Complex environmental, economic, and social conditions in the places we live provide strong cues to our longevity, livelihood, and well-being. Although often distinct and evolving relatively independently, health disparity, social vulnerability and environmental justice research and practice intertwine and inform one another. Together, they increasingly provide evidence of how social processes intensify disasters almost predictably giving rise to inequitable disruptions and consequences. The domino and cumulative effects of cascading disasters invariably reveal inequities through differential impacts and recovery opportunities across communities and subgroups of people. Not only do cascading disasters reveal and produce inequitable effects, the cascade itself can emerge out of compounded nested social structures. Drawing on, and integrating, theory and practice from social vulnerability, health inequity, and environmental justice, this paper presents a comprehensive conceptual model of cascading disasters that offers a people-centric lens. The CHASMS conceptual model ( C ascading H azards to dis A sters that are S ocially constructed e M erging out of S ocial Vulnerability) interrogates the tension between local communities and the larger structural forces that produce social inequities at multiple levels, capturing how those inequities lead to cascading disasters. We apply the model to COVID-19 as an illustration of how underlying inequities give rise to foreseeable inequitable outcomes, emphasizing the U.S. experience. We offer Kenya and Puerto Rico as examples of cumulative effects and possible cascades when responding to other events in the shadow of COVID-19. COVID-19 has vividly exposed the dynamic, complex, and intense relevance of placing social conditions and structures at the forefront of cascading disaster inquiry and practice. The intensity of social disruption and the continuation of the pandemic will, no doubt, perpetuate and magnify chasms of injustice.

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Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) is one of the most widely adopted clean energy policies in the U.S. However, organized elite power groups, backed by ample political and economic resources, have been known to lead RPS termination efforts. In the context of state renewable energy politics, organized elite power includes legislators affiliated with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and anti‐renewable energy business groups. Focusing on the roles of organized elite power, this study investigates the drivers of the formulation of RPS rollback (goal freeze) and termination bills, which we refer to collectively as negative policy experimentations. We find that RPS termination attempts are explained by the presence of ALEC legislators and anti‐renewable energy business groups, whereas RPS goal freeze bills are better explained by conditions of policy operations. This study contributes to the policy process theory by providing critical insights into the post adoption decisions, including policy termination and rollback legislations, with a focus on the role of organized elite power.

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) is a state-level policy that mandates renewable energy supply or sales goals in the U.S. In some states like California, Hawaii, and Oregon, renewable energy production goals have become more stringent since adoption and 50% or more electricity is projected to come from renewable energy sources in these states. In contrast, Ohio, Kansas, and West Virginia retracted or even repealed their RPS policies. Less is known, however, about the determinants of post-RPS adoption decisions relative to the amount of empirical and theoretical knowledge accumulated on the drivers of RPS policy adoption. Accordingly, this study conducted a cross-case analysis in order to explore the drivers of RPS repeal in West Virginia and RPS expansion in Oregon through semi-structured interviews of state legislators, secondary data, and literature review. Findings indicate that state government ideology frames views about environmental and economic issues and the effectiveness of RPS, and ultimately guide the directions of policy revisions. More specifically, West Virginia’s RPS repeal effort was initiated by Republican state legislators who were determined to terminate RPS since the beginning of the new legislative session. On the other hand, RPS expansion in Oregon was the output of strategic negotiation between two parties and largely driven by a bottom-up effort from cities and counties, citizens, and environmental organizations.

Abstract. Public R&D investment in renewable energy has burgeoned at the global level in a concerted effort to expedite energy transition. Unlike traditional energy sources, the renewable energy industry produces a favorable collaboration environment for small and medium enterprises, affecting traits of R&D collaboration in R&D as well. The main purpose of this study is to find relationships between R&D collaboration and intellectual & economic performances in renewable energy R&D. We have analyzed 484 projects completed between 2006 and 2014 in South Korea’s public renewable energy R&D program. We found that university-industry-government research institute collaboration is not the most effective for creating intellectual nor economic performance, interpreting as a necessity in the revision on current UIG collaboration policy. For a leader organization, we found that medium enterprises are the most positively related with economic outcomes, interpreting medium enterprises had as much technical competency and investment capacity as large enterprises. Keywords: R&D, performance measurement, collaboration, renewable energy, triple helix, r&d leader