Energy & Environmental Policy

Policies debated and made now affect generations to come. Perhaps in few areas is this more true than for energy policy - which is national, but also international, state and local - and impacts health and the environment. We are more used to considering extractive energy fuels and their impact on the natural world, but results of these fuels also impact the built environment. Renewable energy also has limits and constraints, such as community resistance to large solar "farms," mountain top windmills, energy storage, battery life and conditions under which foundational battery materials are mined or developed (to name a few). How to think about, civilly discuss, research and ultimately forge policy in a variety of contexts in one component of this key area.

Many other important policies related to the environment are also vital to sustainability, such as natural resource extraction, transport, use and regulation regarding public lands, fish and wildlife, and essential geophysical nutrients necessary for many forms of life, such as water, air, food, and green spaces and so on.

We support a variety of activities to foster, create, highlight and disseminate scholarly literature, "grey" literature, research or tracking tools, and instructional materials in this key area. While acknowledging the essential need for technical and physical scientific research and innovation, we recognize the complexities of policymaking itself, as a multifaceted human endeavor that invokes strong feelings, conflicting interests and viewpoints, and economic and power relations. Our stakeholders, +Policy Fellows and Scholars reflect this inter- and transdisciplinary thrust.

Chair:  Daniel Breslau, Associate Professor, Department of Science, Technology, and Society