Effects of environmental illiteracy and environmental awareness among middle school students on environmental behavior

This study proposes and employs a structural model to examine the effects of environmental literacy, environmental awareness, environmental attitudes, and environmental behavior among middle school students in Eski?ehir on their purchase of environmentally friendly products. In the proposed structural model, environmental illiteracy and environmental awareness were the exogenous latent variables, while pro-environmental attitude, pro-environmental behavior, and the purchase of environmentally friendly products were the endogenous latent variables. The latent variable of environmental illiteracy did not have a statistically significant effect on environmental attitudes and purchase of environmentally friendly products, whereas environmental awareness had a positive effect on pro-environmental attitudes and the purchase of environmentally friendly products. These findings indicate that students with environmental awareness also develop positive attitudes toward the environment, and the presence of a positive attitude toward the environment leads them to display pro-environmental behaviors and adopt a positive attitude toward environmentally friendly products.     

环境司法专门化视阈下环境法庭之检视与完善

随着环境问题日益凸显,我国积极推进环境司法专门化进程,从最高人民法院到基层人民法院初步形成了具有中国特色的环境法庭体系。这一体系由环境保护审判庭、环境保护合议庭、环境保护巡回法庭以及为数不多的基层环境保护派出法庭构成。目前的环境法庭主要采用"三加一"模式、"三合一"模式、"二合一"模式以及单一模式等四种审理方式,在缓解环境案件审判压力、公正审理环境案件、推进环境公益诉讼、提高环境司法水平等方面发挥了一定的作用。但同时亦应注意到,现有的环境法庭存在诸多问题:基层人民法院缺少法定权限,中级以上人民法院缺少设立环境法庭的程序性依据,致使法律依据不足;缺乏合理的机构建制,级别管辖和地域管辖制度不甚科学;受案范围有限和受害者起诉意愿不足,致使案源不足;特别程序缺失,监测评估机构缺乏中立性,审判人员专业性不强,致使支持保障机制不健全。为此,应从如下几个方面完善我国的环境法庭:首先,为环境法庭建设提供明确的法律依据,规范环境法庭的设立、职责定位及基本权限等事项,将环境法庭建设全面纳入法制轨道;其次,健全环境法庭体系,着重健全环境法庭审级设置,同时完善地域管辖;再次,改进审判模式,健全"多审合一"程序;再次,拓宽案件来源,合理确定环境公益诉讼的起诉主体,扩大受案范围,完善鼓励起诉机制;最后,完善支持保障机制,针对一审程序设立专业陪审员,针对二审程序设立专家委员会。     

Making decisions on environmental problems

A methodology is presented based on decision analysis for making decisions on environmental problems as required in the environmental impact assessment context. The major issues are identified, and the ability of the methodology to address these issues discussed. Explicit treatment of uncertainty and value tradeoffs, and the ability to consider different points of view are the important features of the methodology. Because of its sound theoretical foundation and its systematic and logical development, the methodology is well suited for documenting and justifying the decision process in public, regulatory, and judicial hearings. Case histories are summarized to illustrate the wide range of applicability of the methodology.     

Multispecies tests for environmental toxicology

Multispecies test systems are potentially more complete, realistic, sensitive, and economical than single-species tests. These properties arise from the increased number and range of possible toxic responses resulting from species interactions. Because the adequacy of single-species tests has not been sufficiently tested, the need for these properties of multispecies tests has not been appreciated.     

Urban environmental imprints after globalization

While cities continue to cast a large environmental imprint on their regionally proximate environments, they are also exerting a stronger influence on the natural systems of more remote locations because of their growing interconnectedness and interdependence with other cities??in a word, globalization. This paper reviews some of the characteristic features of globalization and its environmental impacts. It also discusses possible responses to these developments and focuses in particular on the critical role that urban infrastructure systems can play. The paper concludes with a discussion of how one might conduct analyses supporting the management of changes in urban infrastructure systems to lighten urban environmental imprints.     

From the environmental debt to the environmental loan: trends and future challenges for intergenerational discounting

It is well known that the incorporation of the intergenerational equity objective has turned the traditional Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach into an obsolete tool for the evaluation of certain types of projects, particularly those exhibiting many environmental externalities and those whose effects extend throughout a long period of time. Two main changes are taking place in CBA in order to adapt this methodology to the sustainable development paradigm: (a) the development of new tools for the economic valuation of environmental externalities that were traditionally left out of the analysis; and (b) an in-depth revision of the theoretical foundations underlying the traditional approaches to discounting, since the repercussions of decisions that are presently being debated will extend to a distant future (in some cases for centuries), whereas in the classical CBA, we deal with few decades at best. This paper aims at investigating the discounting operation in CBA, trying to summarize the main approaches available in the literature, with specific reference to the tools which allow future generations to be included in the analysis. In order to support the theoretical explanation, a real case study is analysed concerning the evaluation of a waste incinerator that has been constructed in the Province of Turin (Italy).     

Strategic environmental assessment in Hong Kong

This review examines the development and application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process in the planning framework of Hong Kong. Two strategic planning case studies are evaluated within the context of SEA, namely the Territorial Development Strategy Review (TDS Review) and the Third Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS-3). Rapid population growth and urbanisation in Hong Kong, coupled with a historic lack of planning controls and inherent conflicts between government departments have been major obstacles to achieving sustainable development in the territory. Despite these challenges, Hong Kong was one of the first Asian countries to apply SEA to major development plans, where the implementation of the 'SUSDEV 21' study on sustainable development has demonstrated the government's commitment towards integrated environmental protection. The application of SEA has provided decision-makers with key information on potential environment impacts arising from proposed developments, resulting in greater accountability and transparency in the decision-making process. SEA in Hong Kong has also prompted an increased level of environmental awareness and co-operation between government departments and agencies responsible for the management of Hong Kong's natural and urban environments. However, the application of SEA in Hong Kong continues to have notable limitations. SEA needs to evolve beyond its current sectoral application to examine ways in which development decisions can not only pre-empt and prevent environmental damage, but also positively enhance and restore existing natural resources. Current land use plans and transportation strategies still largely determine the pattern of development in the near future without adequate longer-term environmental cost-benefit analysis. Sustainable development includes environmental, social and economic considerations, and these inter-related elements need be suitably balanced. SEA is not a means to obstruct development in Hong Kong, but should be recognised for its inherent socio-economic and ecological value, and fully integrated with the decision-making process. Whilst it is admirable that Hong Kong has taken positive steps in this direction, it is now an opportune moment for the government to have the foresight and tenacity to create a sustainable development framework for Hong Kong into the future.     

Factor analysis of corporate environmental responsibility

Under the current situation of environmental pollution and resources shortage, the research of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) is of great importance to promote the sustainable development of society. The article adopts the perspective of the Stakeholder Theory and environmental management to make the empirical analysis of CER. Consequently designed questionnaire investigation is carried out among 30 Shanghai enterprises during 2007 and 2008. Through the correlation analysis, principal component analysis, factor ordering, and variables reappearance of key factors, seven key indexes are identified in the original 35 variables. This article aims to provide reference for enterprise environmental management and forwards the study of Corporate Social Responsibility.     

A model for positive environmental control

In the control of pollution, two apparently important facts are often negelected: (1) removal of a particular pollutant from a particular source and location may merely result in transforming it into a pollutant, or pollutants of different forms, in other locations; (2) the activity of pollution control itself requires inputs, the production of which may generate additional pollutants. In order to achieve positive environmental control, these two facts must be considered in selecting control processes and in determining optimum control standards. It is necessary that an integrated approach to pollution control be taken, making allowances for ecological inter-relations. As practiced today, pollution control is handled as separate problems of disposing gas, liquid and solid wastes. This paper proposes a model for evaluating the total environmental impact of a pollution control process or method. Theoretical criteria for determining an optimum control level with or without resource constraint are also derived.     

Radioactivity standards for environmental monitoring. II

The current environmental-monitoring-standards efforts of the low-level-radioactivity laboratory in the Radioactivity Group of the National Bureau of Standards are described. The calibration efforts include traceability programs, natural-matrix Standard Reference Materials, alpha-particle-emitting standards, and international radioactivity intercomparisons. New radiometrology efforts under development include a prototype radon-222 in water standard, γ-ray emission-rate measurement techniques in the 60-keV region, and atom-counting techniques for radioactivity measurements.