Management challenges of urban biosolids: narratives around facility siting in rural Ontario

The emerging challenge of managing increasing volumes of urban sewage has resulted in municipalities pursuing sustainable ways to manage urban biosolids and their by-products. Using content analysis of public debates, and situating the debate within science, policy and facility siting literature, this study examines claims and counterclaims relating to the siting of a biosolid processing facility in rural Ontario. The equivocal evidence on the health and environmental effects of biosolids resulted in a heated “expert versus lay” debate. The study critically evaluates the importance of trust and the shifting role of scientific evidence in politicised settings, while making relevant policy recommendations.     

Explaining implementation deficits through multi-level governance in the EU's new member states: EU limits for arsenic in drinking water in Hungary

This paper uses a multi-level governance lens to explore a case of non-compliance with EU legislation in Hungary and expands historical institutionalist explanations of EU laggards. Despite adopting the European Union's (EU's) limit of 10 ppb arsenic in drinking water, parts of Hungary do not comply. To explain this deficit, the paper examines the match between discourse incorporated into policy and held by policy actors in Hungary. Multiple points of mismatch are found that influence implementation because of governance structures, adding specificity to explanations of ‘goodness of fit’ between EU and national policy.     

山西排污权交易实践、问题与对策研究

山西是中国环境污染最为严重的省区之一,经济发展与环境保护的矛盾非常突出.开展排污权有偿使用和交易,是山西省创新环保机制体制、服务经济社会发展的迫切需要.2010年,山西省获批成为国家排污权交易试点省份之一.概括总结了山西省排污权交易的实践及存在问题,提出今后要在合理核定和分配初始排污权、积极创新排污权质押与租赁机制、加强排污量监测核定等方面积极开展工作体制机制创新,把试点工作推向深入的政策建议.     

借鉴国际经验助推我国汞污染场地修复

汞污染问题已经成为国内外关注的环境热点问题。我国是汞的生产、使用和排放大国,涉汞行业众多,汞污染场地问题突出。发达国家在汞污染场地治理方面有着丰富的经验。本文通过借鉴美国和英国的相关经验,从完善法规标准、健全管理制度、增强科技支撑和完善投融资政策四个方面为我国未来开展汞污染场地修复工作提出政策建议。     

煤炭资源开发生态保护补偿政策回顾与评析研究

围绕煤炭资源开发中的生态环境问题,中国相继出台了一些资源生态环境补偿政策,建立起包括资源税费制度、环境影响评价制度、环境恢复治理保证金制度、三同时制度、排污收费制度在内的一些生态环境补偿法律制度,但现有的煤炭资源开发生态补偿制度存在法律体系和政策设计不完备,缺乏利益相关者的充分参与,部门化利益倾向,政策手段较为单一,生态补偿资金没有来源保障,缺乏统一的补偿标准等问题。为此,要不断健全生态补偿法律法规体系,将矿区开发的生态环境补偿纳入到法制化和市场化轨道,完善煤炭资源税费制度,建立健全公众参与机制,实现矿区的可持续发展。     

Stakeholder Perceptions of Scientists: Lake Tahoe Environmental Policy from 1984 to 2001

What factors explain stakeholders’ perceptions of scientists in environmental politics? Questionnaire data are used to examine stakeholders’ views of scientific experts in the context of Lake Tahoe environmental policy from 1984 to 2001. Stakeholders’ perceptions of scientists have remained the same over time – despite a shift from adversarial to collaborative policymaking and after decades of mounting scientific evidence showing water quality declines. On average, stakeholders perceive scientists with limited influence on Lake Tahoe environmental policy and view them with mixed levels of skepticism. Stakeholders’ evaluation of scientists is best explained by their beliefs about development versus the environment. Stakeholders in favor of more land development express distrust of scientists and negatively evaluate university researchers and consultants. Stakeholders in favor of environmental protection are more likely to trust scientists and positively evaluate university researchers and consultants.     

三峡库区生态经济复合产业带的构建研究

由于自然尤其是人为因素的影响 ,三峡库区生态环境遭受严重破坏 ,农民增收缺少支撑 ,加上三峡工程的修建 ,淹没了大批肥田沃土 ,更加激化了人地矛盾 ,导致该地区生态环境恶化、生态承载容量减少、经济贫困化恶性循环 ,最终致使生态环境保护和经济发展严重对立。要从根本上解决库区生态环境与经济的协调发展问题 ,关键在于发展生态经济。从三峡库区以山地、丘陵为主的地形特征及其分布特点和气候、土壤条件以及资源特色出发 ,根据生态学、生态经济学的基本原理要求 ,提出了建立由水域生态经济产业带、沿江经济支撑产业带、腹地生态农业带、高山垂直绿色产业带构成的生态经济复合产业带的构想 ,其中每个产业带又由若干关联性强的产业有机复合而成。还提出了发展三峡库区生态经济的具体政策建议和措施。     

The impact of European Regional Development Fund on separate waste collection: Evidence from Italian regions

We analyze the impact of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 on separate collection rate of Italian regions. We exploit longitudinal data for 20 NUTS-2 Italian regions and eighteen years (from 1996 to 2013). We identify regions which are exposed to “Convergence” objective as the treatment group and regions which are not exposed to this objective as the control group and use a Difference in differences estimation. The estimates suggest that the Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 has not influenced the convergence process among the Italian regions. The main policy implications are discussed.     

Après Paris: Breakthrough innovation as the primary moral obligation of rich countries

While the notion of differentiated responsibility has always included an element of technological transfer, the growing disparity between the deployment of non-scalable renewable energy sources in the rich countries and the massive expansion of fossil infrastructure elsewhere has brought new urgency to issues of climate leadership. Breakthrough innovation into technologies capable of providing an abundance of clean energy now appears necessary not only to broaden energy access but also to ensure that fossil fuels are quickly displaced globally (including in those countries that have failed to take climate change seriously). Moreover, it is reasonable to expect that a climatechanged world in itself will demand abundant energy to facilitate everything from carbon dioxide removal to mass desalination for agriculture and other adaptation measures. Considering the moral and political impossibility of treating sustained poverty as the “solution” to the climate crisis, this paper suggests that rich countries have a moral obligation to invest in breakthrough innovation into technologies that are compatible with a future global economic convergence around OECD-levels.     

Projected impacts to the production of outdoor recreation opportunities across US state park systems due to the adoption of a domestic climate change mitigation policy

Numerous empirical and simulation-based studies have documented or estimated variable impacts to the economic growth of nation states due to the adoption of domestic climate change mitigation policies. However, few studies have been able to empirically link projected changes in economic growth to the provision of public goods and services. In this research, we couple projected changes in economic growth to US states brought about by the adoption of a domestic climate change mitigation policy with a longitudinal panel dataset detailing the production of outdoor recreation opportunities on lands managed in the public interest. Joining empirical data and simulation-based estimates allow us to better understand how the adoption of a domestic climate change mitigation policy would affect the provision of public goods in the future. We first employ a technical efficiency model and metrics to provide decision makers with evidence of specific areas where operational efficiencies within the nation's state park systems can be improved. We then augment the empirical analysis with simulation-based changes in gross state product (GSP) to estimate changes to the states’ ability to provide outdoor recreation opportunities from 2014 to 2020; the results reveal substantial variability across states. Finally, we explore two potential solutions (increasing GSP or increasing technical efficiency) for addressing the negative impacts on the states’ park systems operating budgets brought about by the adoption of a domestic climate change mitigation policy; the analyses suggest increasing technical efficiency would be the most viable solution if/when the US adopts a greenhouse gas reduction policy.