MPA-ESP Students Present Fall Midterm Workshop Briefings

With another semester underway, on Wednesday, October 11 the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy students reported on their progress for the Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management course during their midterm briefings. With projects including electronic waste, water resource development, wetlands preservation, avian flu, and energy policy, students examined a variety of environmental topics with the end result being to develop policy recommendations on proposed but not yet enacted environmental statutes.

The workshop projects began during the summer semester, as students examined their topics from a scientific perspective. After presenting on the scientific concerns surrounding these 5 statutes, during the fall semester the workshop focus changes course and examines the policy and management concerns related to the environmental statutes. Rather than solely studying policy development, the unique aspect of this workshop course is the examination of the actual implementation process, addressing the management problems associated with selecting and operating program changes over a one-year period. This workshop course combines multi-disciplinary learning with integrative problem solving.

Each workshop team is advised by a faculty member, this fall including Kathy Callahan, Steven Cohen, Andrea Schmitz, and Gary Weiskopf. Kathy Callahan, advising the Avian Flu team, joins the workshop course for the first time. Professor Callahan is the EPA Deputy Regional Administrator of Region 2 and has been with the agency since 1971. Steve Cohen, the Director of the MPA-ESP program, serves as the advisor for both the electronic waste and water resource development teams. Professor Cohen is also the Executive Director of the Earth Institute and his newest book, "Understanding Environmental Policy," was recently published by Columbia University Press. Professor Schmitz, the Director of Environment, Health, and Safety at ConEdison, is advising the team addressing Energy Policy. Professor Weiskopf, overseeing the wetlands preservation group, is the Director of Weiskopf Consulting Services (WCS), a consulting company that provides public policy analysis for government and not-for-profit decision makers.

Electronic Waste Recycling
Despite no existing national legislation for electronic waste recycling regulation, the amount of e-waste is growing at a dramatic rate. The proposed bill seeks to reduce and eliminate waste through recycling, creating financial incentives to promote voluntary recycling of certain types of e-waste. The bill would provide tax credits for both consumers and collectors, guidelines for the recycling process, and conduct a study to examine the feasibility of nationwide recycling program. The team developed three mains tasks, including conducting a feasibility study of national e-waste recycling program, recycling e-waste across all federal agencies, and providing tax credits. Throughout the remainder of the semester, the team will work towards the objectives for these three tasks, with their overarching principle focus being to develop and implement recycling guidelines and certification requirements.

Water Resource Management
The major policy problem the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) seeks to address is the challenge to balance ecosystem health and growth with economic growth. To address these challenges, WRDA seeks to fund newly authorized projects and reauthorize infrastructure and environmental management from previous legislation, all of this to be implemented by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Engineer Corps will thus now have a dual purpose, giving equal consideration to both economic concerns and ecological concerns. As WRDA is quite extension, this team chose to specifically focus on the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway, looking to seek long-term sustainability of the economic uses and ecological integrity of this region. Throughout the remainder of the semester, they will examine this piece of legislation and create an organizational plan, budget and revenue plan, performance and innovation process management, and create a master calendar.

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Wetlands play an integral role for fisheries, as they filter pollution and sediments, provide storm protection, and are a nursery area for fish and shellfish. Wetland destruction thus poses severe environmental problems for fisheries. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands proposes the conservation and wise use of wetlands, focusing on the quality of the wetlands, increasing international cooperation, and improving information on the status of fisheries in Ramsar sites. This team, focusing particularly on Alaska, developed goals for accessing this legislature, including creating a specific monitoring program using EPA guidelines, gathering information to facilitate international comparison and management, and promoting increased awareness of wetlands and their importance. Throughout the remainder of the semester, this team will continue with these goals and develop the organizational strategy and staffing plan.

Avian Flu
Because of the dangers presented by the rapid global spread of avian influenza, the Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance (GAINS) was created to protect US citizens and economic interests, and to increase understanding of wild bird ecology. The 5 goals of GAINS include data gathering, viral analysis, open-access database, international collaboration, and capacity building. The four primary components of the GAINS program are the partners (national and international), training (capacity building), collection (sampling and testing), and database design (early detection system). This group viewed the balanced approach, which combined both short-term feasibility and long-term goals, as the overall best solution. Their project goals include sharing the costs with international and national partners, coordinating data-gathering efforts, building local research and response capacity, and maximizing time and budget. They will continue throughout the rest of the semester to work on the organizational structure for this implementation.

Energy Policy
The legislation in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 looks to provide secure, affordable, and reliable energy and proposes a variety of solutions for cleaner energy. This group chose to look specifically at the Clean Coal Power Initiative, which is a clean coal burning technology that reduces mercury emissions by 99% and sulfur dioxide emissions by 93%. The clean coal power initiative will allocate at least $1.08 billion over the next nine years for advanced clean coal technologies. Positive aspects to this program include the abundance of coal, a 70% expected increase as a source for electricity by 2030, and its price is competitive against other fuels. Taking a progression policy option, 80% of funding would go towards gasification projects, consultation would be done with the EPA, industry, academia, and environmental organizations, technical milestones would be in 3-year periods, and compliance targets would address mercury emissions, sulfur dioxide, and energy intensity. As the semester progresses, this team will continue to examine the environmental, economic, and socio-political implications of this policy option.