There are a large number of chemical facilities that emit toxic chemicals in Michigan, and there is a concern regarding toxic chemical exposure to the residents of Michigan counties. However, it is uncertain whether chemical companies that emit toxic chemicals in Michigan are influenced by county demographic factors in deciding whether to engage in voluntary pollution prevention (P2) activities and whether this decision influences U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) scores. Using Bullard's theory of environmental justice, the purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a correlation between chemical-related industry's voluntary P2 participation, U.S. EPA's RSEI scores for chemical-related facilities, and demographic factors in Michigan counties between 2007 through 2011. A cross-sectional design using hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to study potential environmental inequality in 20 Michigan counties. Publically available data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. EPA included demographic data, voluntary P2 participation data, and RSEI scores for 20 counties in Michigan. A statistically insignificant correlation was found between voluntary P2 participation and median annual RSEI scores of Michigan industry; while a statistically significant, inverse correlation was found between median annual RSEI scores and educational attainment. The results from this study can be used by policy makers to promote more effective voluntary P2 policy and to create county-specific public education programs promoting toxic chemical awareness that will lead to positive social change in Michigan.

Les conflits de distribution écologiques résultant du métabolisme social croissant du monde et l'expansion des frontières des marchandises qui en résulte, sont confrontés à des défis importants pour la gouvernance, en particulier lorsqu'il existe des interactions multiples, entre la nature et les individus qui possèdent de systèmes de valeurs différents, à travers différentes échelles (du local au global). L'interaction actuelle entre les échelles semble être définie par le pouvoir juridictionnel - une manière qui favorise les échelles internationales et / ou nationales, qui négligent les processus en cours qui se déroulent à d'autres échelles. Il existe une disparité entre les échelles où les décisions sont prises et les actions sont effectuées. Par conséquent, un mécanisme de gouvernance, avec non seulement des propriétés participatives prenant compte des différents systèmes de valeurs, mais avec des mécanismes de coordination entre plusieurs échelles, devient nécessaire. À cette arrière-plan, cette thèse maintient que les méthodes d'évaluation multicritères délibératives et participatives pourraient ouvrir de nouvelles voies pour les mécanismes de gouvernance environnementale pour les conflits avec des interactions transversales et vise à montrer l'importance d'une perspective multi-échelle dans un cadre multicritère. Dans une tentative d'opérationnaliser cet objectif, elle utilise le cas conflictuel de la production d'énergie nucléaire en Turquie et l'évalue aux échelles nationales et locales dans le contexte national et mondial des mouvements de justice environnementale. Elle démontre que l'élaboration d'un problème de décision conflictuel par une méthode multicritère / multi-échelle est utile pour i) identifier les défis résultant des interactions entre les parties prenantes et ii) les présenter de manière transparente et compréhensible. / The ecological distribution conflicts arising from the growing social metabolism of the world and the resulting expansion of the commodity frontiers pose important challenges for governance, especially when there are multiple interactions between the nature and people holding different value systems, across different scales (from local to global). The current interaction between scales seems to be defined by the jurisdictional power – a manner that is inclined to favour the international and/or national scales, which overlook the ongoing processes taking place in other scales. Such a discrepancy gives rise to a mismatch between the scales where the decisions are made and actions are undertaken, calling for a governance mechanism – one with participatory properties taking into account the different value systems and coordination mechanisms across multiple scales.At this background, this thesis argues that deliberative and participatory multi-criteria evaluation methods might open new avenues for environmental governance mechanisms for the conflicts with cross-scale interactions and aims to show the importance of a multi-scale perspective within multi-criteria framework. In an attempt to operationalize this aim, it uses the conflicted case of nuclear energy production in Turkey and assesses it at national and local scales within the context of national and global environmental justice movements. It is shown that framing a conflicted decision-making problem through multi-scale/multi-stakeholder method is helpful: i) in identifying the challenges resulting from the cross-scale interactions between stakeholders and ii) in presenting them in a transparent and comprehensible manner.

abstract: Environmental hazards and disaster researchers have demonstrated strong associations between sociodemographic indicators, such as age and socio-economic status (SES), and hazard exposures and health outcomes for individuals and in certain communities. At the same time, behavioral health and risk communications research has examined how individual psychology influences adaptive strategies and behaviors in the face of hazards. However, at present, we do not understand the explanatory mechanisms that explain relationships between larger scale social structure, individual psychology, and specific behaviors that may attenuate or amplify risk. Extreme heat presents growing risks in a rapidly warming and urbanizing world. This dissertation examines the social and behavioral mechanisms that may explain inequitable health outcomes from exposure to concurrent extreme heat and electrical power failure in Phoenix, AZ and extreme heat in Detroit, MI. Exploratory analysis of 163 surveys in Phoenix, AZ showed that age, gender, and respondent’s racialized group identity did not relate to thermal discomfort and self-reported heat illness, which were only predicted by SES (StdB = -0.52, p < 0.01). Of the explanatory mechanisms tested in the study, only relative air conditioning intensity and thermal discomfort explained self-reported heat illness. Thermal discomfort was tested as both a mechanism and outcome measure. Content analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews in Phoenix, AZ revealed that social vulnerability was associated with an increase in perceived hazard severity (StdB = 0.44, p < 0.01), a decrease in perceived adaptation efficacy (StdB = -0.38, p = 0.02), and an indirect increase (through adaptive efficacy) in maladaptive intentions (StdB = 0.18, p = 0.01). Structural equation modeling of 244 surveys in Phoenix, AZ and Detroit, MI revealed that relationships between previous heat illness experience, perceived heat risk, and adaptive intentions were significantly moderated by adaptive capacity: high adaptive capacity households were more likely to undertake adaptive behaviors, and those decisions were more heavily influenced by risk perceptions and previous experiences. However, high adaptive capacity households had lower risk perceptions and fewer heat illness experiences than low adaptive capacity households. A better understanding of the mechanisms that produce social vulnerability can facilitate more salient risk messaging and more targeted public health interventions. For example, public health risk messaging that provides information on the efficacy of specific adaptations may be more likely to motivate self-protective action, and ultimately protect populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Environmental Social Science 2019

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An energy transition can be defined as the adoption of a new primary energy system. As such, it is a structural change that implies a broad shift in technologies and behaviors in order to replace one source of energy with another. Energy transitions motivated by economic, climate, and/or health goals are taking place everywhere in the world. Air pollution, a consequence of fossil fuel-based and solid fuel-based energy use among other sources, is the largest environmental health risk accounting for 6.4 million premature deaths annually. Given the health implications of our energy systems and the social drivers of energy use, access, and burden, energy transitions have the potential to impact health outcomes and associated disparities in a context-dependent manner. The research presented in this dissertation has two objectives: 1) to evaluate the distribution of benefits from energy transitions in the United States (US) and in Ghana; 2) to identify and characterize health outcomes that are relevant to these transitions but are currently understudied. Chapters 2 and 3 are anchored in the US energy policy context. Chapter 2 focuses on the transition away from coal as the primary source of energy in the US and its implications for particulate matter pollution and preterm births. Leveraging a novel dispersion model, I assessed the association between coal PM2.5 and preterm birth rates along with effect modification by race/ethnicity. We observed a positive non-linear relationship between coal PM2.5 and preterm birth rate, which plateaued at higher levels of pollution. The findings of this study suggest that the transition away from coal may have reduced preterm birth rates in the US, but that the association was stronger among non-Hispanic White women compared to non-Hispanic Black women. In Chapter 3, I use a mixed-methods framework to evaluate the first pilot of gas-to-electric stove transition in low-income housing in the US. Through a collaboration with a community-based environmental justice group in New York City, we monitored indoor air quality in participants homes pre- and post-intervention, conducted controlled cooking tests, and carried out focus groups to characterize their experience. Post-intervention, daily NO2 concentrations were 46.3% (95% CI: -67.8%, -10.3%) lower in the intervention arm compared to the control arm. Participants were unanimously pleased with the transition, which had simultaneously improved their cooking experience and partially addressed energy insecurity concerns that plagued their building. Chapters 4 and 5 contribute to the characterization of the health implications associated with Ghana’s commitment to increase access to liquified petroleum gas (LPG) nationally. In Chapter 4, we aimed to describe the country-level incidence of severe cooking-related burns by fuel type in use and to identify effect modifiers. We conducted a nationally representative (n = 7,389) household energy use survey in all 16 regions of Ghana. The incidence rate (95% CI) of cooking-related burns per 1000 person-years among working age females was 8.3 (7.2; 12.0) per 1000 person-years, which was 8 times higher than that of working age males. Among adults, the odds of experiencing a cooking-related burn were doubled among solid fuel users compared to primary LPG users. In Chapter 5, we aimed to understand the effect of an LPG intervention on personal exposure to household air pollution in a peri-urban setting of Ghana and to characterize the distribution of benefits between male and female household members quantitatively and qualitatively. The difference-in-differences results suggested a reduction in exposure to carbon monoxide due to the intervention (-14.2%, 95% CI: -44.1%, 31.6%), which might have benefited male and female participants to the same extent. Importantly, focus group discussions suggested that the ability that LPG affords to cook “on demand” could negatively impact intra-household dynamics and expectations in a way that has not been previously documented. Taken together, our findings from two distinct socioeconomic contexts, highlight the non-uniform distribution of benefits from energy transitions, especially when benefits that are not mediated by air pollution are considered. These results contribute to the understanding that social drivers of inequities should be integrated in the design of energy policies and interventions aimed at generating equitable outcomes. Future directions include a detailed characterization of the context-dependent relative contributions of indoor and outdoor air pollution sources as well as a more systematic integration of quantitative and qualitative methods in policy evaluation.

Since the mid-century proliferation of public housing, policy makers and environmental justice advocates have exposed the fact that geographically and economically isolated public housing sites are ultimately detrimental to residents and communities. In recent years, more progressive housing policies have emphasized the importance of site location in the success of housing programs. This study explores the intersection of affordable housing policy and “food desert” research, by assessing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program in California, with specific attention to the grocery store category within the Site Amenities section. Since the inception of the LIHTC program in 1986, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) has made multiple revisions to its application process. The study evaluates the current accessibility of grocery stores from LIHTC sites in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties in Northern California. It also critiques the changes in application scoring, criteria, and the indicators of food facility proximity and quality, identifying weaknesses, recommendations, and areas for further research. It finds that despite CTCAC’s efforts to improve the effectiveness of the application, there does not seem to improvement in grocery store access over time. Further research is needed to determine whether this condition is a result of a failure on the part of the application process, or of high land costs and limited availability of developable land.

Recent decades have marked growing academic and scientific attention to the role of indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and detection strategies. However, how indigenous knowledge is incorporated is a point of contention between self-identifying indigenous groups and existing institutions which combat climate change. In this thesis, I argue that the full inclusion of indigenous knowledge is deterred by certain aspects of modernity. In order to overcome the problems of modernity, I argue that a recognition theory of justice is needed as it regards to indigenous knowledge. Recognition justice calls for indigenous groups to retain meaningful control over how and when their indigenous knowledge is shared. To supplement this, I use the Marshall Islands as a case study. The Marshall Islands afford a nice particular case because of their longstanding colonial relationship with the United States and the impending danger they face of rising sea levels. Despite this danger, the Republic of the Marshall Islands calls for increased recognition as leaders in addressing climate change.

This qualitative study explores how eco-social organizations in Colombia work with the communities to protect the páramos, and the issues affecting the páramos. Workers, volunteers, and advisors of the organizations were interviewed to examine the issues affecting the páramos and how they work with the communities to protect this ecosystem. Results of this study were analyzed through the environmental justice framework and the eco-social approach and by applying thematic analysis. The findings identified that issues such as climate change, agriculture, and mining are affecting the ecosystem of páramos. The study results also reflected that the community-based conservation approach, community prior knowledge, educating and raising awareness, and the role of eco-social non-governmental organizations play a fundamental role when working alongside the communities to protect the páramos.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse à la crise environnementale, prenant place de manière globale et exponentielle dans le monde. L’objectif est de chercher, à travers ses causes historiques, quelles peuvent être les solutions possibles. Le travail débute par l’exposition d’un lien de causalité entre crise environnementale et colonisation occidentale. Nous verrons aussi que les deux phénomènes sont empreints d’une épistémologie patriarcale ayant déréglé le rapport humain à la nature. Plutôt que de prôner l’interdépendance, les humains en sont venus à favoriser la séparation et la domination des entités les unes sur les autres, endommageant ainsi les écosystèmes. Dans un deuxième temps, nous proposerons une piste de solution à ce problème : la pensée éthique d’Emmanuel Lévinas. Si ce penseur prêche un retour du souci de l’altérité, son éthique demeure néanmoins porteuse de limites occidentales la rendant ineffective dans le cadre d’une révolution environnementale. Finalement, des solutions seront plutôt recherchées du côté de penseurs décoloniaux, autochtones et écoféministes. Ceux-ci ont en commun de proposer un renversement épistémique des schèmes de pensée dominants, afin de modifier le rapport éthique à l’environnement. Une ouverture à l’existence de pluralités culturelles et la mise en place de coopérations à travers la différence sont des stratégies politiques revendiquées par ces penseurs pour résoudre la crise écologique. / This thesis is about the environmental crisis, taking place in the world in a global and exponential way. The objective is to understand the historical causes of this crisis, so we can create some possible solutions. The work begins by demonstrating a causal link between the environmental crisis and Western colonialism. We argue that both phenomena are rooted in a patriarchal epistemology which modified the human connection with nature. Rather than promoting interdependence, humans acted towards separation and domination of some entities over the others, which leaded to the destruction and depletion of ecosystems. Secondly, we propose a possible solution to the problem: the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. Levinas argues in favour of caring for otherness, though his ethics is limited by some Western traditions, making it ineffective for an environmental revolution. This thesis concludes with solutions from decolonial, native, and ecofeminist thinkers. These philosophies share a vision in which dominant schemes should go through subversive epistemic changes, so we can modify the ethical link to the environment. Acknowledging the existence of cultural pluralities and cooperating through differences are political strategies claimed by these ideologies to resolve the ecological crisis.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are becoming increasingly popular in cities around the world; however, such efforts have not been widely incorporated into analyses of urban flood vulnerability nor the total population and property loss of flooding to date, except for a few studies that examined the effectiveness of green infrastructure or only wetlands in flood regulation. The proposed research sought to understand if the existing pattern and composition of NbS can mitigate flood vulnerability and loss of flooding in one of the fastest urbanizing regions in the United States, the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. This research made key contributions to our understanding of how urban areas can grow without exacerbating flooding and inequity.First, a systematic mapping was conducted to reveal the most common spatial metrics of NbS that mitigate urban flooding in countries around the world. These findings identified important research areas for urban geographers, policymakers, planners, and civil engineers. This review indicated that the effectiveness of NbS varies spatially based on land use/land cover, climatic, and other contextual factors. The results indicated that the location, distribution, and arrangement of NbS may have different impacts on runoff mitigation and flood loss. Also, flood hydrology was the most common topic addressed, and the spatial configuration of NbS, especially connectivity was consistently identified as an important factor in flood regulation. Second, the potential of NbS as a flood loss mitigation tool in one of the fastest-growing and flood-prone counties of Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, using the Generalized Linear Model (GLR) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) techniques was examined. The findings partially contradicted previous research by revealing an unexpected relationship between NbS quantity in floodplains and expected annual loss. Findings also demonstrated that lower-sized and disconnected patches of NbS in floodplains in some dense urban areas effectively reduce total losses from flood events. Third, the spatial coincidence between the density of NbS and flood vulnerability within eight neighboring urbanizing regions situated in Montgomery County was analyzed by using the Local Indicator of Spatial Association (LISA). The results of LISA identified regions of concern characterized by elevated flood vulnerability scores and reduced concentrations of two tree canopy types as well as shrubs and grasses. Taken together, these results emphasize the significance of strategically integrating and improving NbS, especially in areas grappling with distinct flood-related issues. It also emphasized the potential for significant enhancements in flood resilience and mitigation policies thoughtful urban planning and the adoption of NbS. / Geography