Challenges to liberalism: The case of Australian energy policy

This paper considers liberal and nationalist economic policy approaches to the ownership and development of Australian energy resources (oil, gas, coal and uranium). In the two decades prior to 1983, Australia pursued economic policies in relation to its energy resources which could broadly be described as ‘nationalist’. Governments of the day intervened in development decisions in an effort to enhance the ‘national interest’. From 1983, along with the deregulation of the Australian economy as a whole, policy relating to energy resources was liberalised. Development of energy reserves henceforth occurred according to the dictates of the market. This paper argues that recent Australian energy policy initiatives reflect an increase in nationalist influences and a retreat from the liberalisation agenda that dominated energy policy making in the 1980s and 1990s. Three examples are discussed where policy has been influenced by a nationalist framework: (1) the domestic gas reservation policy in Western Australia; (2) Australian government efforts to promote a ‘value adding’ nuclear processing industry and (3) Australian Labor Party policy giving preferential financial incentives for gas to liquids projects. The re-emergence of nationalism in Australia is occurring either because policy makers now favour it as a path to energy security or in some cases because they believe that appeals to nationalism will generate political support.     

Balancing Conservation and Economic Sustainability: The Future of the Amazon Timber Industry

Logging has been a much maligned feature of frontier development in the Amazon. Most discussions ignore the fact that logging can be part of a renewable, environmentally benign, and broadly equitable economic activity in these remote places. We estimate there to be some 4.5 ± 1.35 billion m³ of commercial timber volume in the Brazilian Amazon today, of which 1.2 billion m³ is currently profitable to harvest, with a total potential stumpage value of $15.4 billion. A successful forest sector in the Brazilian Amazon will integrate timber harvesting on private lands and on unprotected and unsettled government lands with timber concessions on public lands. If a legal, productive, timber industry can be established outside of protected areas, it will deliver environmental benefits in synergy with those provided by the region’s network of protected areas, the latter of which we estimate to have an opportunity cost from lost timber revenues of $2.3 billion over 30 years. Indeed, on all land accessible to harvesting, the timber industry could produce an average of more than 16 million m³ per year over a 30-year harvest cycle—entirely outside of current protected areas—providing $4.8 billion in returns to landowners and generating $1.8 billion in sawnwood sales tax revenue. This level of harvest could be profitably complemented with an additional 10% from logging concessions on National Forests. This advance, however, should be realized only through widespread adoption of reduced impact logging techniques.     

Design considerations for environmental sustainability in high density development: a case study of Hong Kong

This study has indicated that there is close relationship between development density and environmental quality; therefore, it is necessary to decide the form of development carefully beforehand. The form of development is shaped either by new development or urban renewal which is a major tactic nowadays adopted by the Hong Kong Government to improve the living condition of the citizens and the quality of the built environment. This study is limited to urban renewal and aims to find out the major urban design considerations for sustaining the environment. Through a questionnaire survey carried out in Hong Kong, the opinions of architects, planners, property development managers, and local citizens were sought and evaluated, and critical design factors for enhancing environmental sustainability of urban renewal projects are highlighted. The results derived from factor analysis indicated that certain design considerations should be incorporated for sustaining the urban environment. “Land Use Planning”, “Quality of Life”, “Conservation & Preservation”, “Integrated Design”, “Provision of Welfare Facilities”, and “Conservation of Existing Properties” were believed to be the significant underlying factors for achieving environmental sustainability of local urban renewal projects. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

A methodology for assessing urban sustainability: Aalborg commitments baseline review for Riga, Latvia

Both the Aalborg Commitments and the guidance on integrated urban environmental management and sustainable urban transport plans proposed by the EU Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment foresee a baseline review as the first step in developing integrated urban management plans and systems. A baseline review of urban sustainability undertaken in Riga reveals significant discrepencies between the sustainability criteria of the Aalborg Commitments and the: responsibilities and competencies of the municipal government and administration as defined by statutes; policy goals and measures defined in municipal planning documents; policy goals and measures defined in the Riga Development Plan. To better orient the mandate of the municipality towards sustainable development, municipal statutes should be supplemented to more fully reflect the issues defined by the Aalborg Commitments and should include sustainability as a goal. In order to strengthen the implementation of sustainable development specific policy goals, measures and targets should be formulated for all the Aalborg Commitments issues when revising existing municipal planning documents or developing a municipal sustainable development management plan. An analysis of the European Common Indicators and the State of the Environment in Riga 2001 indicators indicates that they can only partially fulfill a monitoring function for the implementation of the Aalborg Commitments. This highlights a need to better coordinate sustainable development initiatives at the European level. The methodology used for the baseline review in Riga is useful for assessing the status of urban sustainability when preparing integrated urban management plans or systems, but requires testing elsewhere. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Temporal and spatial patterns of micropollutants in urban receiving waters

Based on a monitoring program over the course of a year, we characterize the temporal and spatial distribution of selected micropollutants in an urban watershed within the city of Leipzig, Germany. Micropollutants revealed a ubiquitous presence in untreated and treated wastewater, surface water and groundwater. The loads of 4-nonylphenol in the effluents of the municipal wastewater treatment plant followed a seasonal trend, whereas the loads of all other micropollutants were highly variable and not correlated to seasons. In the surface water, load seasonality of caffeine, galaxolide and tonalide resulted from a rapid removal with increased water temperature. The loads of 4-nonylphenol and of caffeine in the colder months increased when rainfall occurred. In the groundwater, complex spatial and temporal patterns were apparent and were related to varying input, retardation and removal processes. As a consequence, an assessment of micropollutants in urban waters should consider different micropollutants' temporal and spatial variability.     

Residential runoff as a source of pyrethroid pesticides to urban creeks

Pyrethroid pesticides occur in urban creek sediments at concentrations acutely toxic to sensitive aquatic life. To better understand the source of these residues, runoff from residential neighborhoods around Sacramento, California was monitored over the course of a year. Pyrethroids were present in every sample. Bifenthrin, found at up to 73 ng/L in the water and 1211 ng/g on suspended sediment, was the pyrethroid of greatest toxicological concern, with cypermethrin and cyfluthrin of secondary concern. The bifenthrin could have originated either from use by consumers or professional pest controllers, though the seasonal pattern of discharge from the drain was more consistent with professional use as the dominant source. Stormwater runoff was more important than dry season irrigation runoff in transporting pyrethroids to urban creeks. A single intense storm was capable of discharging as much bifenthrin to an urban creek in 3 h as that discharged over 6 months of irrigation runoff.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) deposition to and exchange at the air-water interface of Luhu, an urban lake in Guangzhou, China

Urban lakes are vulnerable to the accumulation of semivolatile organic compounds, such as PAHs from wet and dry atmospheric deposition. Little was reported on the seasonal patterns of atmospheric deposition of PAHs under Asian monsoon climate. Bulk (dry + wet) particle deposition, air-water diffusion exchange, and vapour wet deposition of PAHs in a small urban lake in Guangzhou were estimated based on a year-round monitoring. The total PAH particle deposition fluxes observed were 0.44-3.46 μg m⁻² day⁻¹. The mean air-water diffusive exchange flux was 20.7 μg m⁻² day⁻¹. The vapour deposition fluxes of PAHs ranged 0.15-8.26 μg m⁻² day⁻¹. Remarkable seasonal variations of particulate PAH deposition, air-water exchange fluxes and vapour wet deposition were influenced by seasonal changes in meteorological parameters. The deposition fluxes were predominantly controlled by the precipitation intensity in wet season whereas by atmospheric concentration in dry season.     

Outlier identification and visualization for Pb concentrations in urban soils and its implications for identification of potential contaminated land

Outliers in urban soil geochemical databases may imply potential contaminated land. Different methodologies which can be easily implemented for the identification of global and spatial outliers were applied for Pb concentrations in urban soils of Galway City in Ireland. Due to its strongly skewed probability feature, a Box–Cox transformation was performed prior to further analyses. The graphic methods of histogram and box-and-whisker plot were effective in identification of global outliers at the original scale of the dataset. Spatial outliers could be identified by a local indicator of spatial association of local Moran's I, cross-validation of kriging, and a geographically weighted regression. The spatial locations of outliers were visualised using a geographical information system. Different methods showed generally consistent results, but differences existed. It is suggested that outliers identified by statistical methods should be confirmed and justified using scientific knowledge before they are properly dealt with.     

长江经济带PM_(2.5)时空特征及影响因素研究

大气细颗粒物(PM_(2.5))因其对空气环境质量乃至人类健康的巨大危害而逐渐引起学者们的关注。本文以我国综合实力最强、战略支撑作用最为突出的区域之一——长江经济带为研究对象,基于城市级空气质量监测数据,运用地理学时空分析与GIS可视化方法探索并呈现了2015年长江经济带PM_(2.5)的时空分布特征及其演变规律;在此基础上,结合空间回归模型考察了PM_(2.5)浓度与区域城市发展之间的内在关系。结果表明,就空间特征而言,长江中下游地区PM_(2.5)污染较长江上游地区更为严重,长江北岸地区比长江南岸地区更为严重;PM_(2.5)高浓度集聚地带主要位于鄂皖苏大部分地区,与空气质量较佳的云南及其周边地区呈"对角"分布状态。长江经济带内城市间PM_(2.5)浓度存在着显著的正向空间自相关,且自相关性随距离增大而不断减弱,其门槛尺度约为900 km;在这一范围内,PM_(2.5)空间集聚效应较为明显。就时间特征而言,冬季PM_(2.5)浓度相对较高,春秋两季次之,夏季空气质量最好;各地区浓度分布在年初相对离散,后有所趋同。此外,PM_(2.5)与其他类型的大气污染物(如SO2、NO2、O3)浓度两两之间均存在着显著的正相关性,暗示大气污染物从原发污染演变为二次污染,形成恶性循环。空间回归分析结果表明,PM_(2.5)污染随经济发展水平的提高呈现先上升后下降的趋势,在一定程度上支持了"环境库兹涅兹曲线"假说;且人口密度、公共交通运输强度均在不同程度上导致长江经济带PM_(2.5)浓度的升高。最后,从区域性联防联控、不同类型大气污染物协同治理、促进经济发展方式转型等方面为长江经济带的大气环境治理提出切实可行的政策建议。     

长江经济带高技术产业投入产出效率分析

提高长江经济带高技术产业的投入产出效率,有利于协调该区域经济发展与生态环境保护之间的关系。运用三阶段DEA方法,从企业类型、环境因素等视角对长江经济带高技术产业投入产出效率进行实证分析。结果发现,政府RD支出的增长对企业技术效率的提高均有正向作用,但作用效应尚未达到显著状态;研发机构数量的增加能够显著提高内资及港澳台企业的技术效率,而外资企业与中国技术市场的互动效应尚不显著;行业内企业数量增加所引致的市场竞争有利于外资企业提高技术效率,却显著降低了内资及港澳台企业的技术效率;不同类型企业之间和地区之间的技术效率存在较大差距,外资企业的技术效率和纯技术效率最高,内资企业的规模效率最高。文章最后提出政策建议。