5 – Public opinion – Manny Teodoro

Profits of Distrust at Seminary Co-op Bookstore 🎦

A conversation with Sabina Shaikh, University of ChicagoThe burgeoning bottled water industry presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive bottled water, rather than cheaper, sustainable, and more rigorously regulated tap water?

The Profits of Distrust 📖

Cambridge University Press, 2022The choices people make about drinking water reveal deeper lessons about trust in government and civic life.The burgeoning bottled water industry presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive

Frame Game 2: Back to the Data 💻

Gendered and partisan responses to proposed rate increases[An absurdly busy couple of months has kept me away from the blogosphere—sorry. Will try to get back into a regular groove now]Winning public support for investments

Issue framing and public willingness to pay water & sewer rate increases 🎓

AWWA Water Science, March 2022This study uses an embedded survey experiment to evaluate the effects of issue framing on willingness to pay water and sewer rate increases. Government-owned utilities require public support for financial

The Frame Game 💻

The science of talking about water rate increasesIt’s not about the water tower—it’s about what’s insideStrictly from a value standpoint, it’s hard to imagine anything that provides more bang for the buck than well-built

Public water waste reporting 🎓

Contextual correlates and conservation outcomesWater Resources Research Y. Zhang, M.P. Teodoro & D. SwitzerKey PointsParticipatory surveillance is a way for governments to increase water waste monitoring capacity and achieve conservation goalsSocial and institutional aspects

Lone Star Blues 💻

When utility regulation fails, democracy failsPhoto: Texas TribuneThe utility failures in the Lone Star State last week cascaded into a disaster when extreme weather hit an isolated electrical grid.* But more than a natural

Confluence 💻

Confluence. [kän-flü-ən(t)s]. n. A coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point.Water is a big deal in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania is a swing state. Am I being to subtle?More evidence that, in a

Art of the Possible 💻

Why water should be the Biden Administration’s top environmental priorityEvidently the president-elect is confident managing stormwater.The Biden administration’s environmental policy priorities are likely to be quite different from the Trump administration’s, and the impending

Race, Ethnicity, and Water Service Experiences 💻

Black, White, and Hispanic Americans experience water utility service differentlyThese women all seem happy with their water. But what discontents lurk behind those smiles?Over the past couple of years there’s been a growing recognition

Income and Water Service Experiences 💻

Another way in which it’s tough to be poorBetter with more moneyDrinking water utilities are great, but they aren’t perfect. Sometimes there are problems. Do those problems occur randomly? Or are there observable patterns

Men, Women, and Water 💻

Gender predicts concern for water utility issuescoliform contamination would make this way less romanticDo men and women think differently about their water utilities? In a recent post I wrote about some findings from a

Water Pros and Regular Joes 💻

How utility people—and everybody else—think about water issuesWhere's your head at?Each year the American Water Works Association (AWWA) conducts a survey of its members on the State of the Water Industry (SOTWI). The survey

What’s up with the Blue Angels? 💻

One of my favorite things about growing up in Seattle was Seafair, an annual three-week festival, featuring hydroplane races, ethnic celebrations, beauty pageants, a Navy flotilla on Elliott Bay, and a wild nighttime torchlight

Roses by other names 💻

Ever notice that people hate government but love certain government agencies?A couple years ago I was shopping at Target and noticed racks full of NASA-branded merchandise for sale. The idea that bureaucraphobic Americans would

Citizen-Based Brand Equity 🎓

A Model and Experimental EvaluationJPART: Journal of Public Administration and TheoryManuel P. Teodoro & Seung-Ho AnGovernment agencies carry reputations in the public imagination. Agency names, images, and icons help form a brand that conveys