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.     

Adaptive management intentions with a reality of evaluation: Getting science back into policy

In Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin water reform has been contentious as government attempts to reconcile historical over allocation of water to irrigation with the use of water for environmental outcomes. However, in many aspects, scientific knowledge of the environment is either imperfect, incomplete or environmental responses are unpredictable, with this uncertainty preventing definitive policy and closure of political arguments. In response to uncertainty and knowledge gaps, adaptive management has been written into the legislation, along with provisions for periodic evaluation.This research ascertains how adaptive management is understood by policy makers, with this indicative of future implementation of adaptive management. The way in which adaptive management is constructed by policy makers is determined through legislation, public speeches, government reports and semi-structured interviews. The findings demonstrate that adaptive management has been subsumed by evaluation. The loss of adaptive management as a distinct concept is seen as a loss of science and discovery from the policy process, with the dominance of evaluation discussed as limiting innovation and reinforcing a ‘muddling through’ of policy.     

Persuasiveness,importance and novelty of arguments about Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a promising technology for reducing carbon emissions, but the public is often reluctant to support it. To understand why public support is lacking, it is crucial to establish what citizens think about the arguments that are used by proponents and opponents of CCS. We determined the persuasiveness, importance and novelty of 32 arguments for and against CCS using a discrete choice experiment in which respondents made consecutive choices between pairs of pro or con arguments. We used latent class models to identify population segments with different preferences. The results show that citizens find arguments about climate protection, which is the primary goal of CCS, less persuasive than other arguments, such as normative arguments (for example ‘a waste product such as CO₂ should be disposed of properly’) or arguments about benefits of CCS for energy production and economic growth. This discrepancy complicates communication that aims to convince citizens of the benefits of CCS for climate protection.     

Managing for biodiversity from the electric utilities' perspective

The quality and sustainability of the natural environment is a matter of inestimable value and is critical to public health and welfare. All species have a purpose, and they exist for the betterment of other species. It is, therefore, incumbent on all humans to do their part in the preservation of this vast, diverse ecosystem called Earth. All humans are the beneficiaries, the ultimate customers, of a sound environment—water that is safe to drink, air that can be breathed, and soil that will sustain crops. There must be a commitment to leaving a clean and healthy planet for generations to follow, an earth which is enhanced, not diminished, by humans' presence.     

关于中国可持续农业问题的研究

农业可持续发展是国家可持续发展的根本保证和优先领域,实现农业可持续发展必须建立可持续农业。本文认为,高科技生态农业是中国可持续农业的唯一战略选择和最终出路。为实现这一战略选择,在继续贯彻实施计划生育和环境保护两个基本国策的同时,必须调整现有的农业结构和资源管理模式,制定可持续利用的资源管理政策,发展以生态农业为基础、以高新农业技术为手段的高科技生态农业。     

Importance of public relations in recycling strategies: principles and case studies

The separate collection of waste, and especially of recyclables with specific collection systems, would not be possible without the involvement of the users. Apart from the physical installations such as collection containers, collection points, etc., the motivation of the users is an essential component. Motivation can be reinforced through public relations work. In addition to the underlying technical considerations, this paper describes the difference between communication in general and public relations and specifically examines public involvement in recycling. Through the use of examples, we look at the targeted users and typical media employed. Furthermore, we analyzes the development of public involvement. The examples show that public relations for recycling strategies relies to a great extent on attitudes, habits, and access to the target group. Thus, standardized procedures cannot be developed. For these reasons, public relation activities must be planned carefully and professionally and include an analysis of the target group, choice of media, and verification of success.     

Sailing the Shoals of Adaptive Management: The Case of Salmon in the Pacific Northwest

/ Emerging ecosystem science builds on adaptive management as an approach to dealing with salmon problems in the Pacific Northwest. Adaptive management brings scientific and democratic processes together. However, managers, the public, resource users, and scientists differ in their views on the causes of salmon decline. Managers emphasize habitat loss and over-harvest as the primary causes; commercial fishers point to habitat loss, management practices, and predators; and the public gives greatest weight to water pollution and ocean drift nets. Scientific studies of salmon often produce results that seem contradictory or unclear to the public. For adaptive management to be effective, scientists' and the public need to better understand one another's perspectives.KEY WORDS: Perception; Fishery management; Salmon; Pacific Northwest; Science     

Environmental impact assessment in the association of southeast Asian Nations

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has agreed that environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources are essential for sound economic development. The Environmental Impact Assessment is viewed as an important management tool and an ASEAN Experts Group on the Environment has been working for several years on a model especially adapted to the region and also on case studies of the implementation of EIA. Progress so far has been frustratingly slow due to misunderstanding, a lack of ecological data, inadequate trained manpower and institutional shortcomings for compliance. The author advocates collaboration on an ASEAN model for performing EIA as a means of accelerating acceptance and implementation. The concept of Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management is proposed as a prototype.     

建筑施工安全生产的科技创新及途径

安全生产作为人类生存与发展永恒的主题 ,人类文明与科技发展对安全生产的要求 ,在不同阶段有着不同的表现形式。笔者从世界经济竞争格局 ,国内建筑安全生产万人死亡率在不同历史阶段的变化等方面 ,论证了科技进步、科技创新在建筑安全生产中的重要作用 ,在总结中外建筑企业依靠科技创新、提高安全生产水平成功经验的基础上 ,系统地提出了国内建筑企业依靠科技进步、科技创新 ,才是提高建筑安全生产水平的根本途径     

Alternating nitrification-denitrification via nitrite for nitrogen removal from soybean wastewater by SBR with real-time control

A novel treating technology for nitrogen removal from soybean wastewater was studied. The process for nitrogen removal was achieved by alternating aeration and mixing, combined with real\|time control strategies. Results showed that the COD and total nitrogen removal rates are more than 90% and 92% at COD and total nitrogen loads of 1.0-1.2 kg COD/(kgMLSS·d) and 0.20-0.27 kg TN/(kgMLSS·d), respectively. In addition, it could improve sludge settling property. SVI value is less than 70 g/ml during the whole cycles. The method not only may be adapted to treat soybean wastewater with high nitrogen, but also may be applied to treat other high nitrogen wastewater.