School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Collins, Kathleen
Description
The trend couldn’t be clearer. The White House is doing everything it can to reverse the economic, social, and environmental progress bringing the age of fossil fuels to an end. From subsidies for the dying coal industry to gutting regulations on air pollution, recent actions by the president and his cabinet show every intention of turning the dial on our energy policy back a full 30 years (Barba, 2017). Now, the fossil fuel industry is turning to a new strategy: building ethane cracker plants. These facilities turn fracked gas into plastics and – just as important – create more infrastructures for fossil fuels. All in places like the Ohio River Valley where communities are fighting hard to leave natural gas and the impacts of dirty energy behind.
The good news is that more and more communities see these plants for what they are: a wrong turn back to the dark days of dirty energy degrading community health, driving climate change and polluting the air, water, and soil we all share. With our planet’s future and the health of their families all on the line, everyday activists in communities throughout the Ohio River Basin are now banding together to fight back. You can too.
The good news is that more and more communities see these plants for what they are: a wrong turn back to the dark days of dirty energy degrading community health, driving climate change and polluting the air, water, and soil we all share. With our planet’s future and the health of their families all on the line, everyday activists in communities throughout the Ohio River Basin are now banding together to fight back. You can too.
ContributorsCollins, Kathleen (Author)
Created2019-05-15
Description
Day-to-day decision makers on agricultural operations play a key role in maintaining both a sustainable and food secure agricultural society. This population, also defined as Principal Producers by the 2017 USDA Agricultural Census Report, has witnessed a significant decline in recent years, raising many questions surrounding why farmers are retiring faster than they can be replaced. To look closely at this phenomenon, this study focuses on the State of Ohio to hear first-hand from producers what they need to be successful through a series of semi-structured interviews. This study also maps recent changes in variables that define this issue from 2007-2017 using QGIS and USDA Agricultural Census data. The findings from this study show the recent decline of mid-sized agricultural operations and provide evidence linking declining rates of principal producer populations with specific features consistent with industrial agriculture. These findings are specific to the State of Ohio, but also raise much larger questions about which populations are experiencing more rapid rates of farm exit, and what implications these trends have for food security on a broader scale.
ContributorsMoore, Phillip (Author) / Chhetri, Nalini (Contributor) / Leonard, Bryan (Contributor) / Shrestha, Milan (Contributor)
Created2020