Our Research
Intensive chicken production on Maryland’s Eastern Shore generates large volumes of phosphorus-laden manure. Growers and farmers spread this manure on their fields as fertilizer, but when applied in excess, the nutrients that make manure useful for fertilizing crops also contribute to dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. An Unsustainable Path explains how Maryland’s current approach to protecting the bay from phosphorus pollution is inadequate and how the state must end the practice of spreading chicken manure on farmland that is likely to pollute the bay.
(December 2011)Nuclear power plants can threaten drinking water supplies through leaks or accidents. The Fukushima disaster, for instance, led to public health warnings about drinking water sources as much as 130 miles away. "Too Close to Home" examines the proximity of nuclear power plants and drinking water in the United States, where 49 million people receive their drinking water from systems with intakes within 50 miles of a nuclear plant.
(January 2012)Tax increment financing (TIF) is a tool intended to provide cities with funds to redevelop economically troubled or declining areas. Unfortunately, it can also be used to spend public funds without proper accountability, transparency, or democratic oversight. Chicago's TIF program, between the late 1980s and late 2000s, grew into a "shadow budget" from which hundreds of millions of dollars of development subsidies were disbursed at the mayor's discretion. "Cleaning Up Task Increment Financing" lays out the problems with Chicago's TIF program, and describes how local leaders can bring the program back in line with its original purpose.
(January 2012)College students and senior citizens account for more than one out of every five Massachusetts residents and share a need for high-quality alternatives to driving – particularly public transportation. Common Connections describes the critical role that transit plays in the lives of Massachusetts students and seniors and highlights the growing demand for transit service across the Commonwealth.
(November 2011)Power plants continue to release large amounts of toxic pollutants, including mercury, into our air. Mercury pollution particularly threatens fetuses and infants, who can suffer irreversible brain damage due to mercury exposure. This report ranks U.S. power plants by 2010 mercury emissions, and makes the case for new toxic pollution standards the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will finalize in December to protect public health.
(November 2011)