 %). In contrast, when asked about support, more Australians tended not to support the policy (53 %) than support it (47 %). Support was predicted by main effects for perceived fairness, effectiveness, free-market ideology, and the interaction between free-market ideology and effectiveness. We conclude by considering some of the implications of our results for the implementation of policies addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation, for theories of social justice and attitudinal ambivalence, and for the continuing integration of research between economics and psychology. Furthermore, we argue for the distinction between policy support and acceptance and discourage the interchangeable use of these terms

Are acceptance, support, and the factors that affect them, different? Examining perceptions of U.S. fuel economy standards

Understanding the acceptance of and support for transportation policies focused on the environment, such fuel economy standards, is important because of the positive impact policies can have on the environment and overall sustainability goals. This study investigates the acceptance of and support for fuel economy standards through an online survey of Maine residents. Specifically, we assess the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which aim to increase fuel economy of vehicles, while decreasing greenhouses gas emissions and foreign fuel dependence in the United States. We assess how perceptions of the policy and economic views of the market affect acceptance and support. We differentiate acceptance and support on two dimensions, a temporal and attitudinal–behavioral dimension. In doing so, we improve upon traditional measures of these variables and provide evidence that acceptance and support are distinct constructs. We find that perceived fairness, perceived effectiveness, and a subscription to a free-market ideology play a role in acceptance and support. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to survey methods, policy communications, and an interdisciplinary understanding of environmental policy

Sustainability science graduate students as boundary spanners

Graduate training in sustainability science (SS) focuses on interdisciplinary research, stakeholder-researcher partnerships, and creating solutions from knowledge. But becoming a sustainability scientist also requires specialized training that addresses the complex boundaries implicit in sustainability science approaches to solving social-ecological system challenges. Using boundary spanning as a framework, we use a case study of the Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI) at the University of Maine to explicate key elements for graduate education training in SS. We used a mixed-methods approach, including a quantitative survey and autoethnographic reflection, to analyze our experiences as SSI doctoral students. Through this research, we identified four essential SS boundaries that build on core sustainability competencies which need to be addressed in SS graduate programs, including: disciplines within academia, students and their advisors, researchers and stakeholders, and place-based and generalizable research. We identified key elements of training necessary to help students understand and navigate these boundaries using core competencies. We then offer six best practice recommendations to provide a basis for a SS education framework. Our reflections are intended for academic leaders in SS who are training new scientists to solve complex sustainability challenges. Our experiences as a cohort of doctoral students with diverse academic and professional backgrounds provide a unique opportunity to reflect not only on the challenges of SS but also on the specific needs of students and programs striving to provide solutions

Initiating an Investigation of the Border\u27s Performance

In recent months, two distinct projects designed to gauge the performance of the Canada – US border have been initiated. The University at Buffalo Regional Institute (UBRI) proposed the development of a “Border Barometer,” which is anticipated to be a set of metrics replicable along the breadth of the 49th parallel. UBRI is our partner in a new consortium that performs border-related research—the Northern Border University Research Consortium (NBURC)—and courtesy of a grant from the Canadian government, the NBURC is launching the Border Barometer project

Building resilience of coastal fishing communities to harmful algal blooms

Starting in May 2015 a massive harmful algal bloom (HAB) of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia occurred along the North American west coast resulting in unsafe levels of domoic acid in seafood. Subsequent fisheries harvest closures were both the longest and the most geographically widespread on record. Fishery-dependent coastal communities were severely impacted, with a fisheries resource disaster declaration occurring for the 2015-16 season of the California Dungeness crab fishery. This research aims to assess the social, cultural and economic impacts of the 2015 HAB event across 17 fishing communities on the US west coast using primary survey data. The survey instrument collected sociodemographic and economic factors hypothesized to confer resilience to HAB events as well as data that quantifies individual impacts. Community responses to the massive 2015 US west coast HAB event will be examined within a community disaster resilience framework. The impacts may be influenced by the community’s social vulnerability, dependence on commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as any immediate adaptive responses. The survey data will be used to empirically test existing indices of community social vulnerability and commercial fishing dependence that have been developed by NOAA using secondary data. The results from this analysis will identify protective factors that contribute to a community’s ability to cope with HABs, and promote cost-effective and practical means of building resilience to future HAB events in at-risk communities

Towards a Psychology of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus:Costs and Opportunities

Scholars, government scientific research institutions, and public policy-making entities are increasingly focusing on environmental issues from a food-energy-water (FEW) nexus perspective. This nexus represents the interconnection of these three systems, which are essential to human life. The FEW nexus is inherently and inescapably interdisciplinary. However, to date, there have been relatively few academic contributions to understanding the nexus from the social sciences, particularly from psychology. In this article, we suggest an extended framing of the nexus (food-energy-water x human) to explicitly recognize how human actions in the form of both consumption practices and population size and distribution impact the FEW nexus. We outline important contributions that psychology researchers could make in FEW nexus focused research teams. In doing so, we acknowledge difficulties and potential risks for psychology researchers engaging in FEW nexus based research, but suggest that, while such difficulties can create barriers, they can also present opportunities for psychologists.</p

Building fishing community resilience to harmful algal blooms

The ‘blob’ of anomalously warm surface water that persisted in the North Pacific Ocean from 2013-2016 resulted in a massive harmful algal bloom (HAB) of Pseudo-nitzschia along the entire U.S. west coast. The bloom produced record-breaking concentrations of domoic acid, a marine neurotoxin, that contaminated seafood and necessitated fisheries harvest closures beginning in May 2015. The subsequent closures were unprecedented in both geographic extent and length. Coastal communities dependent on the lucrative commercial Dungeness crab and popular recreational razor clam fisheries were severely impacted. Here we assess the social, cultural and economic impacts of the 2015 HAB event across 17 fishing communities on the U.S. west coast using primary survey data. The survey instrument, deployed in the summer of 2017, collected data on sociodemographic and economic factors hypothesized to affect a community’s ability to cope with HAB events. Within a community disaster resilience framework, impacts are expected to be influenced by community social vulnerability, dependence on commercial and recreational fisheries, and any immediate adaptive responses. Preliminary analysis of the data indicates that community members in fishing-related occupations experienced greater impacts compared to those in other occupations. Furthermore, individuals who obtain a high proportion of income from Dungeness crab landings or razor clam harvests experienced increased vulnerability. Increased social resilience was associated with higher levels of education and access to alternate job opportunities. As climate change advances and HABs worsen, these results will inform efforts to prepare for HABs, mitigate their impacts, and aid recovery of impacted communities

Acceptance of and Support for Environmental Policies

How does acceptance of an environmental policy differ from support for an environmental policy? In addition, how do perceptions of a policy and economic views of the market affect acceptance of and support for environmental policies? Under the umbrella of sustainability science, I draw my understanding of policy support and acceptance from psychology, economics, and environmental studies. I employ a mix of quantitative and theoretical approaches in three related projects focused on environmental policies. As a whole, this dissertation co-produces knowledge via collaboration, and links that knowledge-to-action through discussions of research implications. Throughout the dissertation, I outline and describe a two-dimensional differentiation of policy support and policy acceptance. Beginning in the Introduction, I highlight the problem of the interchangeable use of the terms acceptance and support. Chapter 2 explores differences between acceptance and support of the Australian carbon policy shortly after it was instituted in July 2012 and argues that policy acceptance and support are related, but distinct concepts. Chapter 2 outlines how environmental policy acceptance and support differ on two dimensions, an attitudinal-behavioral dimension and temporal dimension. Chapter 3 expands on this outline with a conceptual model of the two-dimensional differentiation, further adding empirical evidence from an investigation of the fuel economy standards in the United States through a Maine sample in November 2013. Chapter 4 provides additional refined empirical evidence from the Australian carbon policy before and after the Australian federal elections of 2013, while Chapter 5 summarizes and concludes. Each of the chapters also explores the determinants of policy acceptance and policy support, and the relationship amongst variables through two separate policy examples, the Australian carbon policy and the fuel economy standards in the United States. I argue that perceived fairness and perceived effectiveness of the policy, and a subscription to a free-market ideology, all play an important role in acceptance and support, although the role may differ depending upon the policy, or current timing. I find that fairness and effectiveness are positively and significantly related to both acceptance and support, whereas a free-market ideology is negatively and significantly related to acceptance and support

Sustainability Science Graduate Students as Boundary Spanners

Graduate training in sustainability science (SS) focuses on interdisciplinary research, stakeholder-researcher partnerships, and creating solutions from knowledge. But becoming a sustainability scientist also requires specialized training that addresses the complex boundaries implicit in sustainability science approaches to solving social-ecological system challenges. Using boundary spanning as a framework, we use a case study of the Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI) at the University of Maine to explicate key elements for graduate education training in SS. We used a mixed-methods approach, including a quantitative survey and autoethnographic reflection, to analyze our experiences as SSI doctoral students. Through this research, we identified four essential SS boundaries that build on core sustainability competencies which need to be addressed in SS graduate programs, including: disciplines within academia, students and their advisors, researchers and stakeholders, and place-based and generalizable research. We identified key elements of training necessary to help students understand and navigate these boundaries using core competencies. We then offer six best practice recommendations to provide a basis for a SS education framework. Our reflections are intended for academic leaders in SS who are training new scientists to solve complex sustainability challenges. Our experiences as a cohort of doctoral students with diverse academic and professional backgrounds provide a unique opportunity to reflect not only on the challenges of SS but also on the specific needs of students and programs striving to provide solutions