Research Guides: ENSP 102: Introduction to Environmental Policy: Getting Started

Welcome!

This guide will assist you in locating resources for your ENSP 102 memo assignment.

Finding Background Information

Search Engines

It can be helpful to do some general searching on a topic before diving into deeper research. Search engines like Google are a good place to start. Here are some ways to control your Google Searches:

Operators:

Use quotation marks (" ")
Use the asterisk (*)
Use the Google Advanced Search to use the "or" "and" connectors.

Limit by website type:

site:gov = all levels of government (federal, state, and local)
site:org = organizations, associations, think thanks
site:edu = educational institutions

Examples:

site:gov "due process clause" "climate change" constitution*
site:org "due process clause" "climate change" constitution*

.com	Produced by a commercial enterprise, trying to sell something or funded by advertisers
.edu	From an educational institution (college, high school, museum)
.net	Network of computers
.mil	A military site
.gov	Produced by the government
.org	Produced by a nonprofit organization
.uk, .cn, .us, etc.	A country-sponsored site
.md.us OR .maryland.gov	A web site from the state of Maryland

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Some AI tools generate new text or code based on a prompt from you and can be helpful resources to generate topics you can further research or keywords to refine your searches.

Examples of tools:

Copilot (Microsoft)
Claude
ChatGPT
Gemini (Google)

Citing ChatGPT and other AI text generators:

If you are using AI to generate ideas for this assignment, you should acknowledge that with a sentence at the beginning or end of the paper that says something like, "This paper was produced with drafting support from Microsoft Copilot." Check with your instructor if you should include this in a specific format.

Want to Know More?

Refer to the UMD Libraries' guide on AI and Information Literacy:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information Literacy
Learn about how AI works and how to spot common errors AI tools tend to make. You'll also learn fact-checking and critical thinking strategies for AI, how to cite AI in an academic paper, and how to learn more in-depth about AI tools and issues.

Clean Water Act Manual
The River Network Organization provides a manual to the Clean Water Act covering aspects of the CWA such as:
Objectives, Goals, Applications of the Act
Problems and Strategies for Action
Clean Water Act Programs
Coordination with other Federal and State Laws
The Conversation - Environment and Energy
"The Conversation is a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. We publish trustworthy and informative articles written by academic experts for the general public and edited by our team of journalists."
EJSCREEN - Environmental Justice at the EPA
"In order to better meet the Agency’s responsibilities related to the protection of public health and the environment, EPA has developed a new environmental justice (EJ) mapping and screening tool called EJSCREEN. It is based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports."
The Environmental Council of the States - ECOS
"The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) works to improve the capability of state environmental agencies and their leaders to protect and improve human health and the environment of the United States of America."
EPA
Provides: topics, laws and regualtions, research...
Institue for Policy Integrity
New York University School of Law. "The Institute for Policy Integrity is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to improving the quality of governmental decisionmaking. We produce original scholarly research in the fields of economics, law, and regulatory policy. We also advocate for reform before courts, legislatures, and executive agencies. Our primary area of focus is climate and energy policy."
National Conference of State Legislatures - Environment and Natural Resources State Bill Tracking
"NCSL tracks environment and natural resources legislation to bring you up-to-date, real-time information on bills that have been introduced in the 50 states and the District of Columbia."
The Regulatory Review - Environment
"Affiliated with the Penn Program on Regulation and housed at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, The Regulatory Review is the online source of regulatory news, analysis, and opinion. Every weekday throughout the entire year, The Regulatory Review publishes incisive, timely, and original content running the complete gamut of regulatory issues."
USC Schwarzenegger Institute Digital Environmental Legislative Handbook
"The USC Schwarzenegger Institute and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators have partnered with one another to create this online resource that will help state legislators throughout America learn from their colleagues in other states. We hope to assist legislators who are interested in advancing smart environmental policies by sharing best practices and actual legislation that is working successfully in a number of states already."

CQ Researcher
Full-text database that provides comprehensive analysis of each topic, including history and background information, relevant pro & con arguments, current status, bibliographies, contact information, and outlooks on upcoming "hot topics" in current events. Covers news topics in a wide range of subject fields, from social issues to the environment, health, education, politics, and science and technology. Online access to issues dating back to 1923
Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Fulltext database covering social issues with topic overviews and pro/con viewpoints. Sources include news, journal articles, magazines, media, maps, websites and statistics.