Caroline L. Noblet

Are Environmental Professors Unbalanced? Evidence From the Field

Most outcomes assessment in higher education has focused on content knowledge or skills development; however, attitudinal change is also a legitimate focus of assessment. We use the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) to test whether courses designed to meet the same university environmental literacy requirement changed student environmental attitudes, and whether these changes resulted from instructor and/or course-content effects. We found student environmental attitudes did change significantly but in different directions depending upon who taught the course. The ability to measure such changes adds to the discussion in the environmental education community on the desired nature of attitudinal change and of the responsibilities of higher education instructors.

An empirical test of anchoring the NEP scale in environmental ethics

Some argue that the new ecological paradigm (NEP) scale is incomplete and does not adequately reflect contemporary debates in environmental ethics. We focus on one specific shortcoming of the NEP, its lack of an item to reflect an ecocentric viewpoint. To test this concern, we administered the NEP to three different audiences and included one additional item to capture an ecocentric perspective. The empirical tests were designed to determine whether the addition of such an item changed results in a meaningful way. We find evidence that NEP may already capture ecocentric viewpoints, but our investigation leads us to question the validity and reliability of the NEP in capturing ecological worldview.

The incompatibility of benefit–cost analysis with sustainability science

Participants in sustainability science, as an emerging discipline, have not yet developed fully a coherent ontology, epistemology, ideology, or methodology. There is clearer agreement on the ideology of sustainability science, agreement that can be used to consider the compatibility of that ideology with methodologies brought to bear in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research teams. Benefit–cost analysis, one such methodology from the neoclassical economics tradition, is often used in the context of sustainability science. As currently formulated and practiced, benefit–cost analysis is incompatible with the ideology of sustainability science and should not be used to evaluate proposed solutions to sustainability problems. Other methods from economics are more appropriate for use in sustainability science.

Whose values count: is a theory of social choice for sustainability science possible?

If sustainability science is to mature as a discipline, it will be important for practitioners to discuss and eventually agree upon the fundamentals of the paradigm on which the new discipline is based. Since sustainability is fundamentally a normative assertion about tradeoffs among values, how society chooses the specifics among these tradeoffs is central to the sustainability problem. Whose values should count in making social decisions and how should the multiplicity of values that exist be known and used in that decision process? Given the vast spatial domains and temporal domains at work in the sustainability problem, we need some means of reconciling the inevitably divergent choices depending on whose values we count, how we know what those values are, and how we count them in making social decisions. We propose an approach to dealing with these questions based on Rawls (A theory of justice. Belknap Press, Cambridge, 1971) and explore the problems inherent in a social choice theory for sustainability science.

Will Offshore Energy Face “Fair Winds and Following Seas”?: Understanding the Factors Influencing Offshore Wind Acceptance

Most offshore energy studies have focused on measuring or explaining people’s perceptions of, and reactions to, specific installations. However, there are two different types of acceptance: one surrounds the siting of projects while the other surrounds a more general acceptance of offshore energy. Understanding what drives this second type of acceptance is important as governments have implemented new financial incentives and policies to support renewable energy development; however, citizens and government officials may be increasingly opposed to some of these support mechanisms. Our paper fills a void in the literature by using regression approaches to better understand how people’s evaluations of the benefits and costs of offshore wind impact their level of general acceptance for offshore wind, while controlling for other factors (e.g., demographics). This analysis should help policy makers, and individuals attempting to educate the general public about renewable energy, to better understand the important factors influencing people’s support or opposition to offshore wind energy initiatives.

Does Money Grow on Trees? People's Willingness to Pay for Cellulosic Wood Ethanol

According to the American Environment Research and Policy Center, America’s dependence on fossil fuels, and the resulting global warming pollution, has been increasing both nationally and at the state level for decades (AERPC, 2009). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) issued its Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, describing how atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have increased as a direct result of human activity for over one hundred years. Various implications of this increase in greenhouse gases include increases in average air and ocean temperatures, melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. These environmental implications have important negative ecological and economic effects. Educational campaigns, policy initiatives and an increased public interest in alternative energies have led to the beginnings of a shift in this trend of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions declined in 17 states between 2004 and 2007 due to the use of cleaner and more efficient forms of energy (AERPC, 2009). To continue this decrease in carbon emissions, it is in the interest of researchers and decision makers to expand the clean energy market, where doing so requires an understanding of the public’s preferences and behavior regarding energy consumption. Attitudes are commonly linked to intentions and behavior, and as such, are believed to be an important component of the construction and implementation of various public policy initiatives (Krosnick, 1988; Ritchie & Spencer, 1994; Hini et al., 1995; Kaiser et al., 1999). Attitudes have been directly linked to behavioral change by Loudon and Della Bitta (1993), who state “behavioral change is a function of change in behavioral intentions...changes in behavioral intentions are related to change in attitude” (p.422), and by Bamberg (2003), who maintains that “degree of environmental concern has a direct strong impact on people’s behavior” (p.4). As a determinant of behavior, attitudes such as environmental concern are important to understand if we are to promote alternative energies like biofuels. Understanding whether or not environmental concern affects consumers’ decisions to purchase biofuels will be of great use to policy makers and other groups interested in expanding the emerging biofuels market. On the other hand, consumer perceptions of biofuels are also likely to be important.

The Design of an Eco-Marketing and Labeling Program for Vehicles in Maine

Acknowledging and understanding the role that information may play in affecting consumer assessment of eco-marketed products is a key step in improving the effectiveness of eco-labeling policy initiatives. Consumers who hold preferences for environmentally preferred products may be unable to express their preferences for such goods under current eco-information campaigns. The emerging use of eco-labels suggests they may be an effective means of communicating the environmental attributes of a product to consumers, and thus provide an opportunity for consumers to alter their consumption behaviors. This analysis employed a state-wide sample of Maine registered vehicle owners in a survey effort aimed at determining the factors which affect their assessments of eco-labeled traditional-fueled passenger vehicles. The study focuses on developing an appropriate empirical framework with which to model the vehicle choice decision under eco-labeled conditions. We specifically examine how eco-information may affect the two-stage vehicle purchase process. The study builds upon environmental economic and psychology literature in examining the role of personal characteristics such as perceived effectiveness of consumer purchase decisions and perceptions of the eco-labeled products as factors in the vehicle purchase decision. It was found that environmental attributes of an eco-labeled passenger vehicle are significant in the purchase decision. The eco-information is considered in the vehicle purchase decision, but is generally not considered at the class level decision. The analysis provides important information for policy makers in that policy makers should recognize the two-stage nature of the vehicle purchase decision and adjust current eco-labeling programs accordingly.

An Agent-Based Model of Private Woodland Owner Management Behavior Using Social Interactions, Information Flow, and Peer-To-Peer Networks

Privately owned woodlands are an important source of timber and ecosystem services in North America and worldwide. Impacts of management on these ecosystems and timber supply from these woodlands are difficult to estimate because complex behavioral theory informs the owner’s management decisions. The decision-making environment consists of exogenous market factors, internal cognitive processes, and social interactions with fellow landowners, foresters, and other rural community members. This study seeks to understand how social interactions, information flow, and peer-to-peer networks influence timber harvesting behavior using an agent-based model. This theoretical model includes forested polygons in various states of ‘harvest readiness’ and three types of agents: forest landowners, foresters, and peer leaders (individuals trained in conservation who use peer-to-peer networking). Agent rules, interactions, and characteristics were parameterized with values from existing literature and an empirical survey of forest landowner attitudes, intentions, and demographics. The model demonstrates that as trust in foresters and peer leaders increases, the percentage of the forest that is harvested sustainably increases. Furthermore, peer leaders can serve to increase landowner trust in foresters. Model output and equations will inform forest policy and extension/outreach efforts. The model also serves as an important testing ground for new theories of landowner decision making and behavior.

Consumer preferences for seafood attributes of wild-harvested and farm-raised products

ABSTRACT With the increase in consumer interest in local foods and the expectation of the USDA to unveil standards for organic aquaculture U.S. shellfish and seaweed producers could anticipate changes in consumer choices with increased product information. This study investigates consumer preferences for product attributes of shellfish and seaweed salad focusing on production source (farm-raised, wild-harvested), certification status (organic, sustainably harvested, non-certified), and product origin (home state, U.S., imported). We analyze data from a nationwide online survey of coastal residents capturing consumption choices for oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and seaweed salad. Analysis reveals that while consumers express preferences for wild-harvested products, the magnitude may differ for shellfish and seaweed salad products in comparison to previous findings regarding finfish preferences. Further, consumers are willing to pay more for products that bear a certification label or are from their home state. Results from this study suggest that seafood marketing strategies and development of labeling programs must account for the influence of multiple attributes on consumer choice.

An Economic Analysis of Coastal Beach Safety Information-Seeking Behavior

We estimate a bivariate probit model using data from a survey of Maine and New Hampshire beachgoers to (i) assess the impact of exposure to and contact with beach waters on safety information-seeking behaviors, and (ii) compare information-seeking behaviors for surf conditions and water quality information. We find that individuals who engage in certain high-contact recreation activities (i.e., swimming, fishing, surfing) are more likely to seek out safety information and that some potential drivers of this behavior affect searches differently for surf conditions versus water quality information.