energy and environmental policy

Public Perceptions of Renewable Energy: How to Constructively Advocate at the Local Level & Helping Communities Set Policies

Mar 10, 2020, 10:30 am-12:00 pm EDT

Weill Hall, Room 5240

As demand for renewable energy grows, wind energy and solar energy developers are looking for communities to host these projects. In this session, Dr. Sarah Mills will talk about what we know about public perceptions of renewable energy in the communities where wind and solar projects are proposed. She'll draw mostly on her research understanding community reactions to wind energy projects in Michigan, extrapolate what that means for solar energy.

North American Colloquium Climate Series

Canada-US green bilateralism: Targeting cooperation for climate mitigation

April 8, 2022

Debora VanNijnatten, Mark McWhinney

Under the Biden administration and the Trudeau government, the U.S. and Canadian commitment to bilateral cooperation on climate is both strong and comprehensive. This stands in stark contrast to the complete lack of engagement under the previous...

Debora VanNijnatten and Mark McWhinney research paper

Program in Practical Policy Projects

Industrial Composting Policy in Detroit

January 2023 - April 2023

Maulshree Sinha (MPP '24)

Sanctuary Farms is an urban farm and nature sanctuary in Detroit, with a mission to connect the local community with the environment and food through active participation in closing the food loop. As part of their operations, Sanctuary Farms aims to engage in industrial-scale composting, and this research project involved conducting extensive research to understand the policy and permit requirements for composting in the City of Detroit, as well as at the state and federal levels. The research process involved gathering information from various resources, including the client and the UM...

Program in Practical Policy Projects

Detroit Environmental Health Hazards Resource Hub and Data Collection

January 2023 - April 2023

Andrew Roman (BA '24, Public Policy)

A student assisted Planet Detroit in building an online resource hub to help inform Detroit residents and relevant stakeholders of a wide variety of environmental health risks. Environmental health risk categories included flood, climate, heat, air quality, and lead levels. The resource hub includes a written description of the data and lists the type of data provided. The resource hub also includes relevant information from participating impact partners who provided the research and data. The student helped with data entry and collection to assemble the resource hub and make it discernible...

Program in Practical Policy Projects

Supporting Environmentally Friendly Mining Legislation in Michigan

January 2022 - April 2022

Samir Deshpande (MPP ‘23), Rachel McGivern (MPA ‘22), Kjersti Swanson (BA ‘23), Yuer Wang (MPP ‘24)

Four fellows provided research support for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters and the office of State Senator Rosemary Bayer to improve a bill (SB 429 of 2021) that was introduced in the Michigan Senate to update regulations on the mining of aggregate materials (e.g., sand, gravel, stone, clay). The team conducted case studies of nine states, focusing on the relative authorities of state and local governments in the permitting and restoration processes, as well as topical overviews around soil conservation best practices, the use of recycled aggregate materials, and stakeholder...

PubPol 564