Environmental News in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the Philippines

From an environmental perspective, the media have raised the level of environmental awareness and, rightly or wrongly, focused the attention of citizens on specific environmental issues. Public reaction to environmental news can filter back into the media and highlight specific policy issues. The importance of the media in this respect has gained strength, particularly in developing countries, where environmental problems have become legitimate concerns, and where access to 'official' information has been historically difficult. In general, newspapers have been found to be one of the most predominant sources of environmental information available to the public, particularly in developing countries. In this paper, we summarise, briefly analyse and compare the newspaper coverage of environmental issues in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the Philippines. Among numerous other results, it appears that the coverage of environmental issues fell considerably over the period 1990-94 despite an increase in world-wide environmental awareness. Most news reports actions by the environmental agencies (warnings and rewards, etc.). In the Philippines, however, most environmental news reports investments in pollution abatement activities by the private sector. While citizens' complaints represent a small percentage of the coverage of environmental issues, closer examination reveals that such complaints, in the vast majority of cases, trigger governmental actions (warnings) and ultimately an improvement of firms' environmental performance (investment).     

Energy-Related Education and Awareness: The Role and Place for Exergy in Policy Development

Abstract

Exergy can play a key role in developing appropriate and beneficial energy-related policies relating to education and awareness. Two main areas where exergy can have an impact on policies are discussed in this article: public education and awareness and student education. The former is more general, but is supported by the latter. Regarding public education and awareness about exergy, it appears that the public is often confused when it discusses energy, and needs to be better educated about exergy if energy issues and problems are to be addressed appropriately. Regarding the education of students about exergy, it appears that the coverage of exergy in thermodynamics education is often insufficient and inappropriate. Better coverage of exergy is needed to improve thermodynamics education and to make it more interesting to students, and a basic level of “exergy literacy” is needed among engineers and scientists—particularly those involved in decision making.     

ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCE POLICY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This article analyzes the official and non-official responses of Filipinos to the depletion of some renewable natural resources (particularly water quality). Contrary to popular assumption, and contrary to official statements of the Philippine government at international conferences, it appears that environmental depletion is a political issue in the Philippines. The reasons for the salience of resource and environmental issues are discussed. The dilemma of the Philippine government is that it is committed to economic progress, but the resources which make that progress possible are in short supply. Timber, soil and clean water are endangered by deforestation, erosion and pollution. However, conservation and environmental protection are expensive in the short run. The Philippines faces a problem common to developing tropical countries.     

Major climate-change issues covered by the daily newspapers of Bangladesh

Communications research scholars, political scientists, and policy analysts have significantly recognized the role of news media in reporting and portraying public issues. Nowadays, climate change is an important global environmental concern for the world communities. Study on the media coverage of climate-change issues is vitally important to know the present situation of both the global and regional climate, as well as to assess the causes, mitigation and adaptation techniques, and its adverse impacts. This study demonstrates the coverage of newspapers in Bangladesh on climate change from May 2006 through June 2009 for the three most popular newspapers of Bangladesh, namely The Prothom Alo, The Daily Ittefaq, and The Daily Star. Natural disasters was the major climate-change issue that received the most coverage, along with agriculture, biodiversity, global warming, climate change, crime, water scarcity, food scarcity, politics, wetlands, tourisms, rivers, forestry and miscellaneous issues. Local communication concerned with climate-change issues was given preference in the coverage by the newspapers throughout the study period. The study will be useful for awareness-program formulation on climate-change mitigation and adaptation in Bangladesh.     

新闻媒体环保监督视角下环境污染治理演化博弈

为督促政府严格履行环境监管职责,应引入新闻媒体,与政府、企业共同参与污染治理。本文使用演化博弈理论通过构建博弈支付矩阵,研究不同情形下政府与企业间、新闻媒体与政府间的演化稳定策略（ESS）,探究新闻媒体监督对环境污染治理的影响,并通过数值算例对演化结果进行验证。演化过程及数值仿真结果表明：①对企业、政府而言,当某种策略的期望利润始终更大时,其决策过程将不受另一方与新闻媒体策略的影响,且此时存在ESS;②新闻媒体进行环保监督一定程度上能促进企业和政府组成的系统向优良状态演化,但新闻媒体是否进行环保监督受政府对环境监管程度的影响,取决于报道成本和预期收益的大小;③政府的作用举足轻重,增大单位环境税额和处罚力度能促使企业合法减排,而对其不严格监管可能使环境质量恶化。因此,为促进环境质量改善,需不断推动环保理念传播,设法降低企业减排成本和政府监管成本,扩大新闻媒体监督职责范围,提高其监督的主动性,并对政府增加生态环境保护维度考核。     

Factors influencing private and public environmental protection behaviors: results from a survey of residents in Shaanxi, China

Currently one of the largest and most rapidly developing countries, China also has some of the world's most severe environmental problems. China will most likely need to use all of the potential major strategies currently available to solve the country's huge environmental challenges, including promoting individual conservation behavior through educational campaigns and encouraging public environmental advocacy. This paper summarized the findings of a survey of 347 residents of Shaanxi province on environmental attitudes and behaviors. The survey found generally high levels of environmental knowledge and high recognition of the seriousness of environmental issues, moderate levels of individual actions supporting environmental resource conservation and low levels of public environmental behaviors, particularly for organized public advocacy. Further analysis indicated that the perceived importance of environmental protection is the most important factor influencing individual environmental resource conservation, but not public advocacy behaviors. Implications for environmental campaigns are discussed.     

A protracted age of oil: pipelines,refineries and quiet conflict

This article examines the relevance of environmental justice (EJ) and climate change debates as points of articulation and mobilisation among community groups responding to a proposed refinery. It then compares media coverage of the refinery project, a bi-national pipeline and other energy and climate-related news events. The analytical frame joins the EJ paradigm with citizen mobilisation on issues of climate change and energy projects that emit greenhouse gases and that discourage development of renewable sources. Data were collected and analysed from websites, public message boards and media documents. Findings indicate that a community-based anti-refinery campaign combined local EJ struggles with climate activism, while challenging fossil fuel dependencies and calling for renewable regional energy. A climate justice community formed – yet their voices were in their blogs and websites, not in local or national media.     

公民环境信访行为影响因素的实证分析——基于规范激活理论

环境信访是中国公民环境利益表达的重要途径,也是其参与环境治理的重要通道,引导公民有序进行环境信访对于加强生态文明建设、深化环境治理、维护社会稳定具有重要意义。本研究从环境信访的参与主体——公民入手,基于社会心理学中规范激活理论的连续模型,构建了公民环境信访影响因素的理论模型,并运用AMOS 20.0对S市9个行政区500位市民的问卷调研结果进行实证分析,探究公民环境信访行为的社会心理影响因素。研究结果表明:规范激活理论的连续模型能够较好地解释中国公民的环境信访行为,其中环境信访结果认知正向影响环境信访责任归属,公民的个体规范需要通过责任归属得以激活,从而影响公民环境信访行为意向。因此,政府可以通过环保知识的宣传教育和完善环境信访相关法律法规来提升公民环保意识和环境信访责任归属感,同时可以通过环保政策法规的宣传、畅通环境信访渠道以及对公民环境信访行为的有效处理来促进公民对环境信访行为积极意义的认知,从而推动公民有序进行环境信访。     

媒体报道、政府监管与企业环境信息披露

在中国经济和媒体环境发生巨大变革的情况下,外部压力对上市公司环境信息披露的影响研究面临新的社会背景。基于传播学议程设置理论、关注理论与信号传递理论,本文以2016年沪深A股八大重污染行业的315家上市公司为研究对象,研究了媒体报道与政府监管对上市公司环境信息披露水平的影响。其中,媒体类型既考虑了传统纸媒,也考虑了以新浪微博为代表的网络新媒体,政府监管方面采用2014年调整后的PITI指数对监管力度进行评价。研究发现,媒体报道数量越大,上市公司环境信息披露的内容越丰富,但并不能提高其信息披露质量;上市公司环境信息披露质量主要受媒体报道倾向性的影响,而媒体报道的数量对其影响较弱;地方政府对企业环境信息公开的监管力度对企业环境信息披露的影响并不显著。此外,随着地方政府监管力度的加大,媒体对企业的关注度下降,导致政府监管在媒体监督企业环境信息过程中具有一定的削弱作用。研究表明,随着近年来生态环境保护法制化进程的大力推进,环境制度约束相对舆论监督,在企业信息披露过程中发挥着越来越重要的作用。     

Economic and financial aspects of mine closure

Today, mine reclamation is a key component to a successful mine plan. Most of the industrialized nations have recognized the need to make mining activities relatively environmentally friendly, if they want to continue to benefit from the economic gains from mineral resource development. Countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa are leaders in the field and have implemented relatively sophisticated legislation to ensure environmentally correct mine closure. These countries rely on a combination of strict control strategies and economic penalties to ensure compliance. Yet, from the firm's perspective, reclamation activities are counterproductive as they cut into profits. In order to attract economic development and earn much needed economic capital, most of the rest of the world, particularly the developing countries, lack effective mine closure legislation. The traditional command and control type of legislation that is sometimes used is either vague and therefore avoided, or not enforced appropriately, resulting in an undesirable level of environmental degradation. With the use of case studies from Brazil, this article shows that direct controls are effective in some instances and not in others. It proposes that economic and financial tools may be more effective than the traditional direct controls in getting firms to comply with environmental standards, particularly in developing countries where environmental compliance is more difficult to achieve. It explains the use of performance bonding as one type of economic incentive that has proven to be an effective environmental policy in mine planning and closure. The authors additionally push beyond the typical style of performance bonds to introduce a flexible bonding and insurance system that allows governments to maintain strict environmental standards but limits firms financial exposure during the mining process. Such a system learns from the successes of the industrialized countries that use performance bonding and is sensitive to the needs of developing nations to attract investment yet maintain environmental integrity.     

Highlights from a new electrical equipment industry report

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. This article highlights several key sections from EIS's new 1998 Electrical Equipment Industry Report. It details the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the electrical equipment industry. EIS industry reports contain data on five key performance criteria—toxic waste management, hazardous waste generation, penalties and enforcement actions, and spills. Here we examine one of those—penalties and enforcement actions—and the policies of the largest companies.     

Highlights from a new aerospace industry report

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. This article highlights several key sections from EIS's new 1998 Aerospace Industry Report. It details the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the aerospace industry. EIS industry reports contain data on five key performance criteria—toxic waste management, hazardous waste generation, penalties and enforcement actions, spills, and Superfund sites. Here we examine one of those—penalties and enforcement actions—and the policies of the three largest companies. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Environmental and resource sustainability of Chinese cities: A review of issues,policies, practices and effects

This paper synthesizes the English literature on current issues, policies and practices, and their effects on environmental and resource sustainability in China's ongoing urbanization. Aspects of urban sustainability reviewed include air, water, solid waste, energy efficiency, transportation and land use. It shows that Chinese cities have been and probably will continue to be struggling with issues such as air pollution, scarcity of clean water, solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions. But there are many opportunities for improvement. It suggests shortages of existing policies and major gaps in knowledge and practice, which can be helpful to policy makers, planners and researchers in China and other developing countries.     

Environmental regulatory failure and metal contamination at the Giap Lai pyrite mine, Northern Vietnam

The causes for the failure in enforcement of environmental regulations at the Giap Lai pyrite mine in northern Vietnam are considered and the environmental impacts that are associated with this mine are evaluated. It is shown that sulphide-rich tailings and waste rock in the mining area represent significant sources of acid rock drainage (ARD). The ARD is causing elevated metal levels in downstream water bodies, which in turn, represent a threat to both human health and to aquatic ecosystems. Metal concentrations in impacted surface waters have increased after mine closure, suggesting that impacts are becoming progressively more serious. No post-closure, remediation measures have been applied at the mine, in spite of the existence of environmental legislation and both central and regional institutions charged with environmental supervision and control. The research presented here provides further emphasis for the recommendation that, while government institutions may need to be strengthened, and environmental regulations need to be in place, true on the ground improvement in environmental quality in Vietnam and in many other developing countries require an increased focus on promoting public awareness of industrial environmental issues.     

Environmental justice meets the right to stay put: mobilising against environmental racism,gentrification, and xenophobia in Chicago's Little Village

After decades of fighting for clean air and green space in the face of environmental racism and urban disinvestment, Chicago's Latinx Little Village neighbourhood has begun to see environmental improvements take place. Activists are wary of the potential for gentrification in the wake of clean up, and are advocating for the right to stay put in the community they have worked so hard to improve. These ongoing contestations have recently intersected with accelerating racialized state violence as renewed anti-immigrant and white supremacist rhetoric, policies, and actions have targeted Latinx communities. In this paper we ask, how do struggles against environmental racism, gentrification, and xenophobia interlock, and how does the framework of environmental justice serve to enable activism across all three sites? For racialized minority communities, repeated experiences of forced migration and displacement often mean that an anti-displacement ethos is particularly well-articulated and grounded in collective historical memory. Drawing on an extensive analysis of media materials complemented by archival research, fieldwork, and interviews with community organisers, this paper argues that tight linkages between environmental justice and anti-displacement principles inform community responses to multiple forms of structural racialized violence.     

Pressing the Local Account: A case study of meanings and responsibilities with regard to the local press and a local nature reserve

This case study concerns the effect of meanings and use of language by a local newspaper in relation to an environmental incident in a town in south-east England that will be called Woodbridge. It explores the implications of insensitive, or misleading, use of language over a four-month period towards the end of 1995 through recordings and observations made at the time. The event is explored through the eyes of a local teenager called Tim who was involved in a school environmental education research project and who became a key player in the developing out-of-school conflict. Although the account concerns a controversy that raged several years ago, it nevertheless raises general concerns regarding newspaper coverage of environmental issues at the local level, the tension between profits and reporting truth and the apparent lack of a medium- to long-term approach to environmental issues. All names are fictitious to ensure anonymity in what remains a sensitive memory.     

Wintering Waterbirds and Recreationists in Natural Areas: A Sociological Approach to the Awareness of Bird Disturbance

Disturbance to wintering birds by human recreational activities has become a major concern for managers of many natural areas. Few studies have examined how recreationists perceive their effects on birds, although this impacts their behavior on natural areas. We surveyed 312 users on two coastal ornithological sites in Brittany, France, to investigate their perception of the effects of human activities on wintering birds. The results show that the awareness of environmental issues and knowledge of bird disturbance depends on the socioeconomic characteristics of each user group, both between the two sites and within each site. Results also indicate that, whatever the site and the user group, the vast majority of the respondents (77.6 %) believed that their own presence had no adverse effects on the local bird population. Various arguments were put forward to justify the users’ own harmlessness. Objective information on recreationists’ awareness of environmental issues, and particularly on their own impact on birds, is important to guide managers in their choice of the most appropriate visitor educational programs. We recommend developing global but also specific educational information for each type of user to raise awareness of their own impact on birds.     

The Role of Local Government in Environmental Action in Slovakia

In the period of transition from communism, the countries of central and eastern Europe have made considerable efforts to adopt new environmental legislation and to create new institutions. However, the implementation of these powers, particularly at the level of local government, remains problematic. This article reviews the arguments for developing capacity for taking environmental action at the municipal level, and then examines the actual experience of one such country, the Slovak Republic. While Slovakia displays many of the features of policy making familiar to other transitional countries, it has faced some particular political problems. Recent legislation has given formal competencies in the field of environmental protection to local government, but it remains fragmented and relatively poorly resourced. Nevertheless, there is evidence that, through a combination of mutual support through national associations and the establishment of international links, local authorities are adopting a number of innovative approaches and strategies which should be better able to address the changing character of environmental problems.     

Social capital as a facilitator of pro-environmental actions in the USA: a preliminary examination of mechanisms

In this article, the mechanisms through which social networks impact individuals' environmentally significant actions are examined through a pilot study. A conceptual model was developed and in-depth interviews were performed with individuals in a North Carolina town in order to understand the mechanisms through which social capital facilitates pro-environmental actions. Individuals with higher social capital were found to act pro-environmentally because they value the collective interest rather than out of self-interest. Social capital was found to play a role in the formation of this valuation mainly through micro-level socialisation processes, particularly by instilling decision-making processes based on values in individuals, which informed individuals then applied to environmentally significant decisions. The results also suggest that the prevalence of the norm of engagement with environmental issues in an individual's social network can be an especially important promoter of pro-environmental actions. The study suggests that the culture of social networks is particularly important in the formation of ecological citizens.     

Urban Identities and Social Interaction: A cross-cultural analysis of young people's spatial mobility in Paris,France, and Frankston,Australia

The impacts of government environmental policies are often distributed inequitably, and can therefore be viewed as a form of social injustice. This is particularly the case with protected conservation sites, which are often concentrated in remote areas. While this policy allows environmental 'goods' to accrue to society as a whole, it often has negative impacts on local users, who have limited opportunities to influence policy. This paper reports on research undertaken in northern Scotland, where the extensive use of protective designations to conserve an internationally important 'wilderness' area led to serious conflict during the 1980s. The findings, based on semi-structured interviews, indicate that local stakeholders often felt powerless in the face of remote decision making, and environmental publicity aimed at an urban market. The problems of environmentalism that is not linked to social justice are discussed in this context, and the role which sustainability and participative conservation efforts can play in the development of social and environmental justice is evaluated. EILIDH JOHNSTON &; CHRIS SOULSBY, Ganando 'Legitimidad Ecológica': el desarrollo del sostenimiento consiente en el pais fluyente, Escocia del norte . Los impactos de las políticas ambientales gubernamentales frecuentemente son distribuidos inequitativamente, y por lo tanto pueden ser vistos como una forma de injusticia social. Este es particularmente el caso de las zonas de protección ambiental, las cuales frecuentemente se concentran en áreas remotas. Mientras esta política permite a los 'bienes' ambientales acumularse a la sociedad como un todo, esto tiene por lo general impactos negativos en los usuarios locales, quienes tienen oportunidades limitadas para influir en la política. Este documento informa sobre la investigación basada en el norte de Escocia, donde el extenso uso de designaciones protectoras para conservar parques naturales internacionalmente importantes, condujeron a serios conflictos durante los años 1980s. Las conclusiones, basadas en entrevistas semiestructuradas indican que los dueños de tierras locales frecuentemente se sintieron impotentes frente a la toma de desiciones remotas y a la publicidad ambiental dirigida a un mercado urbano. Los problemas de los ambientalistas que no estan ligados a la justicia social son discutidos en este contexto y el papel que el sostenimiento y los esfuerzos de conservacio´n participativa pueden jugar en el desrrollo de una justicia social y ambiental son evaluados.