About

Professor, Department of Political Science, Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences, Founding Director, Center for Environmental Politics, Founding Editor, Cambridge Series in Business and Public Policy, Founding Editor, Cambridge Elements in Organizational Response to Climate Change

Research topics

• Political Science
• Public economics
• Business
• Economics
• Civil engineering
• Physics
• Finance
• Nuclear physics
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Reform and Welfare: Time and Personhood in Telangana’s Prison Reform

  Review of Development and Change · 2026-05-04

  articleSenior author

  Over the years, prisons across the world have evolved from being sites of punitive confinement for individuals participating in activities considered unlawful in a specific sociopolitical context to correctional facilities offering opportunities for redemption and eventual reintegration. In India, successive prison reforms have advocated for the humanitarian treatment of incarcerated individuals. The present study, based on an evaluative study of prison reforms in Telangana, critically examines the ways the reform is conceptualised and operationalised through an intertwined relationship between discipline and welfare. Focusing on the strict control over time, this article explores how this both constrains and enables the restoration of personhood. Drawing on in-depth interviews and field observations across multiple prisons, the study finds that although reforms have improved living conditions and services, welfare is often framed as a reward for conformity, which can erode personhood. The article argues that for prison reforms to be truly transformative, there is a need for reimagination that goes beyond the conventional carceral framework and engages more meaningfully with the diverse lived experiences and aspirations of incarcerated individuals.

  PublisherDOI

• Penalty or premium for foreign ownership in Thailand? Comparing public support for waste-to-energy plants operated by Thai, Japanese, and Chinese Companies

  PLoS ONE · 2025-07-10

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Waste-to-energy (WtE) projects use municipal waste to generate energy. While they increase local environmental and health risks, they also generate local environmental and economic benefits. If facility operator characteristics influence perceptions of risks and benefits, does public support for a WtE facility change if it is operated by a foreign firm? Using a survey experiment in Thailand (n = 829), we examine support for a hypothetical WtE plant operated by local Thai (reference category), Japanese (treatment 1), and Chinese (treatment 2) firms. We find that while respondents are less supportive of WtE plants operated by Chinese companies ("penalty for foreignness"), their support does not change for Japanese plants (neither penalty nor premium for foreignness). Importantly, while perceptions of local economic benefits increase support, perceptions of environmental benefits from reducing waste and landfills do not. Respondents support WtE plants when their communities experience air pollution from coal-fired power plants and when they support the Thai government's decision to ban the manufacturing and sale of single-use plastics.

  PublisherDOI

• Navigating synergies vs. trade-offs between climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation

  npj Biodiversity · 2025-06-03 · 3 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Synergies between mitigating climate change and conserving biodiversity are often emphasized in public discourse and policy, but there can be trade-offs between these aims. Where trade-offs are evident, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) has emerged as a dominant approach to resolving them. We highlight limitations of this approach and propose that creating enviro-ethics committees using principles of collaborative governance would provide a practical mechanism for transparently grappling with trade-offs at various levels.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unpacking the tradeoff between equity and climate resilience in U.S. housing policy

  npj Climate Action · 2025-09-19

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This brief comment reveals a salient and growing policy problem: the current U.S. housing policy regime creates tradeoffs between promoting equity and addressing climate risk. Drawing on the example of the recent Los Angeles fires, we point to two major problems. First, issues of affordability are pushing households to more climate-vulnerable areas, where risk is not properly priced. Second, local zoning and building codes can increase resilience, but at a higher cost. Such policies are often unpopular, especially in post-disaster recovery. We conclude by suggesting potential reforms to build more housing in lower-risk communities and to lower risks in more climate-vulnerable areas.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparing support for deep-sea mining among the mass public and environmental non-governmental organizations

  Environmental Research Letters · 2025-10-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The energy transition hinges on the availability of critical minerals. China dominates the global critical minerals supply chain. Deep-sea mining (DSM) is proposed as an alternative to domestic land-based mining. While DSM could reduce China’s control over critical minerals and avoid local pollution from land-based mining, it could potentially harm the ocean ecosystem. We explore whether support for DSM depends on how its benefits/costs are framed, and how this support varies between the mass public and environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). We administered an identical (pre-registered) online survey to US individuals ( n = 1142) and separately to ENGO professionals ( n = 278). This unique research design assesses whether the support for these two groups for DSM is influenced by how the DSM spillovers are framed in terms of (1) preventing land-based water pollution and habitat degradation from land-based mines (+), (2) reducing US dependence on China for critical minerals (+), and (3) hurting fisheries which are a key food source (−). Among the mass public, we find that support for DSM mining increases with the security frame only. However, among ENGO respondents, support for DSM does not change for any frame. Men in both samples support DSM, but we do not find differences in DSM support along race or partisan affiliations.

  PublisherDOI

• Nonpartisans hold the key: how proximity to utility scale renewable energy projects influences attitudes towards climate mitigation policy

  Environmental Research Letters · 2025-06-23 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) literature notes public opposition to projects that impose local costs but generate public goods. However, whether NIMBY experience has spillover effects on support for related policy goals remains underexplored. As a typical case of NIMBYism, utility-scale renewable energy projects have faced significant local opposition across the U.S. In this paper, we investigate if an individual’s proximity to such projects correlates with their support for broader climate goals. Drawing on individual responses from three waves of cross-sectional U.S. Nationscape survey data (2019–2021), we constructed a comprehensive dataset by combining them with geocoded information on all utility-scale renewable energy projects for this period, as well as with county-level socioeconomic, political, and policy information. Our regression results show that proximity to wind or solar projects does not significantly influence climate policy preferences among Democrats or Republicans. However, for political Independents, living near wind turbines correlates with reduced opposition to climate policies, specifically large-scale investments for clean energy technology. These findings suggest that climate attitudes linked to renewable energy exposure are contingent on political affiliation. While strong partisans (Democrats and Republicans) remain unaffected by direct exposure to renewable energy projects, Independents—who are less anchored by partisan narratives—are more responsive to personal experience. Exposure to wind power does not necessarily create strong supporters for climate policy, but it shifts Independents away from outright opposition. The results highlight the necessity of more targeted approaches to expand public support for climate policies.

  PublisherDOI

• Postmaterialism and Environmental Protection Revisited: Domestic Plastic Bag Regulations, 1992–2019

  Global Environmental Politics · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The postmaterialism hypothesis suggests that wealthy countries are likely to be early adopters of pollution control regulations. Yet, Global South countries have taken the lead in regulating plastic bags. To explain this puzzle, we examine the influence of plastic waste imports on the onset of domestic plastic bag regulations. Processing imported waste creates visible local pollution in the Global South and mobilizes citizens and environmental groups. Because plastic bags are a visible manifestation of the plastic pollution problem, they become focal points for regulatory action. Using a hazard model, our analysis of 133 countries for the 1992–2019 period suggests that plastic waste importers (located in the Global South) are more likely to regulate plastic bags (via fees or bans) earlier, while plastic waste exports are not associated with plastic bag regulation. This article raises broader theoretical issues about domestic policy spillovers of international trade and addresses how trade might unexpectedly activate domestic politics focused on postmaterialist concerns.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Improving future climate meetings

  Nature Climate Change · 2025-03-21

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Climate policy beliefs, not problem visibility, drive rural opposition to wind energy projects

  Environmental Research Communications · 2025-12-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Scholars note an increasing number of cases of rural opposition to wind energy projects (WEPs), commonly attributed to their visual impacts, as their tall steel structures appear out of place in rural settings. In other words, WEPs stand out as ‘visible problems’ in rural areas. Through a pre-registered online survey experiment administered to a representative sample of the U.S. population (n = 1,489), we examine whether WEP’s visual impacts, shaped by their size and the surrounding landscape, drive the rural-urban WEP support gap. We find that urban respondents favor larger WEPs in rural landscapes. In contrast, rural respondents show less support for WEPs irrespective of their size or the surrounding landscape. Mediation analysis suggests that rural opposition stems from rural residents being less likely than urban residents to prioritize climate policies over economic concerns. To ensure rural support, we suggest that policymakers and project developers should not only frame but also design WEPs as viable options to support the rural economy and electricity affordability.

  PublisherDOI

• International climate adaptation assistance: Assessing public support in Switzerland

  PLoS ONE · 2025-02-12 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Lower-income countries account for a small share of accumulated greenhouse gas emissions but are highly vulnerable to climate-induced events. In response, industrialized higher-income countries, the major contributors to greenhouse gas stock, have pledged policy packages to support developing countries to adapt to climate change. Foreign aid and international migration often figure prominently in such packages. We employ a survey-embedded conjoint experiment to assess public support in Switzerland for international climate assistance packages which consist of six attributes: (1) the country receiving the package (Algeria, Kenya, Bangladesh, and the Philippines); (2) the volume of Swiss bilateral climate aid to this country; (3) the number of climate migrants from this country in Switzerland; (4) types of extreme weather event this country faces; (5) Swiss trade with this country; and (6) the country's record of voting with Switzerland in the United Nations Security Council. We find that while Swiss respondents are indifferent to aid volume, their support for the policy package diminishes as the number of migrants increases. Respondents support policy packages for countries that trade with and vote alongside Switzerland in the Security Council. Respondents also have country-specific preferences: they support assistance to the Philippines, disfavor Algeria, and are indifferent to Kenya and Bangladesh. Ideology, cultural beliefs, and benchmarking with peer countries of Global North or past Swiss aid and immigration records do not change support for the policy package.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Nives Dolšak

  76 shared

• Matthew Potoski

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  48 shared

• Kendra Dupuy

  Western Washington University

  28 shared

• James Ron

  University of Minnesota

  24 shared

• Jeffrey A. Hart

  18 shared

• Sijeong Lim

  Korea University of International Studies

  17 shared

• Mary Kay Gugerty

  University of Washington

  17 shared

• Christopher Adolph

  University of Washington

  16 shared

Awards & honors

• 2025 John Gaus Award
• 2024 Public Policy Section’s Excellence in Mentoring Award
• 2020 Elinor Ostrom Career Achievement Award
• 2023 Environmental Studies Section’s Distinguished Scholar A…
• 2019 Distinguished International Political Economy Scholar A…