Roundup: February 22, 2021
Johann Strube and Brian C. Thiede (both of Penn State, Ag Econ) and Walter E. “Ted” Auch (The FracTracker Alliance) have published Proposed Pipelines and Environmental Justice: Exploring the Association between Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Pipeline Proposals in the United States in Rural Sociology. This interesting article tests the claim of the environmental justice literature that ethnic and racial minorities, populations with lower socioeconomic status, and rural communities are disproportionately impacted by potentially harmful land uses, including new natural gas pipelines, and finds mixed results. The authors use data from the American Community Survey to show FERC-permitted natural gas transmission pipelines in the U.S. are in fact significantly less likely to exist where there is an increased share of highly educated residents. Other correlations are less clear, however. The authors also acknowledge limitations in the data, including limited access to built pipeline routes as opposed to proposed pipeline routes, but it is an interesting window to some important issues.
Mona Atia (George Washington University, Geography) and Grace Doherty (World Bank) have published On Doing Relational Research: Participatory Mapping as an Emergent Research Process in Antipode. This article builds on ongoing research on poverty in rural Morocco to explore participatory research methods and participatory mapping in particular.
The Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) has released a new resource on heirs property issues in the United States as part of its Farmland Access Legal Toolkit.
For those following ongoing conversations about land reform in Scotland, the Scottish Land Commission has just published a discussion paper on possible legislative responses to consolidated land ownership. Lots to unpack here, but this opinion by Calum MacLeod in the West Highland Free Press adds to this important conversation.
The Illinois Bar Journal has published Small Town Law, an article that summarizes the state’s new Rural Practice Initiative.
The Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at UCLA Law has launched a new podcast called Repast.
Upcoming Events
The Lewis & Clark Law School is hosting a virtual symposium on food, energy, and climate issues on March 13. Details and registration are here.