Contemporary Western Rural USA Economic Composition: Potential Implications for Environmental Policy and Research

/ The rural West of the United States is considered strongly antienvironment. The traditional economic reliance of the area on natural resources has long explained this antienvironment stance. The region consistently elects federal officials who as a group consistently vote against environmental bills and seek to undo existing federal environmental regulation. These politicians defend their antienvironment actions based on their perception of the economic composition and interests of the region. Recent studies, however, have suggested that rural residents are increasingly concerned about environmental issues. These studies, however, lack a consistent theoretical basis. This article uses an alternative economic typing system to examine the economic composition of rural Idaho and suggests that the results found using the alternative typing system might provide a theoretical basis to explain why some studies are finding increased rural environmental support. The results show that rural Idaho is much more economically diverse using this alternative typing methodology compared to the outcomes of traditional USDA economic methodologies. The policy and research implications of these findings are examined.KEY WORDS: Rural; Environmental policy; Economic composition     

成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策执行研究——基于史密斯的政策执行过程模型

以成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策为研究对象,以史密斯的政策执行过程模型为理论基础,从政策制定、执行机构、目标群体和政策环境四大要素出发,对成都市相关政策执行情况进行逐一分析.并结合成都市实际情况,从完善政策内容,增强政策执行机构的执行力,调动目标群体积极性和优化政策执行环境4个方面提出相应的意见和建议,以期为推动成都市生活...     

Environmental Policy in Russia: Economic,Legal, and Organizational Issues

/ Despite the suspension and closing down of many pollutingindustrial facilities and corresponding expectations of positive change inthat field, it is argued that the environmental situation in Russia in thefirst half of the 1990s has not improved. To corroborate this point, thelatest available data are presented and the deep roots and complexities ofthe current socioeconomic and political situation in the country areanalyzed. Using analogies and "component accounting" approaches,the original economic assessments of environmental damage in the recent pastand current period in Russia are offered for comparison with similar datafrom a selection of developed countries. A model of a new environmentalstrategy and policy is developed and its economic, legal, and organizationaldimensions are examined.KEY WORDS: Damage; Environmental costs; Policy; Pollution; Publicparticipation; Risk; Strategy     

Pragmatics of Policy: The Compliance of Dutch Environmental Policy Instruments to European Union Standards

Despite a general decrease in Dutch environmental emission trends, it remains difficult to comply with European Union (EU) environmental policy targets. Furthermore, environmental issues have become increasingly complex and entangled with society. Therefore, Dutch environmental policy follows a pragmatic line by adopting a flexible approach for compliance, rather than aiming at further reduction at the source of emission. This may be politically useful in order to adequately reach EU targets, but restoration of environmental conditions may be delayed. However, due to the complexity of today’s environmental issues, the restoration of environmental conditions might not be the only standard for a proper policy approach. Consequently this raises the question how the Dutch pragmatic approach to compliance qualifies in a broader policy assessment. In order to answer this question, we adapt a policy assessment framework, developed by Hemerijck and Hazeu (Bestuurskunde 13(2), 2004), based on the dimensions of legitimacy and policy logic. We apply this framework for three environmental policy assessments: flexible instruments in climate policy, fine-tuning of national and local measures to meet air quality standards, and derogation for the Nitrate Directive. We conclude with general assessment notes on the appliance of flexible instruments in environmental policy, showing that a broad and comprehensive perspective can help to understand the arguments to put such policy instruments into place and to identify trade-offs between assessment criteria.     

Environmental Initiative Prioritization with a Delphi Approach: A Case Study

India is fast finding its place in the industrialized world and that is beginning to raise its environmental consciousness. The Delphi technique was used to prioritize specific needs and articulate a sustainable urban improvement strategy for the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The Delphi technique is a means of achieving consensual validity among raters by providing them feedback regarding other raters' responses. Mumbai has several indigenous environmental groups that were tapped for activists and leaders; the study was conducted using ten environmentalists. In the initial phases the responses resulted in a range of possible program alternatives. The last two stages helped to seek out information that generated a consensus on the part of the respondent group. Statistical analysis methods included a hierarchical cluster analysis, mean, median, mode, and percent of agreement calculations using SPSS software. The face-to-face discussion in phase 4 clarified some issues and helped the group as a whole to outline the strategy for putting in place the essential elements of a framework to improve the quality of life in an urban environment.     

Institutional Challenges for EIA Implementation in China: A Case Study of Development Versus Environmental Protection

This paper provides a complete case study analysis of environmental impact assessment (EIA) implementation in China from planning to legal challenge, which is typical but rarely reported. The analysis takes an historical perspective on the regulatory and institutional structures through which EIA has been implemented in China, in order to evaluate the extent to which EIA has matured over the last 10 years. The case study relates to a proposed recreation/tourist development at Dianshan Lake, a protected water resource for Shanghai. Legal and administrative challenge began in 1993, when the case was initiated with a letter from the public, and concluded in 1996, when the case was decided in a court judgment. More recent follow-up research indicates that many issues have continued to be problems for EIA implementation in China. Policy implications in terms of regulatory structure, institutional arrangement, EIA procedure, EIA practitioners, and public participation can be drawn, and lessons learned for both the government and the developers. The study emphasizes the problem of relying on reorientation of existing institutions to promote new (environmental) priorities.     

Curriculum Development in Environmental Science: A Case Study on Paradigm and Institutions

/ The case of "Environment and Development" at Leiden University, the Netherlands, offers an example of developing a new environmental science curriculum in a conservative, disciplines-oriented university context. The core of this history is the long-term struggle of environmental science to evolve from the level of doing applied interdisciplinary studies and establish itself as a distinct body of knowledge with its own theory level, i.e., a discipline of its own. The struggle itself as well as its final outcome, a "bidisciplinary" curriculum in which both environmental science and one social science are expressed as disciplines (hence not environmental science as a mere "field of application") may be of value in other "classical" universities, too. KEY WORDS: Environmental science; Curriculum; Interdisciplinarity; Universities     

Policy Windows, Policy Change, and Organizational Learning: Watersheds in the Evolution of Watershed Management

Employing in-depth, elite interviews, this empirical research contributes to understanding the dynamics among policy windows, policy change, and organizational learning. First, although much of the research on agenda setting—how issues attract enough attention that action is taken to address them—has been conducted at the national scale, this work explores the subnational, regional scale. With decentralization, regional-scale environmental decision-making has become increasingly important. Second, this research highlights the role of policy windows and instances of related organizational learning identified by natural resources managers. Having practitioners identify focusing events contrasts with the more typical approach of the researcher identifying a particular focusing event or events to investigate. A focusing event is a sudden, exceptional experience that, because of how it leads to harm or exposes the prospect for great devastation, is perceived as the impetus for policy change.     

对环境监测实验室实施质量监督的思考

环境监测质量监督是保证环境监测工作质量的重要环节,文章剖析了影响质量监督工作质量的5个因素,提出应从质量监督员的选择、配置和培训、做好文件化规定、提高质量监督工作的计划性、规范质量监督记录、注重质量监督工作效果评价几个方面,强化监督工作的实施,提升质量监督的作用.