Master of Arts / Department of Economics / Tracy M. Turner / Economic growth requires growth of energy consumption. In the second half of the twentieth century energy consumption began to outgrow its production and the United States. Consequently, we observe growing dependence of the U.S. economy on energy imports which is causing political and economic insecurity; increasing pollution and depletion of natural resources. One way to alleviate these problems is to encourage renewable electricity production. Because the electric power industry is the largest consumer of energy sources, including renewable energy, it has become one of the most frequent subjects of the regulatory policies and financial incentives aiming to stimulate renewable electricity production. One of the most promoted renewable energy policies in this industry is a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires electric utilities and other retail electric providers to supply a specified amount of electricity sales from renewable energy sources. Currently 29 states and District of Columbia have the RPSs, while 7 states have goals; but only about two third of those with the RPS have certain targets to meet. To my best knowledge, there are no studies analyzing compliance with the RPSs targets or the role of penalty mechanism in the RPS design on meeting its goal. In my Master Thesis I estimate which states are in compliance with their individual RPSs goals and analyze which factors affect the probability of compliance, with the focus on the role of penalty size, and controlling for complimentary policies promoting renewable energy production. I use a fixed effects linear probability model and state level data. Results indicate that including a penalty in the RPS design significantly increases the probability that states will comply with their goals.

Masters in Science / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning / Stephanie A. Rolley / This case study considers the lessons of Ecuador’s Yasuní-ITT initiative for future climate change policy and international conservation and development efforts. A comprehensive post-cancellation history of the initiative and background information regarding key domestic and international actors and institutions is presented in the Literature Review. Documents identified from LexisNexis and Google searches are analyzed to identify seven narratives of the initiative’s failure, which provide a basis for the suggestion of lessons. Questions regarding supply-side climate policy opportunities and challenges are explored. The initiative’s political mismanagement, design omissions and insufficient domestic political efforts, and a lack of contribution incentives are identified as the key causes of failure. The author concludes that the initiative’s supply-side model of shared sacrifices has the potential to align developed and developing country needs in support of greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals while addressing the difficulties posed by an emergent political economy of developing world resource extractivism in Ecuador and elsewhere. Future research regarding supply-side climate policies is suggested.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston John Gibson / Informed and robust stakeholder participation in the transit-planning process gives residents and communities a remarkable opportunity to take ownership of the shaping of their city’s future form and function, and allows planners to design transit networks that serve the full range of citizen needs. Therefore, the degree to which citizens are permitted to participate in the formation of a city’s transit plan has a significant influence on both its final design and its subsequent adoption by civic and political leaders. Concurrent with the influence of citizen input is the role of political strategy, since many urban transit plans must meet voter approval and a poorly-run political campaign can sink even the most substantial of transit plans. In seeking to analyze both the role of public participation and the role of campaign strategy, this study employs descriptive historical research and stakeholder surveys to assess the impact and perceived importance of inclusive design practices, as well as the political impact of a transit campaign’s general strategy, on the voter approval of transit-related ballot initiatives in Kansas City, Missouri. There are two central implications of this project. One is that the failure of transportation planners and civic activists in Kansas City to accommodate the wishes and input of diverse groups of residents and community leaders in the planning process has led to repeated defeats whenever said plans are presented to Kansas City voters for approval. The other is that urban politics and campaign strategies play a larger role in selling transit proposals than many leading figures in Kansas City have realized, and that the city’s unique political and geographic structure requires a more nuanced and technologically-diverse approach to voter persuasion than has been applied thus far. It can be theorized that reversing both of these trends will increase the likelihood of future voter approval of transportation initiatives. In addition to a political and historical analysis of transit in Kansas City, this study seeks to examine whether deliberate public participation in the transportation planning process has a direct impact on citizen support for transportation-related ballot initiatives in Kansas City.