Hurricane surge flooding is often overlooked in Houston, yet it poses a significant threat to the region in the form of property damage and a potentially massive loss of life. Rice faculty scholar Jim Blackburn outlines this problem and possible solutions to mitigate surge flooding.

A newly released study from the Project on Middle East Political Science at George Washington University includes a contribution from fellow Jim Krane on subsidy reform and tax increases in the Middle East.

Building on the experiences of Hurricane Harvey, the authors present a summary of flooding issues in Harris County and discuss proposed local and federal projects in preparation for the upcoming flood bond election in August 2018.

In this paper, Jim Blackburn examines some of the major issues currently facing the city of Houston — flooding, the climate and carbon, and food supply — and explores possible policy solutions to these challenges.

This paper addresses the role of both the private sector and the public sector in altering Houston’s current situation relative to flooding.

Faculty scholar Jim Blackburn proposes a series of realistic ideas that can substantially reduce misery and damage the next time a catastrophic storm like Harvey tears through the Houston-Galveston area. 

This research paper examines the potential market for a system that would pay landowners to restore natural ecosystems, such as native prairies and oyster reefs, that protect the Gulf Coast from hurricane and severe storm damage.

What structural and nonstructural solutions could better protect the Houston-Galveston area from the devastating impact of hurricanes and severe storms? Baker Institute fellows Jim Blackburn and Regina Buono studied the issue from legal, policy and governmental perspectives.

This paper investigates how new potential and proposed regulations will influence the natural gas market in the United States in the coming decades, using the Rice World Gas Trade Model (RWGTM) to examine scenarios in which domestic natural gas development is stressed in a variety of ways. It considers a range of possible policy actions from the federal to the local level.

To access the full paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.

A Major Rain Event

A Houston-area storm in 2009…