Policy Topics

Energy and environment

Showing 421 - 450 of 830 results

Daniel Raimi describes the economic and emissions impact of nuclear plant closures

Nov 3, 2015

“As US shutters aging nuclear plants, cutting emissions will become more costly,” writes Daniel Raimi for The Conversation. Raimi is referring to nuclear plant closures announced in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and most recently,...

Barry Rabe analyzes Republican Presidential candidates’ views on climate change

Oct 30, 2015

Public policy professor Barry Rabe penned a blog post for the Brookings Institution, titled "Some GOP candidates are warming to climate change", on October 29. In the piece, Rabe comments on “the wide range of positions on climate change,” of GOP...

Gov. Snyder appoints Dr. Matthew Davis to new Flint water crisis-response task force

Oct 22, 2015

In a press release on Wednesday Gov. Rick Snyder appointed a task force to review "actions regarding water use and testing in Flint" and to make recommendations for future guidelines. Among those appointed is the Ford School's own Dr. Matthew...

CLOSUP climate belief poll results covered by a number of global news outlets

Oct 16, 2015

Only 16 percent of Americans currently believe that there is not solid evidence of global warming, according to the latest CLOSUP survey on energy and the environment released earlier this week. This is one percentage point less than the previous...

ACLU's Kary Moss petitions EPA calling for immediate action on Flint’s water crisis

Oct 8, 2015

Kary Moss, a lecturer at the Ford School and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, worked with a coalition of groups behind the Flint Water Study to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take...

ACLU's Kary Moss renews call for civil asset forfeiture reform - content image

Barry Rabe to co-chair EPA subcommitee on Clean Water Act dredge-dumping regulations

Oct 8, 2015

Last month, Barry Rabe was nominated to co-chair the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assumable Waters Subcommittee.The subcommittee will take on the Clean Water Act's (CWA) Section 404 program, which enables states and tribes to regulate the...

News

Now available, spring 2015 edition of the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs (MJPA)

Sep 22, 2015

The Michigan Journal of Public Affairs (MJPA) has published its spring 2015 volume, featuring articles and notes on a variety of topics including immigration policy, climate change, educational impacts on mental health, and development policy. This...

Graphic with text "Michigan Journal of Public Affairs in Solidarity with Black lives"

Alumni-in-Residence program connects students with alumni in policy careers

Sep 15, 2015

Want to meet with alumni working in government, consulting, education policy and other fields? Join us for this fall’s Alumni-in-Residence program, where students will have the opportunity to engage with Ford School alumni through career...

News

CLOSUP wins Third Century Initiative grant to bring data to the classroom in a big way

Sep 8, 2015

CLOSUP, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, is ready to bring real-world data to the classroom in a big way. Through a recently awarded Quick Wins/Discovery grant, part of the University of Michigan's Third Century Initiative,...

Internship field report, Cassandra Baxter @ Mesa Verde National Park

Aug 10, 2015

For me, there is no greater respite than exploring nature. Directly upon moving to Michigan, I began hatching plans to visit one of our nation’s least visited national parks, Isle Royale. I envisioned this summer culminating with a vacation to that...

Rabe speaks with NPR about changing attitudes on climate action and Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Aug 8, 2015

In “Obama's Climate Plan Faces Huge Political Challenges,” which ran on Monday, NPR reporter Scott Horsley outlined the President’s “ambitious new climate regulations” and the political opposition to them. He turned to Barry Rabe to provide insight...

News

Liz Gerber's "Motivational crowding in sustainable development interventions," APSR

Aug 3, 2015

A research article by Arun Agrawal, Ashwini Chhatre, and Elisabeth Gerber, "Motivational crowding in sustainable development interventions," was published in the August 2015 edition of American Political Science Review. Abstract We used a...

Internship field report, Lora Cirhigiri @ Imaflora, Sao Paolo, Brazil

Jul 20, 2015

After nine hours of driving down the Trans Amazonia highway, we reached our first stretch of paved road at the town of Apuí. This small town in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest was our destination and point of research for the next...

To be effective, healthcare policy needs expanded focus says House in Guardian op-ed, new book

Jul 13, 2015

"Healthcare, for the most part, doesn't prevent illness—it tries to fix it once it happens," writes James House in his July 6 Guardian op-ed, "Healthcare heals the sick. Better pay keeps them healthy in the first place."The Affordable Care Act has...

Internship field report, William Lamping doubling up on internships in Albania and DC

Jul 10, 2015

This summer, I have two internships. In May, I interned with the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Tirana, Albania, where I focused on energy security in the Balkans. For June, July, and August, I’m interning with the U.S. Government...

Global warming skeptics cite personal weather observations as the key reason for their views

Jul 8, 2015

The number of Americans who believe there is evidence of global warming rose to 63 percent after a memorable winter that included record cold and snow in the Northeast and historic warmth and drought in the West, according to a University of...

News

Internship field report, Sandy Mervak from the National Conference of State Legislatures

Jul 7, 2015

That old trope about states serving as "laboratories of democracy" has become much more real for me this summer. I am working as a research intern in the energy program at the National Conference of State Legislatures—a national, bipartisan NGO that...

News

Introducing Kaitlin Toner Raimi, incoming assistant professor of public policy

Jul 7, 2015

The Ford School is delighted to announce that a number of faculty members will join our community this fall. To introduce them to the Ford School and University, we’re running weekly Q&As throughout the summer that touch on their policy and personal...

'Complete Streets' policies more popular in Michigan's urban areas

Jun 18, 2015

Complete Streets, policies that encourage local governments to take all users—pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users and drivers—into account when designing and constructing roads, have a good deal of support among Michigan local officials, but...

Schwarz, Whitmer pen bipartisan op-ed, call on Michiganders to support new clean energy policy

Jun 17, 2015

Former U.S. Congressman Dr. Joe Schwarz (R-7) and former Michigan Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) pen MLive op-ed, “New energy plan for Michigan is opportunity to find common ground for cleaner water.” Together, Schwarz and...

Rabe cited in coverage of new EPA report on fracking

Jun 8, 2015

Barry Rabe, a Ford School professor and director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), was recently cited by both the Financial Times and the U.S. News & World Report in coverage surrounding the last week's release of findings...

Most Americans support renewable energy standards

Jun 3, 2015

Despite recent attempts in many state legislatures to repeal or weaken renewable energy requirements, a University of Michigan poll finds that a majority of Americans—of every race, income and education level, and religious and political...

To drill or not to drill: Barry Rabe discusses growing state-local conflicts over fracking

May 19, 2015

In Barney Jopson’s “US states seek to block city fracking bans,” an article that appeared in yesterday’s Financial Times, Barry Rabe explains that “the US is still in the early stages of discovering and managing the upsides and downsides of shale...

State & Hill

Energy and environmental policy impact stories, advancing sustainable food systems

May 6, 2015

Beehives in a Michigan cherry orchard Betsy Riley (MPP/SNRE ’14), 2013 Dow Sustainability Fellow Created a resource guide for farmers and beekeepers trying to cope with the negative effects of honey bee colony collapse disorder....

News

Barry Rabe talks to Inside Energy as North Dakota seeks to lower oil severance taxes

May 4, 2015

Barry Rabe, who was traveling through North Dakota for ongoing research on state energy taxes in the shale era, was interviewed by Emily Guerin for “Inside Energy: North Dakota oil taxes.” The story, which aired on Prairie Public Radio on May 4,...

Comparative Economic Studies publishes Applied Policy Seminar report, policy recommendations

May 4, 2015

The Applied Policy Seminar, now called Strategic Public Policy Consulting or SPPC, puts Ford School master’s students to work completing commissioned policy research projects for public-sector clients. Not only is the experience beneficial for...

State & Hill

The Last Word with CLOSUP director Barry Rabe on carbon pricing, frackademics, and more

May 1, 2015

Republicans support a carbon tax? Yes they do. Barry Rabe, director of the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, explains. S&H: You'll spend your sabbatical year working on a book about carbon pricing. Why that...

State & Hill

Restoring ecosystem health and protecting biodiversity, Ford School impact stories

May 1, 2015

Brendan Moriarty (MPP/MUP ’09), Bay Area Program Manager, The Trust for Public Land Acquiring a 688-acre tract of coastal Redwood forest—about a mile of the California coastland—to return to the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, who lost...

State & Hill

Battling pollution, Ford School alums clean up toxic chemicals, spearhead recycling

Apr 29, 2015

Madhu Rustagi Anderson (MPP ’84), Deputy Director, Economic and Strategic Initiatives, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Helped formulate a 15-point recycling plan for the State of Michigan. “Michigan’s 1979 bottle deposit...

State & Hill

Transforming transportation

Apr 27, 2015

Charles Henley (MPP ’00), Senior Manager, Capital Program Department, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Helps identify funding sources, and sets spending and investment priorities for the largest public transportation provider in...