Environmental risk: Management strategies in the developing world

This paper describes a heuristic model which helps to relate a developing nation's environmental risk to the level of sophistication appropriate in adjusting management strategy to dealing with environmental hazards. The model takes into account three factors: the degree of risk, the stage of economic growth, and the sophistication of adjustment. The interrelationship of these factors is examined, and the role of international cooperation in establishing strategies is outlined.     

NORTH AMERICAN INTERSTATE WEATHER MODIFICATION COUNCIL: NEED,GOALS, PURPOSE,AND ACTIVITIES1

ABSTRACT: A need for the prudent design and critical analysis of all weather modification efforts was expressed by the attendees of the June 1974 Governors' Weather Modification Conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The attendees also expressed a need for an organization to coordinate and cooperate in intrastate, interstate and possible international weather modification activities, particularly in view of the growing importance of agricultural production, energy demand and domestic water supply. The North American Interstate Weather Modification Council (NAIWMC) was ratified on January 17, 1975, in Denver, Colorado, with its main purpose to achieve and maintain state and local control of such activities while endeavoring to attain a high degree of legislative uniformity and an effective information exchange mechanism. The need, goals, and objectives of the newly-created Council are summarized herein. The by-laws of the Council are presented according to the articles adopted at the organizational meeting. Membership in the Council is available to all states of the United States of America, Mexico, and all provinces of Canada. The officers of the Council are elected from its membership according to the regions of weather modification activities. A summary of the Council's progress at performing the purposes is presented in this paper. Definition of the users involved in the North American Interstate Weather Modification Council has been achieved during the early activities of the Council. The Council's views on federal and state weater modification legislation are presented according to position statements that have been adopted by the member states and provinces.     

Structuring cooperative behavior under the National Environmental Policy Act of the United States

A trend is presently under way to streamline the compliance requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of the United States through cooperative assessment procedures. Since the law was enacted in 1970, however, participants in the assessment process have tended to settle disagreements by adversarial rather than cooperative means. This study focuses on a highly acclaimed environmental assessment procedure undertaken by the U.S. Steel Corporation for its proposed $4.0 billion Lakefront Steel Plant. Survey research data were gathered to measure the underlying management philosophy perceived by interorganizational representatives, who attended a series of Technical Team meetings designed to coordinate the assessment effort and to open communication channels. A social psychological scale of behavioral dimensions was adapted from Likert to define the composition and the extent of cooperation at these meetings. A newly constructed scale was used to measure the quantity and quality of representation by each of the major organizations involved. Informal interviews were conducted with project participants to obtain further insight into member interaction. Results indicate that democratic problem solving was in evidence but also suggest a preference by respondents for improved procedures. The paper outlines areas of concern voiced by respondents and offers the means for improving the operating procedures of similar interorganizational environmental assessments.     

Political Economy of Transnational Water Pollution: What Do the LMB Data (1985–2000) Say?

On the basis of the cross-section and time-series data of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB)—including large sections of Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Cambodia, we find little evidence in support of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Instead, our regressions support the general views that water pollution had been positively related to income level and that, as a result of the end of the Cold War era, it had been significantly reduced in the 1990s vis-à-vis the 1980s. In most circumstances, water resources were more seriously polluted in the transnational border areas than in the other areas. Specifically, the estimated coefficients on the political boundary dummies show that political influence on transnational water pollution was more significant in areas near the international border along which the river runs (denoted by BORDER2) than in places near the international border across which the river runs (denoted by BORDER1). The estimated coefficients on the ASEAN dummy present some information about the positive role of the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) membership in the reduction of transnational water pollution. Finally, the country-specific dummies are found to present conflicting information about the transnational differences of water pollution, although Thailand is found to have the least water pollution in the LMB.     

对山东省"东西结合"问题的探讨

要解决山东省东西部地区之间的差距，关键要在“东西结合”上狠下功夫。通过对“东西结合”的客观必然性论证，提出了十种“东西结合”的具体方式以及促进“东西结合”应采取的对策。     

APPLICATION OF MODERN ORGANIZATIONAL CONCEPTS TO A LARGE WATER RESOURCE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: Modem management concepts were used to increase the efficiency and productivity of a large and complex water resource study conducted on two Delaware River components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The study analyzed the hydraulics of a 120 mile reach of the river using Rhodamine WT dye injected under medium-flow, low-flow steady-state, and low-flow-surge wave flow conditions. The study benefited from a decentralized management structure that used informal teams to attain quality control objectives, to overcome study difficulties, to secure substantial interagency cooperation, and to maximize limited financial and staffing resources.     

Biochemical Cooperation Between Klebsiella oxytoca Sc and Methylobacterium mesophilium Sr for Complete Degradation of Dimethyl Isophthalate

Klebsiella oxytoca Sc and Methylobacterium mesophilicum Sr were isolated from enrichment cultures using dimethyl isophthalate (DMI) as the sole carbon and energy source and mangrove sediment as an inoculum. Complete degradation of DMI required both species of bacteria at different biochemical transformation steps. The biochemical degradation pathway was DMI to monomethyl isophthalate (MMI) by K. oxytoca Sc, MMI to isophthalate (IPA) by M. mesophilium Sr, and IPA by both K. oxytoca Sc and M. mesophilium Sr sequentially. The consortium comprising of K. oxytoca Sc and M. mesophilicum Sr was effective in complete degradation of DMI in eight days. Our results suggest that a consortium of microorganisms indigenous to the mangrove environment is responsible for mineralization of environmental pollutant DMI through biochemical cooperation.     

环境治理中府际合作的逻辑

公共事务的积累只是为制度化解决提供了必要性,当政者维护政权的根本利益需要决定了公共事务处理的优先序列。客观问题的属性和解决的迫切程度只有在政府最高层统治集团认为维系权力存续的手段具备充分的支撑条件时,才会愿意在正式制度上进行调整,为解决问题提供制度供给。新中国成立后很长一段时间内,我国环境问题并不突出,中央政府根据社会主要矛盾需要制定了以发展经济为重心的制度体系。这种制度结构使地方政府和辖区企业形成了利益共容关系。为适应竞争的需要,地方政府庇护辖区企业环境行为,机会主义地执行环境管理制度,使环境问题积累成为影响安全价值的显著因素。在国内外政治压力下,中央政府最终做出了战略调整,地方政府在中央政府制度调控下,自发地合作治理环境问题。     

从司法证据角度谈环境监测报告的规范性研究

介绍了“两高”司法解释对作为司法证据的检验报告的明确要求和认可流程,县级以上环境保护部门及其所属监测机构出具的监测数据,经省级以上环境保护部门认可的,可以作为证据使用.从质量体系的“人机料法环”五要素出发,逐一阐述了五要素在监测全过程和最终报告中的规范化体现,明确了环境监测报告的规范性编制,纠正了实践中常见的错误,提出只有充分符合五要素要求,才能确保环境监测报告作为司法证据使用.     

Citizens’ perceptions of trust relationships in the environmental management process in North Lebanon

This research investigates how trust plays a role in environmental management in North Lebanon, which has suffered repeated episodes of armed conflict in recent times. Previous studies have shown that environmental problems have increased and that the government has been unable to address these, even during periods of relative peace. We examined trust as a factor that contributes to, or hampers, environmental management. Our analysis drew on a survey in 2011 involving 499 citizens. The results demonstrated that, according to citizens, the lack of trust between citizens, and between citizens and the public sector, is a key factor obstructing effective environmental management. The results indicate the level of correlation between how trusting people are; how citizens participate; and how people perceive government legitimacy.