Applying community resilience theory to engagement with residents facing cumulative environmental exposure risks: lessons from Louisiana's industrial corridor.

The presence of legacy pollutants, on-going chemical manufacturing activities, and population shifts have introduced complex, cumulative exposure risks to residents of many highly industrialized communities. These "industrial corridors" present unique challenges to environmental health science professionals, public and private sector decision makers, and residents seeking to make their communities safer and healthier. Social-ecological resilience theory offers a useful framework for the design and implementation of community engagement efforts to help stakeholders take action to reduce their exposure risks.

Applying a community resilience framework to examine household emergency planning and exposure-reducing behavior among residents of Louisiana's industrial corridor.

Residents facing environmental hazards can take steps to reduce their exposure risks, and these actions may be considered adaptations that can enhance the overall resilience of communities. Applying concepts from social-ecological resilience theory, the authors examine emergency planning and exposure-reducing behaviors among residents of the upper Industrial Corridor of Louisiana and explore the extent to which the behaviors are associated with key theoretical influences on community resilience: exposure, vulnerability, and the "adaptive capacity" of residents. The behaviors of interest are adoption of a household emergency plan in the case of acute exposure events (like chemical spills), and limiting outdoor activities in response to Air Quality Index reports, thus potentially reducing chronic exposure risks.

Influences on Adoption of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets among US States, 1998-2008.

While the United States has not established federal regulations for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, many US states have adopted their own standards and guidelines. In this study we examine state adoption of targets for GHG reductions during the ten-year period of 1998-2008, and identify factors that explain variation in target adoption. Potential influences are drawn from research from the public policy formulation and diffusion literature, and from studies specific to climate policy adoption.

Measuring Capacity for Resilience among Coastal Counties of the US Northern Gulf of Mexico Region.

Many have voiced concern about the long-term survival of coastal communities in the face of increasingly intense storms and sea level rise. In this study we select indicators of key theoretical concepts from the social-ecological resilience literature, aggregate those indicators into a resilience-capacity index, and calculate an index score for each of the 52 coastal counties of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Building upon Cutter's Social Vulnerability Index work [1], we use Factor Analysis to combine 43 variables measuring demographics, social capital, economic resources, local government actions, and environmental conditions within the counties.

Achievement of Climate Planning Objectives among U.S. Member Cities of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

In an effort to address climate change, many cities have joined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) whose members commit to work toward five specific program objectives designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study examines the extent to which 257 member cities in the US have been successful in achieving these program milestones and identifies factors that may explain variation in the performance of member cities. Potential influences on milestone attainment include socioeconomic, political and ideological characteristics of residents, length of ICLEI membership, existence of other climate programs within the state, and local environmental pressures.