Environment
Roundtable on Sustainability Science
A second Roundtable on Sustainability Science was held in Cebu, Philippines on March 28-29, 2009. This is a follow-up to the first roundtable on sustainability science held in November 2006 in Tagaytay, Philippines and the International Conference on Sustainability Science for Watershed Landscapes in Honolulu, Hawaii in November 2007. SEARCA organized the second roundtable to […]
Read MoreEnergy and Greenhouse Gas Solutions: Hawai‘i Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profile 1990 and 2005
In an effort to effect national and global climate change policy to address the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the Hawai’i legislature passed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2007, Act 234. Act 234 calls for Hawai’i to return its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Here we report an inventory of […]
Read MoreInvasive Species Control over Space and Time: Miconia calvescens on Oahu, Hawaii
We use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to map the current and future populations of an invasive species, Miconia calvescens, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and the potential damages to water quantity, water quality, endangered bird habitat, and native habitat housing endangered plants, snails, and insects. We develop a control cost function that includes locating and […]
Read MoreEconomic Impacts of E. Coqui frogs in Hawaii
Hawaii’s geographical isolation has resulted in the development of unique and fragile ecosystems in which the arrival of a new species may create dramatic changes in the ecology, and now the economy, of the islands. Successful establishment rates for new species before the arrival of humans in the early 1st millennium AD may have been […]
Read MoreIntroductions of Invasive Species: Failure of the Weaker Link
The prevention of invasive species is modeled as a “weaker link” public good. Under the weaker link aggregation technology, individual contributions beyond the lowest level will still provide benefits, but progressively these benefits decline as contributions exceed the minimum. A two-region model is constructed, assuming incomplete information concerning costs of provision. We compare the results […]
Read MoreRenewable resource management with stock externalities: Coastal aquifers and submarine groundwater discharge
This paper develops a hydrologic-ecologic-economic model of groundwater use. Particularly, we model coastal groundwater management and its effects on submarine groundwater discharge, nearshore marine water quality, and marine biota. We show that incorporating the external effects on nearshore resources increases the optimal sustainable steady-state head level. Numerical simulations are illustrated using data from the Kuki’o […]
Read MoreResource management for Sustainable Development of Island Economies
What is the role of resource management in sustaining competitiveness for island economies such as the Republic of the Philippines and Hawaii? We review the history of thought on sustainable resource management and sustainable development and then turn to the threats to sustainability from the resource curse and the parallel curse of paradise. We show how the resource curse […]
Read MoreConcepts in Greenhouse Gas Regulation: A Primer on Meeting ACT 234
In 2007, Hawaii became the second State after California to adopt binding greenhouse gas reductions targets in ACT 234. The legislation follows the example set by California in attaining 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. The State of Hawaii Department of Health Clean Air Branch is tasked to regulated emissions through […]
Read MoreAn Overview of U.S. Regional and National Climate Change Mitigation Strategies: Lessons for Hawai‘i
The challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions will differ from place to place, although it is particularly unique in the case of islands. Islands tend to be highly oil and tourism-dependent. Questions as to what type of market-based mechanism, such as cap-and-trade or a carbon tax, and what type of regional partnerships will be appropriate […]
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