There is a way out of the climate box we have created, though resistance to the necessary ecological transformation remains intense. Sunk investments in existing infrastructure, broadly accepted design and economic theory, and the lifelong operations employment it has provided make the foundation of such resistance. Creating Environmental Markets will examine alternative capital markets based in regulatory requirements but offering opportunities to use credit trades and new approaches to old systems to restore ecology while providing economic incentives and jobs.

The climate problems we once anticipated have become a connected series of current crises: intense heat, extended drought, potable water shortages, almost spontaneous fires, floods, food shortages, enormous tornadoes and hurricanes, acute cold …. The prognosis for the coming decades is that these phenomena will get worse, yet our responses remain mostly mundane. We repair, rebuild, extend, and expand essentially the same 19th Century energy and water infrastructure that put us in this climate box, evidently expecting a different outcome.

If we are to meet and overcome the climate challenges we have created, incentivizing environmental restoration over broad landscapes, from individual site designs to entire cityscapes, is essential. The law as currently interpreted will not save us, but some combination of law and regulation together with markets creating economic incentives favoring ecological restoration of natural systems could. In addition to recognizing the damage we have done, we need a clear conception of required ecological repair. Students will be introduced to that clear conception while examining a regulation-based market and profit-generating infrastructure to incentivize ecological repair at scale.
This class is intended for MLA, Planning, Architecture, and Design students. Their skills provide them the insights necessary to make such markets work. Students will investigate Providence, RI, to determine whether a developing credit market based on phosphorus trading and the introduction of a new take on wastewater treatment would help Providence meet its regulatory obligations while incentivizing the restoration of natural systems, enhancing flood control, building resilience to drought, and restoring habitat. Students will work with local advocates and city officials to produce a report on their findings and recommendations. Using Blue Cities/Stratifyx, a developing market platform, they will assess the damage existing infrastructure has caused while examining the benefits and potential for restorative change.