Econ 2505 Group Projects for Semester Research Project

Econ 2505 Group Projects for Semester Research Project and/or Emerging/Honors Scholars Program

These are suggested projects for group collaboration on data collection, place-based visits (primary research), secondary research for the semester research project.

These might also serve as proposals for student collaboration and participation in the Emerging/Honors Scholars Poster Presentation Program in November

1. What are food deserts? Mapping the location of food deserts in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

How is the issue of food deserts an environmental issue as well as an economic one?

Reading:

• Kristian Larsen and Jason Gilliland, A Farmers’ market in a food desert: Evaluating impacts on the price and Availability of healthy food, Health &Place15 (2009)1158–1162 Elsevier
• Renee E.Walker a,b,n, Christopher R.Keane a, JessicaG.Burke. Disparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature, Health & Place16(2010)876–884
• Cynthia Gordon, MarniePurciel-Hill, NirupaR.Ghai, LeslieKaufman, ReginaGraham, and Gretchen Van Wye. Measuring food deserts in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods, Health & Place 17 (2011)696–700

 What are the characteristics of the communities in and around food deserts? Economic/median family income

• Health statistics (ex., rates of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.?)
• How can the economic costs to the larger economy in terms of health care costs be measured?
• What is the median distance to sources of fresh fruit and vegetables?
• What are the needs in such communities? How can access to more healthy alternatives be achieved? Can City government have a role here in providing incentives to small businesses to locate in and provide access to healthy alternatives?
• Educational information and outreach on the health benefits of healthy choices

2. What are the environmental and economic costs and benefits of renewable vs. fossil fuel based energy sources?

Reading:

• Union of Concerned Scientists, Benefits of Renewable Energy Use
•  Daniel Cusick. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Cost $5 Trillion Annually and Worsen Pollution The International Monetary Fund notes that subsides for burning fossil fuels enrich the wealthy and make air pollution worse, Scientific American, May 19, 2015

• Environment America, Report: The High Cost of Fossil Fuels, June 30, 2009

• Define a geographic area within which to focus this study (A city? Part of the city? State? U.S.?)

• Think about a methodology for measuring the costs and benefits of each source within a given geographic area.
• Review some studies that have already been done and use one of these as a model

 Economic costs of fossil fuel use: Extraction, refining, producing and delivery costs to households/businesses

• Environmental costs: Greenhouse gasses (CO₂, methane and other emissions); what are the measurable costs in environmental damage that are already well documented?
  • Warming of oceans, severe weather patterns (heat, flooding) and habitat loss for many species of wildlife.
  • Farmers, food output/crops; threat to the overall food supply (economic and environmental losses)
  • Health effects and costs as a result of exposure

Environmental costs/benefits of renewables:

• Production and installation costs of wind sources; solar; geothermal and other sources
• Environmental costs? Small costs associated with solar production
• Cost savings over time to the homeowner, business? (there are examples to look at here)

 3. Economically and Environmentally sustainable housing in the densely populated city

Reading:

• ULI Community Catalyst Report, Number 7. Environmentally Sustainable Affordable Housing, Urban Land Institute, October 4–5, 2007

• Economic sustainability: Affordability; increasing supply to meet rapidly rising demand
• Environmental sustainability: How can both older and newer residential buildings be made ‘greener’?
  • Gardens/plantings on rooftops to absorb extremes of heat and cold to reduce demand for cooling/heating
  • Models for green residential buildings: what green features have they incorporated in their designs?
  • Are there features that existing structures can adapt?
  • Is conversion to renewable energy sources possible?
  • What are the potential economic and environmental cost savings?
  • How can such changes improve overall quality of life?