Proportionate and disproportionate policy responses to climate change: core concepts and empirical applications

A fresh perspective on policy-making and planning has emerged which views disproportionate policy as an intentional policy response. A disproportionate policy response is understood to be a lack of ‘fit’ or balance between the costs of a public policy and the benefits that are derived from this policy, and between policy ends and means. This paper applies this new perspective on the proportionality of policy-making to the area of climate change. The first part of the paper discusses the underlying causes of disproportionate policy responses in broad terms and then applies the theoretical reasoning to understand the conditions in which they are likely to appear in relation to climate change. These conditions are hypothesized to relate to four main factors: economic considerations; levels of public demand; focusing events; and strategic considerations. It concludes with the suggestion that societal actors may be able to manipulate these four factors to encourage politicians to adopt policies that mitigate climate change more rapidly than is currently the case in most countries.     

AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION'S POTENTIAL IN REDUCING DISCHARGE OF POLLUTANTS1

ABSTRACT: Agricultural lands (including most forest lands) make up almost four-fifths of the total land area of the United States and include, or are traversed by, perhaps an equal proportion of our ground and surface waters. Therefore, a very large part of our environment is directly “agriculture-related” in any consideration of the discharge of pollutants. Several important Federal and State laws relate to the control or abatement of agriculture-related pollution. Existing legislation generally mandates the control or abatement of pollution (from point or nonpoint sources) or authorizes the use use of public funds or other resources for such purposes. Some of these laws can be effective instruments in keeping pollutants from being discharged into surface or ground waters or into the air, but the degree to which some pollutants originating from agricultural lands and operations constitute a serious environmental hazard in waters remains controversial. Although most of the technology exists to reduce greatly the movement of these pollutants, investments are often required which benefit the nonfarm public without economic returns to the farmer. Whether a zero discharge is either an environmentally or economically feasible alternative to more limited or selective control, is explored. However, if the public is willing to bear its reasonable share of the cost for clean air and water, the needed basic legislation already largely exists. Under it, agricultural land holders may apply program standards and use their own and available program resources to bring about effective control or abatement of pollutants.     

Restoration,stewardship, environmental health,and policy: understanding stakeholders' perceptions

In recent years there has been considerable interest in the health of humans and the environment, restoration of contaminated or otherwise degraded lands, and in long-term stewardship of public lands. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether governmental agencies and the public hold similar views about the meanings of these concepts, making policy decisions about restoration and stewardship difficult. In this paper, I explore how the public conceptualizes restoration and stewardship by examining the relative rating of several attributes of restoration, stewardship, environmental health, ecological health, environmental restoration, and ecological restoration. People were interviewed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, near the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory. The ratings of attributes of environmental health and ecological health reported in this paper can be used to understand how the public understands these concepts. The attributes rated most highly by the subjects were more similar to definitions in the scientific literature for these terms than they were to those used by the Department of Energy. For environmental health, the highest rating related to human sanitation, while for ecological health the highest rating was for maintaining functioning ecosystems. Reduction of exposure to hazardous substances was rated the second highest for both environmental and ecological health. The wise use of natural resources, preservation of natural resources, and hazardous waste site cleanup were rated the highest attributes of stewardship. These data suggest that both expert and nonexpert perceptions about restoration and stewardship should be incorporated into environmental management decisions.     

Economics at the fringe: Non-market valuation studies and their role in land use plans in the United States

Over the past fifty years, economists have developed methods for estimating the public benefits of green spaces, allowing such information to be incorporated into land use planning. But the extent to which it is ever used is unclear. This paper reviews the literature on public values for lands on urban outskirts, not just to survey their methods or empirical findings, but to evaluate the role they have played – or have the potential to play – in actual US land use plans.Based on interviews with authors and representatives of land trusts and governments, it appears that academic work has had a mixed reception in the policy world. Reasons include a lack of interest in making academic work accessible to policy makers, emphasizing revealed preference methods which ignore important non-use values, and emphasizing average values over distributions of values. Nevertheless, some success stories illustrate how such information can play a role in the design of conservation policies.     

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF USES OF WOODY DRAWS IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES1

ABSTRACT: This study assesses economic and environmental impacts of uses of woody draws, small natural drainage areas covered by trees and shrubs in agricultural landscapes. Three agricultural uses and four alternative uses are evaluated. A net present value approach is used to compare economic impacts of uses of draws and APEX is used to evaluate the interaction between a woody draw and the contributing upland area and simulate the environmental impacts of uses of draws in the field. The study shows that relative to agricultural uses, alternative uses of draws have significant environmental benefits in terms of reducing surface runoff and sediment and associated pollutants, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides. Agricultural uses of draws are not always the most profitable option. Certain alternatives, such as curly willow and the mixed buffer, are highly profitable. Agricultural landscapes could be differentially managed to achieve both economic variability and environmental benefits. Government support is necessary to promote alternative uses of woody draws. The support can be in the form of CRP payments or market development of buffer products. Farmers and resource managers can use study results to manage woody draws and evaluate the merits of alternative policies for managing woody draws.     

The potential role of stated preference methods in the Water Framework Directive to assess disproportionate costs

This paper examines the issue of disproportionate costs of Water Framework Directive (WFD) implementation using public surveys as a means to inform policy and decision making. Public taxpayers are asked their opinion regarding the implementation of the WFD and its costs. Taxpayers are expected to bear a large share of the cost of WFD implementation, be it through national taxation, local water pollution charges or higher market prices for water related goods and services. The paper's main objective is to illustrate the role of stated preference research to elicit public opinions and perceptions towards socially acceptable levels of water quality and public willingness to pay (WTP) for the expected environmental benefits of the WFD. Stated preference research can be used as a way to assess the concept of disproportionate costs to those who are expected to bear a large share of the costs of WFD implementation, and at the same time address the issue of public participation in the WFD. The survey results are used as a public consultation tool to inform policy and decision makers about public willingness and ability to pay for the implementation of the WFD. This measure can be used as one of the benchmarks to define disproportionate costs in a cost-benefit context.     

Air Quality Management in UK Local Authorities: Public Understanding and Participation

Science and technology are an integral part of informing public policy on air pollution and transport management. Expectations of science and technology by society and their use by air quality policy makers has led to increasing reliance upon this evidence to promote health and well-being. This can be seen, for example, in the setting of the UK national objectives for air pollutants based on exposure and health effects. This paper addresses three questions. It assesses, through the use of focus groups, the public perceptions of air pollution and the atmospheric dispersion model output from the Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System-Urban. Then it assesses their understanding of this information and its current presentation to the layperson. Finally, it assesses how their perceptions and understanding influence their solutions to local air quality management in the London Borough of Camden. The results show that participants in the study struggled with the concept of air pollution outside their sphere of experience, and they did not understand the scientific basis or modelling used to inform local policy. This is partly a result of the way this information is presented. They did not relate the technological evidence to their opinions of acceptable solutions or they expressed reluctance to suggest specific options. It is proposed that a well-informed public would make comprehensive decisions on air quality based upon a broader range of factors, incorporating the scientific reasoning and technological information as well as emotive and socio-economic factors. A balance between science and technological understanding with the validity of local expertise will improve air quality policy making to the greater satisfaction of all stakeholders.     

Publicly-provided information in environmental management: incorporating groundwater quality goals into herbicide treatment recommendations

Use of publicly-provided information to promote environmental quality has received somewhat less attention in the environmental management literature than use of other environmental policy tools based on economic incentives such as emissions taxes, subsidies and marketable permits. Yet publicly-provided information may have potential as an environmental policy tool, especially in managing problems of agricultural pollution, due in large part to the existing capability of public information agencies associated with the agricultural research community. Information provided by these agencies is known to be an important factor in decision making in agriculture and may have potential for influencing decisions that relate directly to preserving the integrity of environmental resources. Moreover, this potential may have particular relevance for protecting groundwater quality from agricultural production since the results of contamination are often at least partially internal to the farm decision maker. This paper develops an empirical model to formulate publicly-provided herbicide treatment recommendations designed to protect both the quality of groundwater and the income of farmers. An economic and statistical model of a crop-pest system is used in conjunction with a groundwater loading model to derive the trade-off relationship between producer income and movement of herbicide material through the root zone. The trade-off relationship can provide the basis for formulating herbicide treatment recommendations and can also shed light on appropriate groundwater quality goals.     

A Paradigm of International Environmental Law: The Case for Controlling the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

The production of large quantities of wastes globally has created a commercial activity involving the transfrontier shipments of hazardous wastes, intended to be managed at economically attractive waste-handling facilities located elsewhere. In fact, huge quantities of hazardous wastes apparently travel the world in search of “acceptable” waste management facilities. For instance, within the industrialized countries alone, millions of tonnes of potentially hazardous waste cross national frontiers each year on their way for recycling or to treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) because there is no local disposal capacity for these wastes, or because legal disposal or reuse in a foreign country may be more environmentally sound, or managing the wastes in the foreign country may be less expensive than at home. The cross-boundary traffic in hazardous wastes has lately been under close public scrutiny, however, resulting in the accession of several international agreements and laws to regulate such activities. This paper discusses and analyzes the most significant control measures and major agreements in this new commercial activity involving hazardous wastes. In particular, the discussion recognizes the difficulties with trying to implement the relevant international agreements among countries of vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. Nonetheless, it is also noted that global environmental agreements will generally be a necessary component of ensuring adequate environmental protection for the world community—and thus a need for the careful implementation of such agreements and regulations.     

清罐油泥资源化综合利用技术应用

采用清罐含油污泥资源化综合利用技术,处理后的含油污泥经检测其灰渣重金属含量均小于我国GB 15618-1995《土壤环境质量标准》和GB 4284-84《农用污泥中污染物控制标准》,灰渣浸出液达到GB5085.3-2007《危险废物鉴别标准浸出毒性鉴别》二级标准、燃烧后产生的废气和烟尘达到GB 13271-2001《锅炉大气污染物排放标准》。解决了清罐油泥处理难的问题,同时符合国家推行清洁生产,大力发展循环经济的要求,使生产过程中的废物减量化、资源化、无害化,减小了油泥排污费用,具有显著环境效益和社会效益。     

Public perceptions of equity in environmental policy: Traffic emissions policy in an english urban area

A promising new pathway for research on environmental justice is understanding public perceptions of justice or equity around a range of issues. Here we focus on policies intended to reduce air pollution from road traffic. We ask different urban communities, distinguished by the quality of local air and by socio-economic status, to judge the equitability of policies intended to reduce traffic emissions, both in terms of the environmental benefits of the policies and allocating the financial burden of paying for improvements. In the latter case, we are interested not only in the popular principles of equity that emerge, but also in whether a trade-off might exist between such principles of equity and the overall effectiveness and cost of the policy.     

The benefits and costs of reducing emissions from the electricity sector

Recent federal policy proposals to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)), and mercury from the US electricity sector promise important improvements in air quality and reductions in acid deposition. The cost of achieving these reductions depends on the form and stringency of the regulation. In this research, we analyze the economic benefits and costs of the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) as characterized in the supplemental rule proposed in June 2004, and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) as proposed in February 2004. The assessment integrates a model of the electricity sector, two models of atmospheric transport of air pollutants, and a model of environmental and public health endpoints affected by pollution. We model explicitly the emissions of SO(2), NO(x), mercury and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and the effects of changes in emissions of SO(2) and NO(x) on environmental and public health. The manner in which mercury emissions are regulated will have important implications not only for the cost of the regulation, but also for emission levels for SO(2) and NO(x) and where those emissions are located. We find the economic benefits of CAIR and CAMR are far greater than the costs. Recent estimates of benefits of reductions in mercury and acidification indicate that our model captures the lion's share of quantifiable benefits. We also find that the EPA would have been justified on economic grounds in pursuing additional SO(2) emissions reductions beyond the requirements of CAIR.     

Canadian Innovations in Siting Hazardous Waste Management Facilities

/ Siting hazardous waste facilities is an extremely complex and difficult endeavor. Public aversion to the construction of these facilities in or near their community often results in concerted opposition, referred to as the NIMBY syndrome. For the most part, siting processes do not fail because of inadequate environmental or technical considerations, but because of the adversarial decision-making strategies employed by the proponents. Innovative siting processes used in the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba offer tangible evidence of the successful application of an innovative siting approach based on the principles of decentralization of decision-making authority and full and meaningful public involvement. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate four Canadian siting processes from the perspective of public participation and access to decision-making authority. Examples of siting processes related to hazardous waste management facilities are provided from the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Ontario. Siting has evolved from approaches dominated by top-down decision making to increasing decentralized and pluralistic approaches. Focusing on social and political concerns of potentially affected communities and on the process of decision making itself are fundamental to achieving siting success. In Alberta initially, and later in Manitoba, this new "open approach" to siting has resulted in the construction of the first two comprehensive hazardous waste treatment facilities in Canada.KEY WORDS: Hazardous waste facilities; Siting methodologies; Public participation     

Reducing the healthcare costs of urban air pollution: the South African experience

Air pollutants often have adverse effects on human health. This paper investigates and ranks a set of policy and technological interventions intended to reduce such health costs in the high population density areas of South Africa. It initially uses a simple benefit-cost rule, later extended to capture sectoral employment impacts. Although the focus of state air quality legislation is on industrial pollutants, the most efficient interventions were found to be at household level. These included such low-cost interventions as training householders to place kindling above rather than below the coal in a fireplace and insulating roofs. The first non-household policies to emerge involved vehicle fuels and technologies. Most proposed industrial interventions failed a simple cost-benefit test. The paper's policy messages are that interventions should begin with households and that further industry controls are not yet justifiable in their present forms as these relate to the health care costs of such interventions.     

Beyond self‐interest: a model of public attitudes towards waste facility siting

This study examines the attitudinal and demographic determinants of public preferences towards siting solid waste disposal facilities in the United States. Survey data is collected from a random sample of 400 individuals selected from the population of the State of Connecticut. A logit statistical model of public preferences towards siting is created. The results are consistent with previous research indicating the importance of variables reflective of self‐interest motivations, such as perceptions of costs and benefits, in influencing attitudes. However, it is also revealed that more longstanding values, in addition to narrowly defined personal costs and benefits, influence siting preferences. These include widely‐shared norms concerning need for the facility and the appropriate sphere of government influence. Effective, efficient and equitable siting policy must consider and respond to these additional public motivations.     

Television viewing and public perceptions of hazards to life

Previous research on public perceptions of lethal or hazardous events have often cited the media as possible causes of inaccurate judgments of the frequencies with which such events are assumed to occur. No attempts have been made empirically to assess relationships between media usage and these perceptions however. A study is reported in which a representative sample from one region of Britain was asked to estimate the likelihood of personal risk from a number of hazards which were then related to how much television, and in particular, television news and documentaries they watched. Results showed that in the presence of controls for sex, age and socio-economic class, the overall amount of viewing, but not of news or documentary viewing in particular, was related to perceptions of personal risk on just four hazards to life out of a list of twelve. Heavy television viewers more often perceived higher risk from lightning, flooding and terrorist bomb attacks than did light television viewers, and medium viewers most often perceived higher risk from cancer. On this evidence it appears that aspects of television viewing are only sporadically related to public perceptions of hazards to life, and that viewing of news and documentary is unrelated to such perceptions.     

WATER AND WATER RIGHTS TRANSFERS: A NEW POLICY FOR NEBRASKA1

ABSTRACT: Nebraska has abundant supplies of high quality surface and ground water. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1982, declaring ground water to be an article of commerce, is widely perceived as giving neighboring states easier access to Nebraska water. Some neighboring states, particularly Colorado and Wyoming, are in water short situations. Additionally, current legal restrictions on certain types of transfers within the State could be inhibiting the “highest and best use” of Nebraska's water. Thus, in 1987 the Nebraska Legislature called for the development of a new water policy for Nebraska that would promote the economically efficient use of water, yet protect the environment as well as the rights of individuals (for example, third parties) and the public. Through an interagency study employing an extensive public involvement process, a policy to be recommended to the Legislature in 1989 emerged. The policy revises the basic definition of water rights and transfers and eliminates most of the inconsistencies in the water allocation system by treating most types of water resources, most types of water users, and most locations of use similarly in the permitting process. (The principal exception is the individual irrigator using ground water on the overlying land where overlying land is one government surveyed section; such use is not defined to be a transfer nor is a permit required.) An impact assessment would be required of most new water uses except on site uses of ground water. Compensation measures could be specified as a condition of the permit where appropriate. The permit would be issued only if the benefits of the proposed transfer clearly outweigh adverse effects that could not be avoided or effectively compensated. The policy allows for the sale or lease of “salvaged” water. It calls for the State to facilitate transfers by acting as a clearinghouse for potential buyers and sellers, and it allows the State to sponsor water projects. An annual fee to be paid by many water users, in order to provide a fund for compensation and for state sponsored water projects, was proposed. However, it met with extensive opposition. Thus, the policy recommends only that the Legislature examine potential funding programs and equitable user fees.     

Energy and environment in the European Union: An indicator-based analysis

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the European Union body dedicated to providing sound, independent information on the environment. It is a major information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy in Europe, and also for the general public. In line with its mandate, the EEA has developed — focused around a set of policy relevant questions — a set of indicators to assess progress in Europe in integrating environmental considerations into the energy sector. Each question is answered through one or more indicators describing the development of the sector in Europe, implications for the environment and links to policy actions. The indicators cover not only the current situation, but also trends and prospects and, most importantly, point to the conditions for change that are needed for progress towards a more sustainable energy policy that benefits the environment. The results of the most recent assessment are presented in this article and show that in many areas of environmental integration there have been some successes, but overall progress to date has been insufficient. Substantial additional action will therefore be required in the future if the European Union is going to move towards a more environmentally sustainable energy system.     

How to correctly assess mortality benefits in public policies

This paper concerns the difficulty of taking long-term effects on health into account in an economic valuation. Indeed, public decision makers should incorporate the cessation lag between implementation of an abatement policy and achievement of all of the expected mortality-related benefits for any projects involving health impacts. This paper shows how this time lag problem can be handled by proposing two approaches—either in terms of deaths avoided or of life years saved—within a dynamic perspective. The main findings are that long-term health benefits calculated by standard methods and widely applied to adverse health effects should be corrected downwards when incorporated into an economic analysis. The magnitude of correction depends on the discount rate, on technical choices dealing with epidemiology and on the method chosen to assess mortality benefits.     

Socioeconomic evaluation of the impact of natural resource stressors on human-use services in the Great Lakes environment: A Lake Michigan case study

The Great Lakes watershed is home to over 40 million people (Canadian and U.S.) who depend on a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem for economic, societal, and personal vitality. The challenge to policymakers and the public is to balance economic benefits with the need to conserve and replenish regional natural resources in a manner that ensures long term prosperity. Nine critical broad-spectrum stressors of ecological services are identified, which include pollution and contamination, agricultural erosion, non-native species, degraded recreational resources, loss of wetlands habitat, climate change, risk of clean water shortage, vanishing sand dunes, and population overcrowding. Many of these stressors overlap. For example, mining activities alone can create stress in at least five of these categories. The focus groups were conducted to examine the public’s awareness of, concern with, and willingness to expend resources on these stressors. This helped generate a grouping of stressors that the public is especially concerned about, those they care little about, and everything else in between. Stressors that the respondents have direct contact with tend to be the most important to them. This approach of using focus groups is a critical first step in helping natural resource managers such as Trustees and NGOs understand what subsequent steps to take and develop policy measures that are of most interest and value to the public. Skipping or glossing over this key first task could lead to difficulties with respect to survey design and model development in a non-market valuation study. The focus group results show that concern related to pollution and contamination is much higher than for any of the others. It is thus clear that outreach programs may be necessary to educate the public about the severity of some low-ranked stressors including climate change.