Examining the determinants of public environmental concern: Evidence from national public surveys

Early research showed that citizens’ environmental concern in the United States was linked to three individual-level factors: socio-demographic variables, political orientations, and personal beliefs or worldviews about human-nature relations. Given many changes in the American society over the last several decades, one important, yet unanswered question is whether these factors still drive public environmental concern in the United States today, and if so, to what extent. This study, drawing from extant theoretical and empirical studies, aims to reinvestigate the determinants of citizens’ environmental concern by employing three national public surveys conducted in 2004, 2007, and 2013. Our data analyses confirm and expand the findings of previous research on the significance and importance of political ideology, fundamental beliefs about human-nature relations, and certain socioeconomic factors such as gender and race in explaining citizens’ environmental concern. More specifically, political liberals, people with higher New Ecological Paradigm values, females, and Non-Whites tend to be more concerned about environmental problems than their counterparts are. Our data analyses also reveal some interesting findings when compared to many previous studies: first, our data indicate a positive relationship between age and environmental concern, suggesting that older people in the United States are more concerned about the environment than younger adults; second, unlike most past research showing a positive Education-Environmental Concern relationship, our study suggests that education level seems to have little effect in explaining citizens’ environmental concern measured in this study. Key implications for environmental policymaking and recommendations for future research are discussed in the conclusion.     

Assessing audit impact and thoroughness of VCS forest carbon offset projects

Voluntary markets transacted over $66 million USD of forest carbon offsets in 2016, according to Forest Trends, and over 99% of those offset projects were audited to a standard, primarily the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). We provide a table characterizing all 70 validated and verified forest carbon projects employing the VCS version 3.0 currently-in-use (December 2011–July 2017). We also examine two separate aspects of the audit process––impact and thoroughness––to assess the effectiveness of the costly audit process, which can consume up to one-third of offset revenue. Audit impact we measure in terms of reduction in the number of offsets from ex ante estimated to ex post approved. Audit thoroughness we measure both directly in terms of the number of auditor hours worked per project and also indirectly in terms of the total number of Corrective Action Requests (CARs)/Non-Conformity Reports (NCRs) auditors prescribe. In terms of impact, we find that Afforestation/Reforestation/Restoration (A/R/R) and Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects, though only constituting 5% of total verified offsets, demonstrate significant (p < = 0.05) reductions from ex ante estimated to ex post approved offsets, likely because auditors can easily scrutinize carbon stocks/emission factors for the commercial tree species involved in these project types. In terms of thoroughness, we find that higher ex ante estimates correlate with more total auditor hours worked and total CARs/NCRs prescribed for three of four project activity types, likely because auditors perceive larger ex ante projects as higher risk. We conclude with recommendations for the VCS to empower auditors to scrutinize carbon stocks/emissions factors from avoided deforestation projects, and also to continue to flag high ex ante projects as higher risk.     

三烧溴化锂集中制冷空调系统改建设计

武钢三烧区域改建了二台大连三洋蒸汽型双效溴化锂吸收式制冷机。叙述了该改建项目的主机选型、参数选定、设计特点等。     

Formation of Soluble Complexes of Metals with Humic Acid and Its Environmental Significance

In order to investigate the role of functional groups present in humic acid(s) (HA) during complex formation, water soluble complexes between HA isolated from soil and metals (Pb, Ca, As, Ni, Cr, Co, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Mg and Zn) were prepared and subjected to infrared (IR) spectroscopy. the IR data revealed the involvement of the - OH group of humic acid in complex formation with all metals except copper and arsenic, whereas the - COOH group of HA was found to be the preferred site of binding for all the metals. the significance of findings in relation to detoxification of environmental pollutants is discussed in this paper.     

电厂机组大修的安全管理及保障措施

针对电厂机组大(小)修中所遇到的安全管理方面的各种实际问题,提出了针对性强、可操作性强、实用有效的防范措施和管理方法.     

企业参与对CDM环境效力影响研究

扩大企业对CDM的参与是提高清洁发展机制减排效果的关键因素，但是随着参与的不断扩大，可能产生价格因素、小项目开发障碍、“普遍性”等阻碍因素，将影响企业对CDM参与性的继续扩大，对减排效果的提高造成负面影响。在对企业参与和CDM环境效力相互关系探讨的基础上，本文对如何继续扩大参与、加大减排提出了发展建议。     

Identification of a multixenobiotic resistance mechanism in Xenopus laevis embryos

In the '90's a membrane-associated transport protein, discovered in aquatic organisms, was considered to be expressed in response to environmental xenobiotics. Like the multidrug resistance protein found in mammalian tumor cell lines, this protein confers resistance in organisms in polluted areas by binding xenobiotics and transporting them out of the cells in an energy-dependent manner.This study investigates the expression and the activity of a P-glycoprotein (Pgp) involved in a multixenobiotic resistance mechanism (MXRW) during the early developmental stages and in tissues of adult Xenopus laevis.     

Elevated CO2 facilitates C and N accumulation in a rice paddy ecosystem

Elevated CO2 can stimulate wetland carbon(C) and nitrogen(N) exports through gaseous and dissolved pathways, however, the consequent influences on the C and N pools are still not fully known. Therefore, we set up a free-air CO2 enrichment experiment in a paddy field in Eastern China. After five year fumigation, we studied C and N in the plant–water–soil system. The results showed:(1) elevated CO2 stimulated rice aboveground biomass and N accumulations by 19.1% and 12.5%, respectively.(2) Elevated CO2 significantly increased paddy soil TOC and TN contents by 12.5% and 15.5%, respectively in the 0–15 cm layer, and22.7% and 26.0% in the 15–30 cm soil layer.(3) Averaged across the rice growing period,elevated CO2 greatly increased TOC and TN contents in the surface water by 7.6% and 11.4%,respectively.(4) The TOC/TN ratio and natural δ15N value in the surface soil showed a decreasing trend under elevated CO2. The above results indicate that elevated CO2 can benefit C and N accumulation in paddy fields. Given the similarity between the paddies and natural wetlands, our results also suggest a great potential for long-term C and N accumulation in natural wetlands under future climate patterns.     

Decomposition Analysis of Sectoral Energy Use in Beijing （1981-2005） Using the LMDI Method

This paper aims to identify the main driving force for changes of total primary energy consumption in Beijing during the period of 1981-2005. Sectoral energy use was investigated when regional economic structure changed significantly. The changes of total primary energy consumption in Beijing are decomposed into production effects, structural effects and intensity effects using the additive version of the logarithmic mean Divisia index （LMDI） method. Aggregate decomposition analysis showed that the major contributor of total effect was made by the production effect followed by the intensity effect, and the structural effect was relatively insignificant. The total and production effects were all positive. In contrast, the structural effect and intensity effect were all negative. Sectoral decomposition investigation indicated that the most effective way to slow down the growth rate of total primary energy consumption （TPEC） was to reduce the production of the energy-intensive industrial sectors and improving industrial energy intensity. The results show that in this period, Beijing＇s economy has undergone a transformation from an industrial to a service economy. However, the structures of sectoral energy use have not been changed yet, and energy demand should be increasing until the energy-intensive industrial production to be reduced and energy intensity of the region reaches a peak. As sequence energy consumption data of sub-sectors are not available, only the fundamental three sectors are considered： agriculture, industry and service. However, further decomposition into secondary and tertiary sectors is definitely needed for detailed investigations.