Tag: <span>policy</span>

Mud Houses: Affordable Housing for the Rich? – By CJ Kelley

In Marfa, Texas, prior to 2017, a house made of adobe bricks was appraised in the same way as any other house made of any other material. Now, following an update by the county tax assessors, inhabitants of adobe structures pay 57% more in taxes than other homeowners.   Let’s …

The Next Great Migration

All over the world, from Mexico to Pakistan to right here in the United States, millions of people in the coming decades will be forced to leave their homes as their communities become uninhabitable. Why? Because of climate change.  Up to 200 million people will be displaced by 2050 due …

Accessory Dwelling Units Offer an Equitable and Sustainable Solution to the Housing Crisis

Kingston, New York, like many other cities across the country (and across the world), is facing a housing crisis of ever-increasing proportions. This year, a Housing Action Plan generated by Ulster County, the NY county in which Kingston is located, revealed that nearly one-third of the County’s homeowners and half …

Attitude and Aptitude: the intersection of leadership and learning in a rapidly changing world

Our ability to address climate change depends on a convergence of multiple disciplines and actors. Effective collaboration on an interdisciplinary level requires leadership. But what makes an influential leader? On the topic of what makes a great leader in the environmental sector, Trey Taylor of Verdant Power shared a series …

Where Have All the Fish Gone? Using Adaptive Management to Respond to an Emerging Global Crisis

When your home suddenly becomes too hot to live in, your only options are to move or die. Sounds dramatic, but that’s the situation facing many fish species as ocean temperatures rise in response to climate change. The uneven rate of ocean warming around the world, however, means that there …

We All Live in a Watershed

It’s a rainy day and you find yourself staring out the window. The rain hits ground and forms a puddle. The next day is sunny and warm and you forget that there was ever a puddle just outside your window. But what happened to the water from that puddle?  To …

What’s in your water?–What we all need to know about DPBs

Do you know what’s in your drinking water? It may be more than you realize. We disinfect our drinking water to protect us from organisms we can’t see. From boiling water to sand filters, water treatment dates back to the 18th century, and treating drinking water has saved countless lives. …

FYSA: NEPA

After a year of intensive graduate school coursework at Bard’s Center for Environmental Policy (CEP), I interned with ManTech International Corporation, a technology and innovation company that does contract consulting work primarily for the U.S. military. I worked in the environmental department and assisted project managers write and research for …

Inter-Municipal Cooperation on Food Waste in the Hudson Valley

With the midterms approaching, it seems that New York political ads are focused on the corruption and graft in Albany. Yet just an hour south, five municipalities in Northern Dutchess County are working together on issues with global implications. Last year, the Village and Town of Rhinebeck, the Village and …