For Immediate Release
Contact: Anthony Flint 617-503-2116
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 11, 2011) -- Developing policies that will keep climate change in check has become a global priority, as increasing greenhouse gas emissions contribute to extreme weather patterns. If these emissions remain unabated, changes in global temperatures, sea level rise, and other environmental impacts will have huge implications for human settlement and economic activities.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s 2010 annual Land Policy Conference provided a forum for international scholars and policy makers to discuss topics including how energy and climate change policies affect land resource allocation and land use planning; relationships among urban form, transportation, and CO2 emissions; market-based approaches to environmental conservation; and the ability of governments at all levels to deal with climate change and land management.
The recently published volume Climate Change and Land Policies includes chapters and commentaries summarizing the presentations and discussions at the conference. Five key insights on the relationships between land policies and climate change can be drawn from the three-day gathering:
-- Predicting climate change impacts in general, and the effects on land use in particular, is fraught with uncertainty and complications.
-- Renewable energy policy is bound to affect land use.
-- In designing urban form and transportation policy to reduce automobile use and fuel consumption, population density is not the only factor to consider.
-- Payment for environmental services seems to be a promising approach, yet its success will depend on transaction costs of valuing the services, negotiation, and enforcement.
-- Finally, the environmental initiatives of different countries, international aid agencies, and global environmental interest groups need to be better coordinated to achieve the desired outcomes of collective climate change policy. Strong leadership is most critical.
Climate Change and Land Policies, which is available as an eBook on Amazon Kindle, is the fifth compilation of papers, presentations, and commentaries based on the annual Land Policy Conference. The others are Land Policies and Their Outcomes (2007), Fiscal Decentralization and Land Policies (2008), Property Rights and Land Policies (2009), and Municipal Revenues and Land Policies (2010).
Contents of Climate Change and Land Policies
Introduction
1. Land Policies in the Face of Climate Change, Gregory K. Ingram and Yu-Hung Hong
Climate Change and Risk Assessment
2. Preparing for Rising Water Along U.S. Coastlines, Bruce Babbitt
3. Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Zone Management, Robert J. Nicholls
Commentary, Douglas Meffert
4. The Impact of Climate Change on Land, Robert Mendelsohn
Commentary, W. David Montgomery
Climate Change Policies and Land Use
5. Alternative Energy Sources and Land Use, Clinton J. Andrews, Lisa Dewey-Mattia, Judd M. Schechtman, and Mathias Mayr
Commentary, Gordon Walker
6. Integrating Adaptation and Mitigation in Local Climate
Change Planning, Elisabeth M. Hamin
Commentary, Kirsten H. Engel
Urban Form, Transportation, and Emissions
7. Land Use and Vehicle Miles of Travel in the Climate Change Debate: Getting Smarter Than Your Average Bear, Marlon G. Boarnet, Douglas Houston, Gavin Ferguson, and Steven Spears
Commentary, Kenneth A. Small
8. The Decline in Transit-Sustaining Densities in U.S. Cities, 1910–2000, Shlomo Angel, Alejandro Blei, Jason Parent, and Daniel A. Civco
Commentary, Susan L. Handy
9. Prediction of Transportation Outcomes for LEED-ND Pilot Projects, Reid Ewing, Colin Quinn-Hurst, Lauren Brown, Meghan Bogaerts, Lawrence Frank, Michael Greenwald, and Ming Zhang
Commentary, Judith A. Layzer
10. Congestion Pricing: An Overview of Experience and Impacts, Kiran Bhatt
Commentary, Thomas Light
Market Approaches to Environmental Conservation
11. Changing Land Uses in Forestry and Agriculture Through Payments for Environmental Services, Sven Wunder and Jan Börner
Commentary, James N. Levitt
12. Capturing Economic Rents to Pay for Conservation of Sensitive Sites, John A. Dixon
Commentary, Tanya Hayes
13. Do U.S. Policy Makers Have Better Alternatives to Cap and Trade?, Ian W. H. Parry and Roberton C. Williams III
Commentary, A. Denny Ellerman
Governance and Environmental Policy
14. The Environment and Global Governance: Can the Global Community Rise to the Challenge? Uma Lele, Aaron Zazueta, and Benjamin Singer
Commentary, Peter M. Haas
15. American Federalism and Climate Change: Policy Options and Public Opinion, Barry G. Rabe and Christopher P. Borick
Commentary, Kristine Kern
16. Climate Change and the Management of National and State-Owned Land in the United States, Christopher McGrory Klyza
Commentary, Roger A. Sedjo
About the Editors
Gregory K. Ingram is president and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and cochair of the Department of International Studies.
Yu-Hung Hong is a senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute and a visiting assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Climate Change and Land Policies
Edited by Gregory K. Ingram and Yu-Hung Hong
2011 / 484 pages / Paper / $30.00
ISBN: 978-1-55844-217-7
For media copies or interviews, please contact Anthony Flint at anthony.flint@lincolninst.edu.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a leading resource for key issues concerning the use, regulation, and taxation of land. Providing high-quality education and research, the Institute strives to improve public dialogue and decisions about land policy.
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