Science, Pigs, and Politics: A New Zealand Perspective on the Phase-Out of Sow Stalls

Sows housed in stalls are kept insuch extreme confinement that they are unableto turn around. In some sectors of the porkindustry, sows are subjected to this degree ofconfinement for almost their entire lives(apart from the brief periods associated withmating). While individual confinement isrecognized by farmers and animal welfarecommunity organizations alike, as a valuabletool in sow husbandry (to mitigate againstaggression), what remains questionable from ananimal welfare point of view is the necessityto confine sows in such small spaces.In 2001, the Australian Journal ofAgricultural Research published a reviewarticle on the science associated with the useof the sow stall, and claimed that ``noscientific evidence to support therecommendation in the Code of Practice advisingagainst housing of sows in stalls followed byhousing in crates' (Barnett et al., 2001, p. 21).If all the available scientific publications onthe animal welfare implications of sow stallsare consulted (many of which did not feature inthe above review), then one will indeed findscientific evidence to support recommendationsagainst the housing of sows in stalls. Becausethere is science on both sides of this policydivide, the argument to defend the use of sowstalls, therefore, is not one of science vspublic opinion, but one of ethics.An analysis of the scientific argumentsagainst the use of the sow stall should be usedto encourage ethical debate on this issue. Asan ethical debate, the issue of the use of thesow stall can then focus on the degree ofsuffering we as a society are willing totolerate in agricultural practices, and theanimal welfare costs associated with extremeeconomies of scale in sow stocking rates,rather than get bogged down in red herringdebates over whether there is any suffering atall.     

我国造纸业发展循环经济构想

本文阐述了造纸业循环经济的内涵，分析了影响造纸业循环经济的各种因素，在此基础上。提出了实现造纸业循环经济的途径：优化原料和产品结构，建立废纸回收体系；实施企业规模化，加快技术开发和装备更新，加大治污力度；推行清洁生产和绿色管理，加强企韭和社会生态文化教育以及建立与之相适应的绿色政策保障体系。     

Monitoring the State of the Immune System of Persons Working in the Potassium Salt Industry

The immune status of basically healthy personnel of OAO Uralkalii and OAO Sil'vinit was studied for three years (1998–2000) to assess the effect of the workplace environment on the parameters of the immune system. All probands were divided into groups depending on their exposure to salts or halite waste. Annual examination did not reveal any statistically significant differences between the parameters of immunograms in the groups studied. The parameters of the humoral component of the immune system of potassium-industry workers manifested a stable tendency toward normalization, irrespective of whether or not these persons were exposed to salts, and the annual contents of T and B lymphocytes and phagocytizing cells were stable within the regional standards.     

汽车工业发展中必须解决的环境问题

在可持续发展的大背景下,中国汽车工业发展面临着新的考验。文章从能源短缺,环境影响和城市交通拥堵三方面,探讨了汽车工业发展中必须引起注意、并要努力解决的环境问题。     

关于莱芜市生态旅游可持续发展的调查与思考

旅游是世界性的"朝阳产业".生态旅游是建立在资源的持续利用基础之上,集旅游、娱乐、教育、生态保护于一体,代表旅游发展方向的新的旅游形式.在认真分析莱芜发展生态旅游的资源优势、区位优势、交通条件和发展现状的基础上,指出发展生态旅游是莱芜旅游业的发展方向,并针对目前存在的制约生态旅游可持续发展的因素,提出莱芜市发展生态旅游要高起点规划设计,加强管理,整合资源,扩大宣传,丰富生态旅游活动的形式和内容,努力打造生态旅游精品景区,形成生态旅游热点等对策措施.     

住宅建筑污染物排放量及排污费的计算方法

本文阐述了利用各种原辅材料使用量和排放系数的物料衡算方法，计算和收取排污费，可基本解决建筑行业在施工中污染物无规律排放问题，对该行业造成的环境污染会有所抑制．     

德国发展环境保护的举措与实效

德国政府在改善生态环境，治理环境污染方面采取了一系列行之有效的措施。通过对大气、水源、噪声、废物等污染源的治理，改善了人们的生存环境；行政手段与经济手段并举，加快了产业结构的调整和能源结构的升级，为德国社会和经济的可持续发展奠定了基础。     

徐州市环保产业的发展现状及对策研究

近几年来，徐州市经济发展迅速，但环保产业发展相对滞后，文章分析了徐州市环保产业的发展现状和存在的问题，提出了相应的解决措施，希望能够对徐州市环保产业的发展起到一定的促进作用。     

The measurement of corporate environmental performance and its application to the analysis of efficiency in oil industry

This paper addresses a measurement of corporate environmental performance, and its application to the analysis of efficiency in the petroleum firms. In order to measure firms' environmental performance, we suggest a framework called “Gscore” that consists of five categories, namely general environmental management (GEM), input, process, output, and outcome. Gscore is a proxy measure of corporate environmental performance based on voluntary environment, health, and safety (EHS) report and is calculated by aggregating the points of the above five-categories. We apply our measurement framework to the data of 39 firms' voluntary EHS reports which are available on the internet. Ten of them, on which efficiency analysis was conducted with Gscore, assets, employee, and profits, are in petroleum and refining industry. According to our results: (1) a gap is found between rhetoric and practical environmental management stemming from calculating the relation between GEM and data part in 39 EHS reports. (2) On the whole, EHS reports of petroleum firms have something in common, but there are significant differences in the type and amounts of disclosed data among the EHS reports. (3) From the results of efficiency analysis, it is found that the number of employee exerts a considerable influence on determining the relative efficiency of petroleum firms, then Gscore, profits, and assets in sequence. Furthermore, Exxon, Ashland, Phillips Petroleum, and ARCO are shown to be efficient among 10 petroleum firms.     

星云湖、杞麓湖磷污染来源比较

通过对星云湖、杞麓湖水体磷含量变化情况、流域产业结构和磷入湖途径的比较分析,认为近年来星云湖水体磷含量水平的大幅提高,使星云湖水质由Ⅲ类在大约5a的时间里下降为V类、劣V类,与星云湖流域及周边磷化工产业的快速发展息息相关。而杞麓湖由于流域内无磷矿资源也没有大的磷化工产业,其磷含量水平得于稳定。