PLANNING FOR DROUGHT: THE ROLE OF STATE GOVERNMENT1

ABSTRACT: Although droughts are a frequent occurrence over much of the United States, response by state and federal government has been ineffective and poorly coordinated. Recently, several states have recognized the value of drought emergency planning and have developed plans to assist them in responding more effectively to prolonged periods of water shortage. These states have created an organizational structure to coordinate the assessment and response activities of state and federal agencies. Each state's drought response plan is unique since each state's water supply and management problems, and their consequent impacts, are unique. The drought response plans developed by Colorado, South Dakota and New York are reviewed here in detail. We recommend that other states affected by frequent and severe water shortages also develop drought emergency plans. These plans will enhance state government's ability to implement effective measures in a timely manner and, ultimately, may provide added incentive for the federal government to develop the national drought response plan called for by the General Accounting Office in 1979.     

循环经济建设中的政府职能与企业社会责任

《中华人民共和国循环经济促进法》的颁布和实施,标志着我国经济发展进入了一个新的阶段。对政府职能提出了。些新的要求漫企业也将承担相应的社会责任。承担社会责任的能力也将成为企业核心竞争力的一部分。     

环保税制的新思考

政府在环保领域扮演着重要的角色,税收体制则通过引导政府行为而间接影响着一个地方的环境建设。存量税与流量税是从税种性质方面对税收体系的划分。站在环保的角度看,两者对不同层级政府具有不同的导向作用：存量税更能促使政府着力于环境保护,而流量税则更能引导政府倾向于GDP增长。对不同税制模型下的博弈分析表面,流量税归上级政府征收,而存量税归下级政府征收的税收设计更有利于经济与环保的协调发展。     

中美环保NGO发展比较及对中国的启示

环保NGO是政府环境保护部门的有益补充,是推进公众参与、构建和谐社会的重要力量。中国环保NGO发展历史较短,从数量、从业人数、组织能力等方面与发展更为完善的美国相比都有较大差距。通过分析两国环保NGO的发展情况,着重对比两国在注册、筹资、社会影响等方面的情况,指出中国需要吸收国外先进经验,从政府、组织自身及社会三个层面不断完善中国环保NGO的发展。     

构建责任政府推进我国可持续政府采购

可持续政府采购是全球推进可持续发展的重要手段,是推进社会责任的重要举措之一,已成为当今政府采购制度的国际新取向,也是我国目前全面落实科学发展观、构建社会主义和谐社会、贯彻实施资源节约型、环境友好型和社会和谐型的可持续发展战略的重要措施之一,但同时也有可能成为国际政府采购市场中新的贸易壁垒。面对国际社会可持续政府采购发展态势,我国应该:第一,积极参与和全面把握全球可持续政府采购发展趋势,高度关注和积极推进发展中国家促进可持续政府采购的优先领域。第二,完善相关法律法规。第三,建立健全可持续政府采购技术标准体系,第四,公布政府采购行为,完善管理监督机制,构建责任政府和责任企业的价值体系。     

Citizens’ perceptions of trust relationships in the environmental management process in North Lebanon

This research investigates how trust plays a role in environmental management in North Lebanon, which has suffered repeated episodes of armed conflict in recent times. Previous studies have shown that environmental problems have increased and that the government has been unable to address these, even during periods of relative peace. We examined trust as a factor that contributes to, or hampers, environmental management. Our analysis drew on a survey in 2011 involving 499 citizens. The results demonstrated that, according to citizens, the lack of trust between citizens, and between citizens and the public sector, is a key factor obstructing effective environmental management. The results indicate the level of correlation between how trusting people are; how citizens participate; and how people perceive government legitimacy.     

PM2.5 concentration declining saves health expenditure in China

● Monthly hospitalization expenses are sensitive to increases in PM_2.5 exposure. ● The increased PM_2.5 causes patients with CHD and LRI to stay longer in the hospital. ● The impact of PM_2.5 on total expenses for stroke is greater in southern China. ● Males may be more sensitive to air pollution than females. Air pollution has been a severe issue in China. Exposure to PM_2.5 has adverse health effects and causes economic losses. This study investigated the economic impact of exposure to PM_2.5 pollution using monthly city-level data covering 88.5 million urban employees in 2016 and 2017. This study mainly focused on three expenditure indicators to measure the economic impact considering lower respiratory infections (LRIs), coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke. The results show that a 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 would cause total monthly expenses of LRIs, CHD, and stroke to increase by 0.226%, 0.237%, and 0.374%, respectively. We also found that LRI, CHD, and stroke hospital admissions increased significantly by 10%, 8.42%, and 5.64%, respectively. Furthermore, the total hospital stays of LRIs, CHDs, and strokes increased by 2.49%, 2. 51%, and 1.64%, respectively. Our findings also suggest heterogeneous impacts of PM_2.5 exposures by sex and across regions, but no statistical evidence shows significant differences between the older and younger adult subgroups. Our results provide several policy implications for reducing unequal public health expenditures in overpolluted countries.     

政府跨区域突发事件应急管理能力评估研究

给出了跨区域突发事件的基本内涵。通过界定跨区域突发事件应急管理能力内涵,运用多因素评估理论,建立了一套用于评估跨区域应急管理能力的指标体系,并采用定性与定量相结合的改进的层次分析法计算各指标权重,提出了多级模糊综合评价法对跨区域应急管理能力进行综合评估。通过实例操作,表明该评估法可行性较好,效果较佳,能够为各级政府跨区域应急管理活动提供决策依据。     

Maternal energy expenditure does not change with flight costs or food availability in the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca): costs and benefits for nestlings

We manipulated parental work load without changing brood size in a population of pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca by removing two primaries (7 and 9) from each wing of females, thus reducing wing area and increasing flight costs. At other nests, we offered supplementary food in the form of live mealworms (10–20 g daily from hatching) to reduce brood demand and thus parental foraging costs. Other nests were left as controls. The daily energy expenditure of females feeding 12-day-old nestlings was measured with doubly labelled water D₂ ¹⁸O. Females in both treatments expended the same amount of energy, fed at the same rate and had similar body masses to birds in the control group. No effect of treatment on male mass and feeding effort was detected. More nestlings, however, died in nests of handicapped females. Nestlings of handicapped females had significantly lower body mass and haematocrit values than nestlings in food-supplemented nests, with nestlings in control nests occupying an intermediate position. The effects of both treatments on nestling mass, haematocrit values and mortality rates were only noticeable in nests infested with mites. Maternal energy expenditure is apparently constrained and offspring pay the costs imposed by reduced provisioning rate or increased demand caused by ectoparasites, while receiving benefits when food supply improves. The presumption that avian reproductive costs derive from changes in a flexible energy output may not be met in many cases. Received: 24 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 15 March 1999 / Accepted: 26 April 1999     

污染控制的信息手段及其在中国的应用

在总结对若干发达国家和发展中国家排污者行为所作的实证研究的基础上,论述了信息可以通过市场和社区对排污者行为起到独立的刺激作用;并在介绍对信息手段所做的研究和案例后,对该手段在中国污染控制中的应用进行了初步探讨.