Spring 2007

As the third and final semester of the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy program ended, students gave their Final Presentations for the Workshop in Applied Earth Systems on Wednesday, April 18.  During this spring workshop, students addressed management and policy challenges of real-world local, national, and international organizations, learning firsthand the process of working collaboratively to help solve such challenges with their clients.  

The workshop teams were advised by Professors Kathleen Callahan, Steve Cohen, Blaine Pope, Gail Suchman and Sara Tjossem.  Professor Callahan is the EPA Deputy Regional Administrator of Region 2 and advised the workshop team working with the Wildlife Conservation Society and USAID.  Professor Cohen, Director of the MPA-ESP program as well as the Executive Director of the Earth Institute, advised the waste-to-energy team. Professor Pope, working with the green building team, currently works at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as a special consultant.  Professor Suchman, presently the Senior Legal Advisor to the Urban Design Lab for Sustainable Development at Columbia’s Earth Institute, led the team consulting for the South Bronx Greenway team.  Professor Tjossem, advising the micro-investment in distributed generation team, is a lecturer and researcher for the School of International and Public Affairs and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. 

Power to the People: Promoting Micro-Investment in Distributed Generation in the European Union

Working with the client Notre Europe, this project focused on promoting community-owned and small-scale distributed generation (DG) for the European Union energy policy.  DG is the generation of decentralized, small-scale electricity that is connected to the larger grid but owned by communities or individuals.  Currently, the energy industry is dominated by centralized electricity markets using large scale generation which is carbon dioxide intensive.  With DG, energy is scalable, flexible, stable and renewable, and is developed using cleaner technologies.  The team examined several case studies of already existing DG projects including a wind turbine in the United Kingdom and biomass in Germany, identifying the benefits of this technology and methods to improve its implementation.  They concluded that this technology would result in a reduction of carbon dioxide, new sources of revenue, and pollution control.  Challenges include the cost of implementation, access to funding, and inconsistent existing policies.

Bridging the Gap: Tools for Conservation and Development

This team worked with their client, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), on its current Translinks initiative funded by USAID.  USAID is collaborating to develop a framework related to its mission in rural Africa, “Nature, Wealth, and Power,” with the goal of generating “best practice” development projects that would appropriately consider the integration of natural resources, economic concerns, and good governance practices.  Bringing together five partner organizations, Translinks aims to ensure socio-economic development while ensuring sustainable environmental quality.  The team proposed bridging the gap between conservation and development by designing tools with the member partners that could be used by practitioners in the field.  The tools they looked at focused on zoning, natural resource marketing, and payments for ecosystem services.  Although three separate tools were created, it was found that there were underlying themes that were pertinent to the success of each tool and that practitioners could benefit from using these tools together. 

Green Building for Affordable Housing in Manhattan

With New York City’s population experiencing intense growth, it is predicted that by the year 2030, there will be for 265,000 more housing units.  77% of buildings in Manhattan were built between 1900 and 1929.  The age of these buildings yields common urban environmental problems such as increased demand for energy, sewage overflow, indoor air pollution, and a higher cost of exporting waste.  Green building solutions address these issues.  Energy efficient lighting and appliances aid in lowering energy demand.  Low flow toilets and showerheads aid in water conservation.  Proper ventilation improves indoor air quality decreasing asthma rates.  Green roofs decrease the urban heat island effect.  After rigorously studying both the benefits and costs of green building, the team identified ways to increase such techniques within Manhattan.  They proposed that green building begin by educating Manhattan constituents and creating a context for a green building policy, and by facilitating the entry of developers, contractors, homeowners and tenants into affordable green building markets.  Green building is necessary to mitigate negative environmental effects of the urban setting.  Accelerating green building technologies in New York City commands incentives to the industry and education to users and policymakers.  Green building for affordable housing can increase cost savings in a stressed market.

Waste-to-Energy: A Possibility for Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico annually produces 1,420 pounds of garbage per person.  This garbage amounts to 40,000 tons of waste, filling 32 open landfills, of which only five are in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency standards.  Waste-to-Energy (WTE) is the combustion of trash to generate electricity.  It reduces the volume of waste by 90%.  Potential revenue streams from WTE include renewable electricity sold to the grid, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and residual ash.  WTE comes with environmental and public health risks, economic and financing considerations, and compatibility with recycling issues.  The team looked at potentially harmful emissions such as dioxins, nitrous oxides and mercury, as well as identifying pollution control devices that can manage such emissions.  They investigated the cost effectiveness of a WTE compared to landfills.  Landfills cost less to operate than WTE, but the cost does not include environmental effects.  The annual revenue of a WTE plant is projected to be $71 million, while the annual operations and maintenance costs are projected to be $30 million, resulting in an annual net gain of $41 million.  These funds could be used to pay the price of construction of the plant.  The team proposed getting the public involved by establishing dialogue early, involving stakeholders and offering incentives.  After much consideration, they believed that WTE provides a viable alternative for Puerto Rico’s waste.   

Maintenance Funding Recommendations for the South Bronx Greenway

The South Bronx Greenway is a low-income community full of environmental hazards, lacking green spaces with a fragile health profile.  This team worked with the Barretto Bay Conservancy to identify methods to provide for the short- and long-term maintenance needs of the South Bronx Greenway in a way that promotes economic development and respects the local history, culture, environment, and community.  The Conservancy’s goal is to create a self-sustaining maintenance plan that diversifies funding sources, as well as to leverage community resources while promoting usership.  The team proposed business development, events and outreach, and grants and donations to support outreach goals and maintenance needs.  Business development, such as push carts, educational tours and, water taxies, would provide services to visitors while inducing job creation and entrepreneurial opportunities for the community.  Events and outreach modeled after the Arts at Blue Greenway in San Francisco, CA, and Race at Central Park, would encourage visitation and provide funding potential while increasing usership.  For long term financing, the team proposed assessing transportation options, providing retail opportunities for area food wholesalers, improving the business district and possibly looking at tax increment financing.