Environment
Cost-Effectiveness of Controlling Invasive Miconia via Herbicide Ballistic Technology
By Kimberly Burnett and Christopher Wada Miconia calvescens is an invasive tree native to South and Central America that grows up to 50 feet with shallow root systems that promote erosion. The trees form thick monotypic stands, shading out native plants and threatening the watershed function of Hawaii’s forests. The quick growing miconia can mature […]
Read MoreFilipino 2040: Environmental Resources, Shocks, and National Well-Being
The contribution of the environmental-resource sector to national well-being is the sum of natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. Inasmuch as existing resource stocks are below efficient levels, better enforcement of existing laws as well as policies that incentivize sustainable use are needed. Similarly, progressive royalty assessment of mineral resources can incentivize exploration without transferring […]
Read MoreSustainable Agriculture Irrigation Management: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Pajaro Valley, California
The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is quickly becoming one of the most critical global environmental challenges of the twenty first century. However, WEF systems are inherently complex; they typically are dynamic and span multiple land or agro-ecosystems at a regional or global scale. Addressing this challenge requires a systems approach to optimal and sustainable resource management […]
Read MoreRecent Trends in Hawaii’s Green Economy: Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resource Management
This report provides an update to the 2012 “Foundations for Hawai‘i’s Green Economy: Economic Trends in Hawai‘i Agriculture, Energy, and Natural Resource Management.” Although economic information has long been collected for many sectors in Hawai‘i, including agriculture and energy, the 2012 project was the first to collect indicators specifically for the natural resource management (NRM) […]
Read MoreMethods of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus
This paper focuses on a collection of methods that can be used to analyze the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. We classify these methods as qualitative or quantitative for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research approaches. The methods for interdisciplinary research approaches can be used to unify a collection of related variables, visualize the research problem, evaluate the issue, […]
Read MoreEconomic Analysis of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: My Visiting Research Fellowship at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan
By Kimberly Burnett Earlier this year I had the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team at the Research Institute of Humanity and Nature (RIHN) on a Visiting Research Fellowship examining “Human-Environmental Security in Asia-Pacific Ring of Fire: Water-Energy-Food Nexus.” Our objective was to design research frameworks for conducting water-energy-food economic analyses for three study […]
Read MoreAssessing the potential for food and energy self-sufficiency on the island of Kauai, Hawaii
Food and energy security are major concerns in the Pacific and around the world. They are key planning priorities in Food and energy security are major concerns in the Pacific and around the world. They are key planning priorities in the state of Hawai‘i as well. Approximately 90% of energy and food resources are imported […]
Read MoreIntergenerational Games with Dynamic Externalities and Climate Change Experiments
Dynamic externalities are at the core of many long-term environmental problems, from species preservation to climate change mitigation. We use laboratory experiments to compare welfare outcomes and underlying behavior in games with dynamic externalities under two distinct settings: traditionally studied games with infinitely-lived decision makers, and more realistic intergenerational games. We show that if decision […]
Read MoreUsing Vog from Kilauea to Estimate the Health Consequences of Particulate and SO2 Pollution
By Tim Halliday, John Lynham and Aureo de Paula Kīlauea volcano is the largest stationary source of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) pollution in the United States of America. The SO₂ that the volcano emits eventually forms particulate matter, another major pollutant. In a recent project, we use this exogenous source of pollution variation to estimate the impact of […]
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