Pathways to Urban Sustainability A Focus on the Houston Metropolitan Region: Summary of a Workshop (2012) / Chapter Skim
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3 HUMAN CAPITAL
3 HUMAN CAPITAL
Pages 15-28
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From page 15... ...
When Dr. Klineberg first started collecting survey data in 1982, one million people had moved into Harris County during the previous decade, in large part due to the booming oil refining sector and related businesses resulting from dramatic increases in oil prices -- rising from $3.20 a barrel in 1978 to $32.50 a barrel in 1982.
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From page 16... ...
Dr. Klineberg noted that historically, economic prosperity in the region has not been based on education or human capital, but rather from land and commodities, cotton, timber, cattle, and oil.
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Through most of the 1990s, the business community in Houston pushed back against regulations EPA promulgated under the Clean Air Act, insisting that industry would not survive if it had to comply with more stringent standards. Then, in June 1999, newspaper headlines announced that Houston had surpassed Los Angeles in the number of dangerously polluted days (Institute for Health Policy, 2006)
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From page 18... ...
In 1924, Congress enacted the National Origins Quota Act, which limited the number of immigrants allowed into the United States using a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census, and excluded all immigrants from Asia (U.S.
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From page 19... ...
Of all the people currently living in Harris County aged 65 and older, 69 percent are Anglo, 18 percent are African American, 11 percent are Hispanic, and 2 percent are Asian. In the age group 18 to 29, the percentage of African American, Asian, and above all Hispanic surges – 22 percent are African American, 45 percent are Hispanic, and 10 percent are Asian (Figure 3-4)
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From page 20... ...
FIGURE 3-4 Change in demographics in Texas across age groups. SOURCE: Stephen Klineberg presentation, January 18, 2012.
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From page 21... ...
These factors in the environment affect the ability of people in metropolitan regions to build healthy lifestyles, develop personal and neighborhood resilience during disasters, and foster sustainable futures.
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From page 22... ...
Lower bills provide financial rewards to homeowners and help them recoup the upfront costs of renovating to install higher efficiency systems. Sustainable homes are also healthy homes with better air quality, resulting in less exposure to mold and chemical toxins, as well as greater durability and reduced maintenance.
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From page 23... ...
SOURCE: Brenda Reyes, presentation, January 18, 2012 Herminia Palacio, director of Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, discussed the concept of "community capital". Capital, from a business case perspective, can be thought of as the cash or goods to generate income either by investing in a business or in a different income-generating property; the net worth of a business – the amount by which its assets exceed its liabilities; or the money, property, and other valuables which collectively represent the wealth of an individual or business.
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From page 24... ...
The Obesity Prevention Collaborative, funded by the Houston Endowment, is a good example of a health policy program providing a pathway to urban sustainability. The collaborative is a two-year community planning process with the ultimate goal of developing a robust, comprehensive plan to address obesity, diseases associated with obesity, and chronic diseases more broadly in Harris County.
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From page 25... ...
Health effects associated with weather are somewhat more easily quantifiable, because they can be measured using indices such as deaths and injuries due to extreme weather events, including flash floods, wildfires, and extreme heat waves. The second category of health impacts, those resulting from environmental changes that occur in response to climate change are more difficult to quantify because these changes are not limited to a specific health effect; instead, other, more-complicated factors are involved such 9 Availabile at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?
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From page 26... ...
Ms. Prudent discussed CDC's efforts to develop vulnerability assessments or decision support tools to help states and public health entities identify communities most vulnerable to health problems resulting from climate change, as well as adaptation measures and resiliency efforts that could reduce those effects.
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From page 27... ...
Another area highly vulnerable to extreme heat included a community with a significant elderly population. The agency also developed vulnerability maps for flooding, and found that an indicator for a highly vulnerable community was one that is traditionally minority and had experienced flooding in the past.
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