RAND Research Topic: Environmental Quality

The Economic Costs of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under a U.S. National Renewable Electricity Mandate

Dec 31, 2010

The authors perform a technical and economic assessment and estimate the economic costs and net GHG reductions from U.S renewable electricity mandates. GHG emissions reductions from such policies could be as much as 670 million metric tons per year. Depending on technological development, economic costs are $13-$45 billion per year. Lower costs depend on favorable technological progress.

EPA Program Sought to Improve Environmental Performance of Public and Private Sectors

May 23, 2010

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ended a voluntary national program that encouraged facilities to improve all aspects of their environmental performance. The significant environmental challenges that the U.S. faces require it to continue to seek complements to traditional regulatory approaches.

The Impact of Air Quality on Hospital Spending

Mar 1, 2010

California's dirty air caused more than $193 million in hospital-based medical care from 2005 to 2007 as people sought help for problems such as asthma and pneumonia that are triggered by elevated pollution levels.

Parks and Physical Activity: Why Are Some Parks Used More Than Others?

Dec 31, 2009

Assesses how park characteristics and demographic factors are associated with park use.

Ambient Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Venous Thromboembolism in the Women's Health Initiative Hormone Therapy Trials

Dec 31, 2009

There is little evidence of an association between short- or long-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution and venous thromboembolism; and no evidence that hormone therapy is modifing such a link.

Influences of Physical and Social Neighborhood Environments on Children's Physical Activity and Obesity

Dec 31, 2008

The authors investigated the association between physical and social neighborhood environments and fifth-grade students' physical activity and obesity.

RAND Energy & Environment Researcher Guide

Dec 8, 2008

The RAND Corporation research on energy and environment addresses a range of topics of relevance to U.S. and international audiences, including environmental quality and regulation, energy resources and systems, water resources and systems, climate change, and natural hazards and disasters.

Western Riverside County Habitat Conservation Plan Progressing, but Needs Fine-Tuning

Nov 3, 2008

Western Riverside County's Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan -- a sweeping effort to protect endangered and threatened species while accelerating the approval of transportation improvements -- has made significant progress, but needs modifying to reach its goals in Southern California's changing economy.

Alternative Fossil Fuels Have Economic Potential but Uncertain Environmental Consequences

Oct 8, 2008

Alternative sources of fossil fuels such as oil sands and coal-to-liquids have significant economic promise, but the environmental consequences must also be considered.

Army Can Boost Mission Success by Better Managing Environmental Considerations

Sep 23, 2008

By better managing environmental issues during deployments, U.S. Army units can gain tactical and strategic advantages that will help in combat and post-conflict operations, and boost overall mission success.

Modeling Climate Change Threat Can Help Improve Policy Decisions

Feb 1, 2007

Climate change presents decisionmakers with a fundamental quandary: how to address a potentially serious, long-term, and uncertain threat. A joint project of RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment and the RAND Pardee Center seeks to address this problem through basic research and computer modeling.

The Roles of Group Membership, Beliefs, and Norms in Ecological Risk Perception

Dec 31, 2006

Investigates the variability in ecological risk perceptions by surveying members of four stakeholder groups commonly involved in environmental policy debates.

Evidence About the Link Between Education, Poverty and Terrorism Among Palestinians

Dec 31, 2006

This paper investigates the ways in which terrorism is linked to education and poverty using data newly culled from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) documentary sources.

An Integrated Modelling Framework for Assessing Vehicular Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in Urban Areas

Dec 31, 2006

It has been well recognized that urban transportation and land-use are strongly interrelated and affect air quality.

Household Demand and Willingness to Pay for Clean Vehicles

Dec 31, 2006

This paper examines the factors and incentives that are most likely to influence households' choice for cleaner vehicles in the metropolitan area of Hamilton, Canada.

A Review and Evaluation of Intraurban Air Pollution Exposure Models

Dec 31, 2006

The development of models to assess air pollution exposures within cities for assignment to subjects in health studies has been identified as a priority area for future research.

Global Technology Revolution 2020: Technology Trends and Cross-Country Variation

Apr 3, 2006

This research brief examines how technology changes -- in economic development, health, environmental quality, and military power -- will play out differently across the globe.

A General, Analytic Method for Generating Robust Strategies and Narrative Scenarios

Dec 31, 2005

This study demonstrates robust decision making (RDM), an analytic method that helps design robust strategies through an iterative process that first suggests candidate robust strategies, identifies clusters of future states of the world to which they are vulnerable, and then evaluates the trade-offs in hedging against these vulnerabilities.

Smog Alert: The Challenges of Battling Ozone Pollution

Dec 31, 2004

Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Passenger Vehicles: Predictive Mapping with an Application to Hamilton, Canada

Dec 31, 2004

Integrated urban models are designed to simulate land-use and transportation interactions and to allow predicts of traffic volume and vehicle emissions at the link level of the urban transport network.