CITIZEN INFLUENCE IN WATER POLICY DECISIONS: CONTEXT, CONSTRAINTS, AND ALTERNATIVES

ABSTRACT: The desirable proportion of citizen input into policy making and the proper mechanism for that input engender substantial conflict in the water resources arena. Nevertheless, discussions of citizen participation in water policy formation generally occur within narrow perspectives both with regard to the issues involved and the alternative mechanisms by which that participation can be realized. This paper examines the historical and current contexts of the controversies and presents a discussion of the alternative processes for citizen influence - called linkage. The linkage processes discussed include direct participation, citizen advisory committees, the pressure group model, the electoral model and the bureaucratic model. Each linkage process is discussed in terms of who is considered the public, how the public influence works, the limitations of the process, and what available water policy-related data suggest regarding the adequacy of the process.     

Why does the United States lack a global warming policy? The corporate inner circle versus public interest sector elites

Why has the United States not adopted global warming policies? Because the inner circle of the corporate elite has opposed these policies despite some corporate support for cap-and-trade and other policies. Pro- and anti-positions taken by think tanks that have led the policy debate in the post-Kyoto period are analyzed in order to demonstrate this. The corporate and upper class social ties of the directors of these pro- and anti-think tanks are examined, revealing a corporate elite split between the inner circle opposing these policies, and a ‘public interest sector’ of corporate law and media corporations along with top executives from higher education and other nonprofits that is supportive of policies addressing global warming. To enable adoption of major global warming policies, the corporate inner circle will need to become supportive and forge a class-wide corporate consensus on the need to address global warming.     

Ethological farm programs and the “market” for animal welfare

Ethological farm programs as they exist in Switzerland are compared with environmental farm programs in respect of demand and supply. Because animal welfare is not a public good but rather a relation that causes psychological externalities, the demand for animal welfare has a different standing in economic theory than the demand for a clean environment. The supply of animal welfare by farmers, however, largely follows the patterns known from the delivery of environmental goods. Farm size, age and education, and also family size and capital intensity are influencing variables. The paper concludes that the design of ethological farm programs should be based on broad public discussions as described by deliberation theorists rather than willingness-to-pay studies.     

Quantitative assessment in safety reports of the consequences from the detonation of solid explosives

Safety reports are mandatory documents in member states of European Union whenever any threshold limits of amounts of either stored or processed hazardous substances are exceeded. After a short introduction to EU Seveso Directives on major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances and to the transposition and implementation by member states, with a brief comment on last 2012/18/EU Directive (also known as Seveso III directive), the paper focuses on drafting of safety reports for industrial activities involving solid explosives. Specifically, the quantitative assessment of consequences from detonation is tackled respect to the side-on overpressure and the debris production. Both direct and inverse problems are illustrated to determine respectively the overpressure value at a given distance, and the explosive amount that allows respecting the regulations. Their solution is based on either analytic or numerical techniques and being based on recent scientific publications on the matter either evaluates or zeroes nonlinear algebraic equations. The availability of these equations avoids grounding the consequences assessment on diagrams and nomograms that otherwise would lead to interpretation and usage errors besides avoiding the automatic solution of the inverse problem. The paper focuses also on details such as embankment, crater, munitions, rocket propellant, building structure, and wall material that, at different levels, play a role in the assessment of detonation consequences. A discussion on debris formation, the available literature, and the evaluation of the impact probability of fragments on both fixed and moving targets closes the paper.     

基于元胞自动机的极端降雨下地铁疏散模拟*

为研究地铁系统在极端降雨灾害下的人员疏散过程,分析人员疏散过程影响因素和改善方法,将数值模拟方法与模糊逻辑理论相结合,在传统元胞自动机疏散模型中引入人员疏散行为选择机制,模拟地铁隧道遭受洪水侵入以及采取改善措施后的疏散情况。研究结果表明:引入人员疏散行为选择机制可以较真实地模拟极端降雨下受限空间中的人员疏散过程;采取改善方案后,人员被迫改变疏散行为的比例下降53.95%,人群疏散安全度由0.201提升至0.633;当采取与防洪能力不适应的疏散平台高度时,疏散安全度较采取合理设施时平均下降30%且差异较大;硬件设施满足安全度达到0.6为宜,按照最终安全度为1设计疏散方案,可使硬件设施设计与疏散方案制定更加合理配套。研究结果可为地铁系统防洪设计与管理提供参考。     

基于模糊聚类关联分析法的煤与瓦斯突出程度分析

运用模糊聚类分析方法对煤与瓦斯突出的样本集合进行分类,建立了不同突出程度的模糊模式.用关联分析确定待分析样本与模式的关联程度,以此预测预报样本的煤与瓦斯突出危险程度.实例分析表明,与模糊聚类分类后、将模式与待预报样本组成新样本集合进行聚类分析并以此分类结果进行预报的方法相比,这种预报方法不仅可靠程度高,而且能定量描述待报样本与模式的亲和程度.     

公路网规划环境影响评价中的困难和不确定性分析

首先分析了公路网规划环境影响评价中的困难,即评价方法的不成熟和获取资料的困难;然后重点分析了评价中的公路网规划方案的不确定、环境信息的不确定、空间信息的不确定和环境影响程度的不确定;最后提出了 4种解决困难和降低不确定的方法,即制定公路网规划环境影响评价技术导则,使用基于情景分析的预测方法,广泛开展公众参与以及通过多方协作的方式开展环境影响评价工作.     

电子商务安全的探讨

介绍电子商务的发展规模以及可能会遇到的安全问题,分析电子商务安全的基本技术加密算法。根据对称加密算法和非对称加密算法的安全特点进行组合,从而提出电子商务交易的一般安全控制结构图,针对各个环节的优缺点,提出有效解决安全问题的方案,同时重点突出了各种相关新技术的特点;电子商务交易的发展,互联网的普及,网络上交易及其信息的安全性已经对人们的经济活动及日常生活产生了重要的影响,为此,提出的电子商务安全方案最大限度地降低了人们的风险;进一步探讨和展望电子商务的前景:随着电子商务的发展,电子交易的手段也更加多样化,安全问题也会变得重要和突出;同时,电子商务又是一个复杂的系统工程,它的安全还要依赖许多社会问题的解决。     

基于模拟植物生长算法的快线公共车辆优化调度研究

公共车辆的运营优化调度能够很好的减少城市交通拥堵,缓解交通压力,保证多方面的利益。对乘客高峰期快线公共车辆的调度进行了研究。首先运用了三元组α/β/γ方法对问题进行了描述,将乘客高峰期快线车辆的调度描述为一类以最小化制造期和平均等待时间为目标,具有先入先出原则和机器适用限制的流水车间动态调度问题。并在此基础上建立了相应的数学模型;接着,运用模拟植物生长算法进行了算法设计;最后,用实际数据进行了数值仿真,结果证明该研究具有较高的理论及现实价值。