Visualizing the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Debate

Environmental organizations often use visual material to inform society about environmental concerns and their associated policy issues. This case study examines the process by which the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) use a Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) to draw attention to the environmental issues surrounding the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In addition, the study analyzes the resulting photographs captured during the event. The CBF and the iLCP strategically use the RAVE to create scientific and local knowledge that they use to present their understanding of the Chesapeake Bay. An analysis of the slideshows generated from the RAVE shows how the strategies the photographers employ help to depict power relations among the stakeholders in the watershed area. The strategies may encourage audiences to develop a regional collective identity of concerned citizens who will work together to help to protect and clean the watershed.     

水污染损失估算与治理水污染生态效益实例分析

企业排放污染物使其周围环境受到损失，根据环境所损失的价值与污染治理的费用，可以提出污染治理的生态效益，本文以沈阳某大型企业排放污水为例，主要运用了模糊数学法以及间接定价法和生态价值法对水资源价值进行核算，然后再进行费用——效益分析评价．结果表明对污水治理是具有明显生态效益的．     

我国城市公交全面电力化的战略思考

近两年来,雾霾天气不断侵扰我国,尽管有关部门和各级政府采取了一系列措施,仍难产生立竿见影的效果。能否积极有效地改善环境质量特别是改善城市空气质量是考验我国生态环境治理体系和治理能力的重大课题。本文提出了将城市公交全面电力化作为突破口的有益思考。     

Corporate governance and green innovation

We study the relationship between corporate governance and firms׳ environmental innovation. Exploiting changes in antitakeover legislation in the US, we show that worse governed firms generate fewer green patents relative to all their innovations. This negative effect is greater for firms with a smaller share of institutional ownership, with a smaller stock of green patents, and with more binding financial constraints. Investigating regulatory and industry variations, we also find more pronounced effects for firms operating in states with lower pollution abatement costs, and in sectors less dependent on energy inputs. Overall, our results suggest that ineffective corporate governance may constitute a major obstacle to environmental efficiency.     

Environmental knowledge memory: Contribution of the DIK model

A company does not only generate goods and services which meet the requirements in terms of deadlines, costs, quality and environment, but it also generates knowledge that must be capitalized. In order for a company to benefit from the skills and competences acquired during the realization of a project, some processes of memorization prove to be necessary. This article fits in this context and aims at suggesting a knowledge capitalization model in order to create a capital of environmental knowledge.To illustrate our suggestion, we have chosen an Environmental Performance Contract (EPC) signed by tens of Algerian companies which are reputed for their pollution of the environment. Capitalizing this knowledge allows these companies to anticipate on their environmental management and to guarantee the success of the EPC.     

Research on flood risk analysis and evaluation method based on variable fuzzy sets and information diffusion

Floods have become increasingly alarming worldwide. Flood risk management in terms of assessing disaster risk properly is a great challenge that society faces today. Natural disaster risk analysis is typically beset with issues such as imprecision, uncertainty, and partial truth. There are two basic forms of uncertainty related to natural disaster risk assessment, namely, randomness caused by inherent stochastic variability and fuzziness due to macroscopic grad and incomplete knowledge sample. However, the traditional probability statistical method ignores the fuzziness of risk assessment with incomplete data sets and requires a large sample size of data. The fuzzy set methodology is introduced in the area of disaster risk assessment to improve probability estimation. The purpose of the current study is to establish a fuzzy model to evaluate flood risk with incomplete data sets. The present paper puts forward a composite method based on variable fuzzy sets and information diffusion method for disaster risk assessment. The results indicate that the methodology is effective and practical; thus, it has the potential to forecast the flood risk in flood risk management. We hope that by conducting such risk analysis, the impact of flood disasters can be mitigated in the future.     

Energy performance certification and time on the market

This paper analyzes whether energy performance certificates (EPCs) serve as means to reduce the information asymmetry among market participants during the sale of homes. Using a sample of 876,000 single-family homes in the Netherlands, we examine the impact of EPC adoption on the speed of sale. Our results indicate that energy-rated homes sell faster than non-energy-rated homes, an effect that varies by 7–12 percent depending on model specifications and increases when positive (green) ratings are granted. The information conveyed by these certificates reduces the information asymmetry between buyers and sellers, which helps to reduce the uncertainty of quality.     

Industrial land expansion in rural China threatens environmental securities

• China’s rural industrial land (RIL) area quadrupled from 1990 to 2015. • RIL expansion cost 9% of China’s crop production and threatened human/ecosystem safety. • The underprivileged population bears a disproportionally large share of the risks. China’s rural industrialization has been a major driver for its rapid economic growth during the recent decades, but its myriad environmental risks are yet to be fully understood. Based on a comprehensive national land-use data set, our study shows that the area of China’s rural industrial land (RIL) quadrupled during 1990–2015, reaching 39000 km² in 2015, comparable to urbanization in magnitude but with a much greater degree of landscape fragmentation which implies stronger ecological and environmental impacts. About 91% of the protected areas in the central China were within 50 km from rural industrial land, thus exposed to industrial disturbances. Accelerated rural industrial land expansion, particularly in regions under high geo-hazard risks, led to dramatically increased environmental risks, threatening the safety and health of both rural industrial workers and residents. Moreover, negative effects from rural industrial land expansion could partially offset the crop production growth in recent decades. The underprivileged rural population in the west bears a disproportionally large share of the increased environmental risks. China urgently needs to design and implement sustainable policies to restrict and reshape its rural industrialization. This study aims to inspire policy makers and researchers to rethink the current model of industrial expansion and improve rural industrial land planning, which is important for achieving the sustainable development goals of China.     

基于ArcView的空间型苏州河环境信息系统原型研究

根据流域污染源调查的大量第一手资料,依据GIS开发设计中原型法的思想,以结构化系统分析为主要技术路线,以ArcView为主要软件平台,采用面向对象的编程语言Avenue所开发的苏州河环境综合整治管理信息系统,探讨了系统开发中的主要技术问题,包括确立系统开发的构想与目标、系统分析与设计、系统开发、系统应用等。笔者认为,流域环境管理信息系统的建立将为苏州河环境综合整治的规划与管理提供高效、科学的信息支持,从而提高规划与管理的水平。      

Environmental Impact Assessment Under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty

US government actions undertaken in Antarctica are subject to the requirements of both the Protocol and the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). There are differences in the scope and intent of the Protocol and NEPA; however, both require environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the planning process for proposed actions that have the potential for environmental impacts. In this paper we describe the two instruments and highlight key similarities and differences with particular attention to EIA. Through this comparison of the EIA requirements of NEPA and the Protocol, we show how the requirements of each can be used in concert to provide enhanced environmental protection for the antarctic environment. NEPA applies only to actions of the US government; therefore, because NEPA includes certain desirable attributes that have been refined and clarified through numerous court cases, and because the Protocol is just entering implementation internationally, some recommendations are made for strengthening the procedural requirements of the Protocol for activities undertaken by all Parties in Antarctica. The Protocol gives clear and strong guidance for protection of specific, valued antarctic environmental resources including intrinsic wilderness and aesthetic values, and the value of Antarctica as an area for scientific research. That guidance requires a higher standard of environmental protection for Antarctica than is required in other parts of the world. This paper shows that taken together NEPA and the Protocol call for closer examination of proposed actions and a more rigorous consideration of environmental impacts than either would alone. Three areas are identified where the EIA provisions of the Protocol could be strengthened to improve its effectiveness. First, the thresholds defined by the Protocol need to be clarified. Specifically, the meanings of the terms “minor” and “transitory” are not clear in the context of the Protocol. The use of “or” in the phrase “minor or transitory” further confuses the meaning. Second, cumulative impact assessment is called for by the Protocol but is not defined. A clear definition could reduce the chance that cumulative impacts would be given inadequate consideration. Finally, the public has limited opportunities to comment on or influence the preparation of initial or comprehensive environmental evaluations. Experience has shown that public input to environmental documents has a considerable influence on agency decision making and the quality of EIA that agencies perform.