e.e.r.c.: Highlights and Initiatives: February, 1997

	Energy, Environment and Resources Center The University of Tennessee Highlights and Initiatives
February 1997 Energy, Environment and Resources Center Jack Barkenbus, Executive Director Center For Clean Products and Clean Technologies Gary A. Davis, Director Office of Communications and Publications David Brill, Director Center for Geography and Environmental Education Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, Director Oak Ridge Technology Research and Development Program Sheila Webster, Director Pellissippi Research Institute Donald Alvic, Director Pro-Dialogue Mary R. English and David L. Feldman, Directors Water Resources Research Center Tim Gangaware, Associate Director For more information call Gail Farris at 865-974-4251 or write to EERC, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134. Visit our Web site at: http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/	Research. Assistant Research Professor Jonathan Rubin and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) collaborator Paul Leiby presented "The Transitional Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Model" at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C., in January. The model, commissioned by the Department of Energy, examines use of alternative fuels and vehicles in achieving goals established by the Energy Policy Act of 1992. This month, Rubin and Leiby presented a paper at ORNL titled "Bankable Permits for the Control of Stock and Flow Pollutants: Should the United States be Able to Borrow Against Its Future Greenhouse Gas Emission Allocation?" The paper explores the implications of a global emissions-banking scheme proposed by the U.S. Department of State that would allow the Untied States and other nations to emit higher-than-expected levels of greenhouse gases today in exchange for increased emissions reductions in the future. Grants. EERC's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies (CCPCT) has received a $75,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to continue its work in documenting case studies of industry's voluntary extended product responsibility (EPR) initiatives. EPR is an emerging principle of environmental protection that involves extending manufacturers' responsibility for the environmental impacts associated with their products' creation, use, and disposal. CCPCT Director Gary Davis played a lead role in organizing a workshop on EPR held this past October at the White House Conference Center. Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, director of EERC's Center for Geography and Environmental Education, has received a $15,000 grant from the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation in Washington, D.C., to continue development of the Environmental Literacy and Citizenship Assessment Instrument (ELCAI) for undergraduate students. The ELCAI consists of four modules: natural science, social science, environmental issues, and environmentally responsible behaviors. Commentary. The siting of hazardous-waste facilities in minority communities has been a controversial issue in environmental justice circles for nearly a decade. This past fall, Social Science Quarterly published results from a statistical analysis of hazardous-waste landfill siting patterns in metropolitan Texas and sought the perspectives of several EERC researchers. Jack Barkenbus, Jean Peretz, and Jonathan Rubin responded by reviewing the article and providing their collective input on both the issue and the article. Their perspective appeared in the September 1996 issue of the journal in the "Forum" section, which contains the lead article and other commentaries from key scholars in the environmental justice debate.

Energy, Environment and Resources Center

The University of Tennessee

Highlights and Initiatives

February 1997

Energy, Environment and Resources Center

Jack Barkenbus, Executive Director

Center For Clean Products and Clean Technologies

Gary A. Davis, Director

Office of Communications and Publications

David Brill, Director

Center for Geography and Environmental Education

Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, Director

Oak Ridge Technology Research and Development Program

Sheila Webster, Director

Pellissippi Research Institute

Donald Alvic, Director

Pro-Dialogue

Mary R. English and David L. Feldman, Directors

Water Resources Research Center

Tim Gangaware, Associate Director

For more information call Gail Farris at 865-974-4251 or write to EERC, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134.

Visit our Web site at: http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/

Research. Assistant Research Professor Jonathan Rubin and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) collaborator Paul Leiby presented "The Transitional Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Model" at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C., in January. The model, commissioned by the Department of Energy, examines use of alternative fuels and vehicles in achieving goals established by the Energy Policy Act of 1992. This month, Rubin and Leiby presented a paper at ORNL titled "Bankable Permits for the Control of Stock and Flow Pollutants: Should the United States be Able to Borrow Against Its Future Greenhouse Gas Emission Allocation?" The paper explores the implications of a global emissions-banking scheme proposed by the U.S. Department of State that would allow the Untied States and other nations to emit higher-than-expected levels of greenhouse gases today in exchange for increased emissions reductions in the future.

Grants. EERC's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies (CCPCT) has received a $75,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to continue its work in documenting case studies of industry's voluntary extended product responsibility (EPR) initiatives. EPR is an emerging principle of environmental protection that involves extending manufacturers' responsibility for the environmental impacts associated with their products' creation, use, and disposal. CCPCT Director Gary Davis played a lead role in organizing a workshop on EPR held this past October at the White House Conference Center.

Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, director of EERC's Center for Geography and Environmental Education, has received a $15,000 grant from the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation in Washington, D.C., to continue development of the Environmental Literacy and Citizenship Assessment Instrument (ELCAI) for undergraduate students. The ELCAI consists of four modules: natural science, social science, environmental issues, and environmentally responsible behaviors.

Commentary. The siting of hazardous-waste facilities in minority communities has been a controversial issue in environmental justice circles for nearly a decade. This past fall, Social Science Quarterly published results from a statistical analysis of hazardous-waste landfill siting patterns in metropolitan Texas and sought the perspectives of several EERC researchers. Jack Barkenbus, Jean Peretz, and Jonathan Rubin responded by reviewing the article and providing their collective input on both the issue and the article. Their perspective appeared in the September 1996 issue of the journal in the "Forum" section, which contains the lead article and other commentaries from key scholars in the environmental justice debate.

The EERC conducts analytical, unbiased, and multidisciplinary research designed to promote real-world solutions to problems in the fields of energy, environment, technology, and economic development.

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