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ABSTRACTThe U.S. highway system is an iconic example of civil infrastructure. Yet it also exemplifies the challenges of infrastructure sustainability. The American Society for Civil Engineers gave the American road infrastructure a grade of “D” since the roads “are often crowded, frequently in poor condition, chronically underfunded, and are becoming more dangerous.” In this paper, we seek to understand the intertwined social and technical processes that lead to this unsustainability by examining the U.S. highway system from the perspective of coupled infrastructure systems (CIS), a transdisciplinary framework that aims to analyze governance challenges of shared resources from a dynamic systems perspective. We use highways as a special example of the broader challenge of providing and maintaining the shared infrastructure of all types. Our analysis of historical data concludes that the unsustainability of highways as coupled infrastructure systems can be explained from dysfunctional information feedbacks.

Decarbonizing the transportation sector will require a faster transformation towards alternative fuel vehicles, such as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Media framing can influence public perceptions and attitudes towards emerging technologies, making it a critical factor in accelerating transportation transitions. Yet despite its importance, media framing around alternative fuel vehicles remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we map the discourse around BEVs, FCEVs, and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in Germany, using topic modeling (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) to analyze over 13,000 articles and 280,000 Tweets. We find that newspaper and Twitterdiscourse largely emphasize different frames: newspapers focus on the industry and governance context around BEVs, FCEVs and ICEVs, while consumer-oriented issues are more common on Twitter. Industry and governance are common frames for all vehicle types but outweighed by distinct frames for each technology. The frames show that BEVs are now widely seen as a viable replacement for ICEVs in newspapers but remain contested on Twitter.

U.S. cities are now taking a more active role in clean energy transitions with a variety of policies for decarbonization, net-zero emissions, and renewable energy. We focus on the adoption of one rapidly growing policy trend: commitments for 100% renewable electricity (100RE). Over 180 U.S. cities and towns have made these pledges, most since the 2016 election. Remarkably, they have been adopted by many small towns and cities that are not typically leaders in sustainability policy. To explore potential drivers of policy adoption, we conduct a matched-pair analysis of municipalities with and without 100RE pledges. We find that municipalities that adopt 100RE policies are no more likely to have municipal utilities, such that successful implementation will likely require institutional innovation. The unexpected correlation with higher poverty rates suggests that policies will need to be carefully designed to minimize rate impacts. Although these results raise implementation challenges, we also find that 100RE adopters are more likely to have institutions for sustainability governance, local colleges and universities, and experience with energy efficiency policy, which may assist them in designing effective policies.

Water Quality Trading (WQT) and federal conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) employ incentive payments to encourage agricultural best management practices (BMPs). In many cases, WQT and EQIP are encouraging the same types of farmers to implement the same types of BMPs using similar incentive payments. A number of analysts have recommended that WQT partner with EQIP to recruit farmers, yet the literature lacks an analysis of whether EQIP could adequately substitute for WQT's project selection process. In this article, we systematically compare the project ranking procedures used by WQT and EQIP and suggest which partnership structures might be most appropriate.

U.S. policymakers are pursuing visionary policies for clean energy, including a proposed federal Green New Deal and state and city pledges for 100% renewable energy. Bold policy goals are unlikely to be achieved, however, if policy instruments are poorly designed, as occurred in past experiences of ambitious but unsuccessful energy policy. To understand how ambitious energy transition goals affect the political dynamics of policy design and implementation, this paper conducts a longitudinal case study of the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard using policy feedback theory. It finds that unrealistically high goals for cellulosic biofuels triggered weak policy design, undermining the policy’s effectiveness. This was a negative policy feedback wherein anticipated costs led policymakers to weaken the mandate with waivers, exemptions, and alternative compliance options. Yet while too much flexibility on fuel volumes led to insufficient incentives for cellulosic ethanol, the policy’s flexibility on fuel pathways allowed for new developments in cellulosic renewable natural gas. Thus, the case offers both a cautionary tale about the political risks of overambitious goals, as well as constructive lessons about policies that build new constituencies for clean energy.

Water Quality Trading (WQT) and federal conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) employ incentive payments to encourage agricultural best management practices (BMPs). In many cases, WQT and EQIP are encouraging the same types of farmers to implement the same types of BMPs using similar incentive payments. A number of analysts have recommended that WQT partner with EQIP to recruit farmers, yet the literature lacks an analysis of whether EQIP could adequately substitute for WQTs project selection process. In this article, we systematically compare the project ranking procedures used by WQT and EQIP and suggest which partnership structures might be most appropriate.