Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency: Constructing “Certainty” as Rebuttal

Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency was the first Supreme Court opinion generated specifically as a response to the issue of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, alleging that Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure to regulate is leading to environmental harms for plaintiffs. This essay examines the majority opinion of Justice Stevens and his use of presumption and burden of proof, within a logic of problematic integration, to construct “certainty” as a rebuttal to and rejection of the “uncertainty” offered by EPA. I examine how this strategically constructed rebuttal to “uncertainty” functions as a declarative act of “certainty,” advancing a proposition whose scientific, legal, or political acceptance could function as a tipping point away from the claims of “uncertainty” used by opponents on this contentious issue. Because of the court's influence, the implications of their “certainty” extend beyond the case and into the broader discussion of climate change science and environmental communication.     

Using boundary objects to stimulate transformational thinking: storm resilience for the Port of Providence,Rhode Island (USA)

Like many coastal ports around the world, Rhode Island’s Port of Providence in USA is at risk for climate-related natural hazards, such as catastrophic storm surges and significant sea level rise (0.5–2.0 m), over the next century. To combat such events, communities may eventually adopt so-called “transformational adaptation” strategies, like the construction of major new infrastructure, the reorganization of vulnerable systems, or changes in their locations. Such strategies can take decades or more to plan, design, find consensus around, fund, and ultimately implement. Before any meaningful decisions can be made, however, a shared understanding of risks, consequences, and options must be generated and allowed to percolate through the decision-making systems. This paper presents results from a pre-planning exercise that utilized “boundary objects” to engage the Port of Providence's stakeholders in an early dialogue about the transformational approaches to hazard–risk mitigation. The research team piloted the following three boundary objects as a means to initiate meaningful dialogue about long-term storm resilience challenges amongst key stakeholders of this exposed seaport system: (1) a storm scenario with local-scale visualizations, (2) three long-term transformational resilience concepts, and (3) a decision support tool called Wecision. The team tested these boundary objects in a workshop setting with 30 port business owners and policy makers, and found them to be an effective catalyst to generate a robust dialogue around a very challenging topic.     

Reconstituting “America”: The Clean Energy Economy Ventriloquized

With the foregrounding of “clean energy” policies by climate change concerns, the rhetorical constitution of “America” as a collective subject, mobilized to adopt the clean energy economy (CEE), becomes crucial. Here, I analyze the constitutive rhetoric of Pew Charitable Trusts’ landmark 2009 report on the CEE, drawing from the ventriloqual perspective to communication. I argue that this approach provides a more pragmatic, conversational understanding of the interpellative process constituting “America,” noting it to be hybridized and composed of various human and nonhuman agents. Tracing the ingoing interaction among agents—some manifest in the text, others spectral—sheds light on the complex relations of power at stake, recognizes the open-ended possibilities (and restrictions) of agency, and the role of material structures shaping environmental communication and policy.     

Factors affecting on the susceptibility of vetch cultivars to infestation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acyrthosiphon pisum</Emphasis> L. (Hemiptera,Aphididae)

Current trends in organic agriculture have led to the need of seeking alternative methods of pest control. For that reason the influence of weather conditions, some morphological and chemical traits of common vetch (Vicia sativa) cultivars–“Liya”, “Loryna”, “Villena”, “Moldavskaya 82” (Moldovan cultivars) and “Obrazets 666” (Bulgarian cultivar), and hairy vetch (V. villosa)–“Violeta” and “Viola” [Moldovan cultivars]) on the dynamic and preference of Acyrthosiphon pisum were determined. Moldovan cultivars belonging to V. sativa were distinguished by lower aphid numbers as they had shorter duration of the flowering period unlike the V. villosa cultivars, where that duration was significantly longer. The plant morphological traits as height, branch, flower and leaflet numbers influenced on the aphid density. The aphid density was affected by branch and leaflet numbers more than by height and flower plant. “Villena” had a shorter vegetative period, lowest flower and leaflet numbers as well as low nitrogen and phosphorus content, which resulted in the lowest A. pisum population. The use of vetch cultivars with some characteristics of tolerance would result in a reduction of losses due to pea aphids. That will provide an environmentally safer option for aphid control.     

On the possibility of sustainable development with less economic growth: a research note

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss whether it is possible to achieve human development without or with less economic growth. For this to happen, it is important that developed countries can maintain high levels of human development while reducing the scale of production and consumption so that developing countries can achieve greater economic growth. Using panel data from 118 countries aggregated in ten blocks of countries, we assess the influence of “growth” on “development”, as proxied by a transformed variable “Social Human Development Index” (SHDI), controlling for the influence of geo-economic factors. In particular, we analyse whether developed countries present a weaker statistical relation between GDP and the social dimension of HDI than their less developed counterparts. Results reveal that the GDP elasticity of SHDI is higher in blocks of countries where the concentration of developing countries occurs than in blocks dominated by the presence of developed countries. Thus, it is possible to envisage that a slowdown in economic activity in developed countries may occur without great sacrifice of human development, at least when it is measured by health and education components. We interpret the findings as meaning that at an aggregate level there are conditions for development to occur without or with less growth.     

Seeing the Wind (Farm): Applying Q-methodology to Understand the Public’s Reception of the Visuals Around a Wind Farm Development

This research investigates the reception of the visual representations of a wind farm (WF) development by local stakeholders. Using non-verbal Qmethodology, residents of Lesvos’ island, Greece, sort images according to how these images represented their opinion about the proposed Aegean Link WF project. We found three opinion types. The “Risk Averter” type is focused on the various risks of constructing and operating the Aegean Link wind development. The “Green Developer” type believes that the renewable energy project will benefit both their local community and the environment. The “Realist” type defers to expert knowledge to make decisions about project outcomes and is sceptical of media bias. While the former two types seem to form their visual opinions based on whether they are in favour or against (respectively) of the WF development, the Realist opinion is rather guided by carefully considering whether the visual stimuli are representative of the project’s actual characteristics.     

YouTube,Social Norms and Perceived Salience of Climate Change in the American Mind

This online experiment explored how contextual information embedded in new media channels such as YouTube may serve as normative social cues to users. Specifically, we examined whether the number of views listed under a YouTube video about climate change would elicit inferences regarding how “others” feel about the climate issue and, consequently, might influence perceptions of issue salience. Participants in this experiment were exposed to a YouTube video about climate change using two experimental conditions, one providing a small number of views under the video and the second listing a large number of views. Results suggest that the “number of views” cue did, indeed, influence participant perceptions of the importance assigned by other Americans to the issue of climate change. Further, compared to low self-monitoring participants, high self-monitoring participants registered an increase in their own judgment of issue importance.     

Gold Mining in the Greek “Village of Gaul”: Newspaper Coverage of Conflict and Discursive Positioning of Opposing Coalitions

The present study analysed media discourse on a gold mining controversy in Greece. Social actors shaped a pro-mining and an anti-mining coalition. The “village of Gaul” was a discursive resource used to depict conflict and it could denote either “resistance,” for anti-mining advocates, or “anarchy,” for pro-mining advocates. The same actor could be found to perform both the role of a powerful majority as well as the role of a repressed minority, which engaged varying scales of reference. Discursive positioning allowed for a switching among majority and minority roles. Each camp attempted to transform incalculable hazards into calculable risks and this was accompanied by a discursive appropriation of the past and the future of the study area. Social divide seems to have advanced discursive positioning of coalitions in a spiral-logic of interactionist confrontation at the cost of losing any common ground. Implications for environmental communication and environmental governance are discussed.     

Democratic Debate and Mediated Discourses on Climate Change: From Consensus to De/politicization

Starting from a risk conflicts perspective, this article challenges two common assumptions of existing research on climate change in public and media discourses. It argues that the evaluation of these discourses on the extent to which these either accurately reflect a scientific consensus or contribute to achieving social consensus insufficiently takes account of the exclusionary mechanisms it starts from. A conceptual and empirical framework is subsequently put forward which allows one to evaluate mediated discourses in terms of the extent to which democratic debate and citizenship are encouraged. Such analysis can reveal the discursive strategies underlying processes of politicization and depoliticization. This perspective is illustrated by an analysis of a local case study: the “Sing for the Climate” campaign. We conclude by calling for a broad systematic research agenda revealing the extent to which de/politicizing discourses are found to influence public and media discourses.     

From Obstructionism to Communication: Local,National and Transnational Dimensions of Contestations on the Swedish Wolf Cull Controversy

Two obstructionist ways of doing politics on contentious wildlife management issues currently reflect a legitimacy deficit in official channels for public engagement. The first is that of a pernicious “direct-action” politics, in the form of resort by hunters in rural Sweden to illegal killings of protected wolves over whose policy they contest. The second obstruction is when environmental non-governmental organizations routinely file appeals in higher-level courtrooms contesting democratically mandated wolf cull decisions. Although markedly different when it comes to their categorically deliberative values as well as fidelity to the law, we argue both extra-legal and the litigative phenomena reflect disenfranchisement with the participation channels in which such controversies may be resolved through a public dialogue. We also argue that both possess negative systemic deliberative value inasmuch as they frustrate goals of reaching deliberative consensus, by contributing to a stalled public communication on wolf management. We address this deficit by appeal to recent developments in the theory and practice of mini-publics that promote both the categorical and systemic deliberative value of channeling contestation. In particular, we appeal to a novel conception of hunter-initiated, but citizen controlled, mini-publics as a vehicle for re-starting stalled public communication on wolf conservation.     

长三角城市群旅游场强时空异质性及演化机理

以长江三角洲城市群26个城市为研究单元,综合运用主成分因子分析、可达性分析、改进的场强模型、地理探测器模型等方法对2000～2016年长江三角洲城市群区域旅游场强时空格局的演化及其形成机理展开研究。结果表明：（1）长三角城市群城市旅游综合规模差异化显著,但趋于均衡化发展态势;（2）区域旅游场强具有明显的时空异质性,交通“轴线”扩散明显,空间结构由最初的“Z”字型发展为“网状”,最后演变为“树枝状”,旅游场强类型呈现稳定的圈层包围结构,不断地由低级向高级演变;（3）旅游场强格局演化主要由交通优势度、旅游产业发展水平、地区经济发展水平、旅游资源禀赋和政策导向等多方面因素共同作用形成的结果。     

“Stop Blaming the Cows!”: How Livestock Production is Legitimized in Everyday Discourse on Facebook

In 2016, Swedish climate reporting declined in quantity and shifted focus somewhat from climate change as such to the harmful climate impacts of meat consumption. The latter prompted discussions in social media—an increasingly important forum for public debate but infrequently studied in environmental communication research. Despite strong evidence that a meat and dairy-based diet is harmful for the environment, meat consumption is increasing, and this qualitative study aims to—through the lens of social representation theory—contribute knowledge about how livestock production is legitimized in everyday discourse on Facebook. The article identifies representations that legitimize livestock production through polarization between (1) livestock production and other (environmental) issues, (2) environmentally “good” and “bad” countries, and (3) “reliable” and “unreliable” information. It concludes by discussing the influence of national ideology on the legitimization of livestock production and the potential of social media to counter the post-politicization of environmental issues.     

Green Lawfare: Environmental Public Interest Litigation and Mediatized Environmental Conflict

Communication strategies involving news media and environmental groups are well documented and research into protest politics and other forms of environmental communication has made considerable progress in the analysis of the strategies that various actors use to influence environmental policy. There is less scholarship, however, on the journalistic representation of the legal strategies employed by environmental non-government organizations, such as the mediatized debates about the use of law by these groups and the laws themselves. Further, while legal scholarship observes the role of public interest litigation in environmental matters, the role of news media as an influential force in public opinion formation and mobilization in the context of environmental litigation as an activist strategy remains less understood. Using the 2015 “green lawfare” debate in Australia that followed a successful Australian Federal Court challenge to a coalmine, this paper argues that the “mediatized visibility” inherent in public interest litigation is an important, but mostly overlooked, element of mediatized environmental conflict.     

人力资本、技术创新对环境污染的影响机制——基于全国285个城市的实证分析

基于2003~2016年中国285个城市数据,讨论了人力资本和技术创新对环境污染的影响机制。主要研究结论为：（1）人力资本和技术创新可以显著降低环境污染;（2）人力资本和技术创新对环境污染的影响存在协同作用,在人力资本的影响下,技术创新显现出明确的减污效应,同时在技术创新的影响下,人力资本也显现出明确的减污效应;（3）人力资本和技术创新跨越各自的门槛值后,二者的协同效应会增强,减污效果更明显;（4）人力资本和技术创新对环境污染的影响是通过“产业清洁效应”、“外资清洁效应”和“金融清洁效应”3类中介途径实现的。研究结论为我国环境污染的治理提供了有益的借鉴。     

Objectivity as Trained Judgment: How Environmental Reporters Pioneered Journalism for a “Post-truth” Era

Amid debate about the role and practices of journalism in the era of Presidents Trump and Putin, this commentary argues that environmental journalism offers a conceptual model and guide to action for all journalists in the “post-truth” or “post-fact” era. Since the specialism was formed in the 1960s, environmental journalists have reported on politically partisan issues where facts are contested, expertise is challenged, and uncertainty is heightened. To deal with these and other challenges, environmental journalism, this commentary argues, has reassessed and reconfigured the foundational journalistic concept of objectivity. The specialism has come to view objectivity as the implementation of a transparent method, as the pluralistic search for consensus, and, most importantly, as trained judgment. By developing these definitions through the reporting of several science policy controversies, environmental journalists have pioneered journalism for the “post-truth” era.     

基于百度指数的湖南旅游目的地城市旅游者网络关注度及其空间格局研究

网络关注度从赛博空间层面反映了旅游者对旅游目的地的整体感知。通过社会网络分析方法,以综合运用"直接取词法"和"范围取词法"选定的与湖南旅游目的地城市旅游活动密切相关的共计103个关键词的百度指数构建而成的网络关注度指数为分析数据,对湖南旅游目的地城市的网络关注度及其空间格局进行了系统分析。研究发现:(1)旅游者对湖南各旅游目的地城市的网络关注程度有所差别,但是上述旅游目的地城市的网络关注度在年度周期内呈现出同步波动态势,具有较强的"共现性";(2)旅游者对湖南各旅游目的地城市的网络关注度构成了相对完整的关联结构,但是岳阳与其他旅游目的地城市之间网络信息互动较弱,娄底和益阳与其他旅游目的地城市之间基本没有网络信息互动;(3)旅游者对湖南各旅游目的地城市的网络关注度的网络影响力呈现出明显的等级结构,其中,长沙、郴州和株洲具有显著的"结构洞"优势,对湖南各旅游目的地城市之间的信息流动起到的"桥接"作用明显;(4)旅游者对湖南各旅游目的地城市的网络关注度的空间关联网络可以划分4个板块:其中湘西州位于"经纪人"板块;衡阳等4个节点位于"献媚"位置;长沙等6个节点位于"首属人"位置;娄底、岳阳和益阳则位于"孤立"位置;(5)旅游者对湖南各旅游目的地城市的网络关注度在很大程度上反映了湖南各旅游目的地城市的资源禀赋和旅游产业发展状况,但两者之间并不完全匹配。湖南各旅游目的地城市的资源禀赋和旅游产业是旅游者对湖南各旅游目的地城市产生网络关注度的基础,而网络关注度则主要通过促进或阻碍地理空间因素的方式对湖南旅游目的地城市网络关注度及其空间格局产生影响。鉴于上述研究发现,论文提出,要促进湖南省的旅游产业发展,各旅游目的地城市除了需要强化自身的优质资源建设,凸显各自的旅游发展特质之外,还需要扩大各旅游目的地城市之间的旅游信息交流和合作,尤其需要促进湖南各旅游目的地城市与其他区域之间的旅游者、旅游信息等要素的自由流动,逐步形成多中心、多网络协同发展的旅游空间格局。     

Institutional capacity for long-term climate change adaptation: evidence from land use planning in Albay,Philippines

Mainstreaming climate change adaptation (CCA) into plans and programs is still a new approach in adaptation and thus there is limited information on how to operationalize it on-ground. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the challenges in mainstreaming CCA into the local land use plans in the province of Albay, Philippines. Specifically, this paper developed 20 quantitative “mainstreaming indicators” to assess the state-of-play and the challenges for local mainstreaming. These indicators were classified under three groupings, namely, the information, institutional, and resource capacities of systems. Qualitative analysis of the indicator scores suggested that developing the institutional capacities of local governments is crucial in the local mainstreaming process. Likewise, the results highlighted the “institutional issues” indicator as the primary barrier in operationalizing the approach. These institutional issues are: fragmented laws and regulations; overlapping policy requirements; and the lack of guidelines for mainstreaming CCA into the local land use plans. Meanwhile, the “leadership” indicator, as signified by a climate change champion in Albay, was evaluated as an opportunity for local mainstreaming. The champion effectively led the CCA efforts because the existing institutional mechanisms supported the champion’s capacity to influence the behavior of people and produce collective action towards CCA.     

Normative Framing and Public Attitudes toward Biofuels Policies

Although the power of elite issue frames to shape public attitudes toward different policies is well established, the relative influence of different types of frames in competitive framing environments remains uncertain. For example, we do not fully understand the relative influence of economic versus normative frames on the public's policy attitudes, despite the common use of both types of frames to promote the same policy in many settings. Using data from a 2010 national Internet survey, this paper investigates the relative influence of economic versus normative frames on public attitudes toward the contentious policy issue of biofuels. The results indicate the importance of normative frames in shaping public attitudes on this issue, suggesting the relevance of normative frames more generally in shaping public opinion beyond the narrow confines of typical “morality” policies such as abortion or gambling.     

Residents’ Attitude to Pay for Urban River Restoration: Empirical Evidence from Cities in Yangtze Delta

Abstract

Public willingness to pay (WTP) for urban rivers restoration was investigated in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou in China with a sample of 1,285. The factors influencing positive WTP against zero WTP are analyzed using a binary logit model. The results indicate that income, Huji (residential registration) status, household size, home property ownership, riverfront access, and attitudes toward current water quality are statistically significant in the likelihood of positive WTP. It is also found that respondents without local Huji are less willingness to pay positively in pooled sample and Shanghai sample. In the group holding property right of house but without local Huji is less willingness to pay positively in Hangzhou. Respondents in Nanjing are more willingness to pay positively than those in Hangzhou. Most common arguments against to pay for the restoration are “government’s duty”, “low income”, “non-local-Huji” and “lack of trust in the government in how it spends money”. The results are generally consistent with the hypothesis and specific situations in China. The findings make some contributions to the non-market valuation studies as well as provide useful information for public policy making in China.     

Beyond Counting Climate Consensus

Several studies have been using quantified consensus within climate science as an argument to foster climate policy. Recent efforts to communicate such scientific consensus attained a high public profile but it is doubtful if they can be regarded successful. We argue that repeated efforts to shore up the scientific consensus on minimalist claims such as “humans cause global warming” are distractions from more urgent matters of knowledge, values, policy framing and public engagement. Such efforts to force policy progress through communicating scientific consensus misunderstand the relationship between scientific knowledge, publics and policymakers. More important is to focus on genuinely controversial issues within climate policy debates where expertise might play a facilitating role. Mobilizing expertise in policy debates calls for judgment, context and attention to diversity, rather than deferring to formal quantifications of narrowly scientific claims.