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No one wants to live near a toxic plant. Toxin-releasing facilities such as paper, pulp, and other manufacturing plants negatively affect human health, environmental quality, and property values. And communities with low income, low education, and minority populations are more likely to house such facilities.   

Since mandatory reporting about toxic facilities became publicly available in 1990, affected communities have increasingly expressed concern through the media, and engaged in targeted collective action and “toxic torts” lawsuits for health and environmental damages.

New research from University of Illinois explores the effects of community pressure on the relocation of toxin-releasing facilities.

See the latest research giving insight into how and why farmer groups are more cooperative when democratic in nature. Strong social ties also help.

Authors conducted public goods experiments among farmer groups in Malawi for "Public good provision and democracy: Evidence from an experiment with farmer groups in Malawi" to be published in World Development's September 2021 issue. 

They found that democratic groups are more cooperative and engage more in collective action than leader-driven groups. Access the article through your institution here. 

Vesall Nourani, V., Maertens, A., & Michelson, H. (2021). Public good provision and democracy: Evidence from an experiment with farmer groups in Malawi. World Development(145). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105507.

Photo: AgReach 2015

It is possible to irrigate fields with precision, saving costs and time while lessening runoff and improving crop performance.

University of Illinois led a new study looking at challenge areas of precision irrigation decision-support systems to identify opportunities to improve the tools themselves and adoption among farmers. 

See the full press release here. 

Access the open-source article here. 

Zhang, J., Guan, K., Peng, B., Jiang, C., Zhou, W., Yang, Y., Pan, M., Franz, T.E., Heeren, D.M., Rudnick, D.R., Abimbola, O., Kimm, H., Caylor, K., Good, S., Khanna, M., Gates, J., Cai, Y. (2021). "Challenges and opportunities in precision irrigation decision-support systems for center pivots." Environmental Research Letters(16) 5. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe436

Erica Myers co-wrote this piece for Forbes Magazine on why energy efficiency programs sometimes underdeliver and how these programs can change for the better, saving money and effort. 

Erica says there are three main ways to improve energy efficiency programs: 

1. Conduct ongoing testing and analysis of real programs in action through randomized controlled trials.

2. Programs should choose what to install based on real-world energy data and realized program performance.

3. Ensure programs are properly installed by investing in training and pay for workers.

Read the details in the full article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ucenergy/2021/05/24/energy-efficiency-can-deliver-heres-how/

Illinois is undergoing a rapid change in weather patterns that already has started to transform the state. A major scientific assessment by The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with experts at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, foretells long-term, serious effects on cities and rural communities alike from climate change that include periods of extreme heat, increased precipitation and more intense storms, particularly if immediate actions aren’t taken to lessen the threat. 

On May 17, 2021, assessment lead authors summarized the report findings in a public webinar.  See the Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Illinois (chapter 4) for information on chapter to estimate the effect of projected climate change on corn and soybean yields in Illinois. 

For more information, contact Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at twford@illinois.edu.