美国西北部太平洋沿海地区植物入侵及其控制对策

美国西北部太平洋沿海地区作为美国的对外交通要塞以及自身的自然环境,因其湿润的温带海洋性气候结合人为的和自然条件的因素,造成了比较严重的植物入侵状况。本文作者结合在美国华盛顿地区做入侵植物生态环境调查和入侵植物生态环境修复工作,总结和归纳了在美国西北部太平洋地区的几种较严重的入侵植物状况及其控制对策,以便对我国生物入侵控制方法有所借鉴。     

油田修井作业气动卡盘

分析了在石油修井作业过程中造成管钳打伤操作人员的事故原因 ;论述了新型油田修井作业气动卡盘的结构和工作原理。当该气动卡盘用于修井作业后 ,操作人员可坐在作业车驾驶室内操作动力控制阀 ,使气动卡盘卡住或松开油管 ,操作人员不再用人力操作管钳 ,消除了造成管钳打伤操作人员的事故 ,不但保证了安全生产 ,而且使劳动强度也比原来大大减轻 ,产生了显著的经济和社会效益。该气动卡盘与“油田修井液压钳安全自动操作装置”配套使用 ,可实现自动化操作     

美国环境应急管理制度简析

美国作为工业发达国家,经过百余年的发展,建立了世界领先的环境应急管理制度。自2005年松花江水污染事件爆发至今,我国的环境应急管理需求迫切,管理水平也在飞速提升。对美国的环境应急管理制度的分析能为我国环境应急管理工作提供借鉴。首先,美国设立了以宪法为根基,以应急管理法律法规为主要枝干,以针对突发性环境事件的专门性立法为具体内容的管理体系。其次,美国建立了包括总统、联邦应急管理署、美国国家环境保护局,以及州、县和地方政府中的管理机构在内的多层级应急管理系统。再次,美国基于国家应急系统(NRS)及其核心国家应急计划(NCP),为环境应急响应工作制定了清晰的工作流程。此外,美国还设立了超级基金,有助于有效解决应对环境突发事件的资金来源问题。2014年1月,美国西弗吉尼亚州发生埃尔克河化学品泄漏污染水源事件,通过将该污染事故作为案例进行分析,本文详细梳理了美国各层级政府对该污染事故的应急响应处理流程,体现出其具有的流程规范、分工清晰、属地处理、联邦支持等特点。     

Understanding the security management practices of humanitarian organizations

Humanitarian organisations operate in increasingly hostile environments. Although authoritative statistics are scarce, anecdotal evidence suggests that aid workers face life-threatening risks that are exacerbated by the growing number of humanitarian organisations operating in the field, the diversity of their mandates, the lack of common professional security standards, and limited success in inter-agency security coordination. Despite broad acceptance of the need for better security management and coordination, many humanitarian organisations remain ambivalent about devoting increased resources to security management and security coordination. A critical lack of basic empirical knowledge of the field security environment hampers efforts to enhance security management practices. The absence of a systematic means of sharing incident data undermines the capacity of the humanitarian community to address proactively security threats. In discussions about humanitarian staff safety and security, the least common denominator remains cumulative anecdotal evidence provided by the many security personnel working for humanitarian organisations in the feld.     

Assessing National Discourse and Local Governance Framing of Climate Change for Adaptation in the United Kingdom

While many national governments struggle to maintain global climate change as a high priority issue, many local governments are taking action to fill the policy gaps. This study examines how local governments across the United Kingdom of Great Britain are reframing climate change. We compiled a dataset of newspaper publications covering climate change over a 10-year timeframe, plus survey and interview responses from local governance practitioners, to identify a shift in national discourse that has changed the priority level of climate change in UK local governance. This paper argues that many local governments are strategically reframing climate change as alternative issues in order to make progress in climate adaptation planning.     

The Great Recession or progressive energy policies? Explaining the decline in US greenhouse gas emissions forecasts

This paper evaluates the causes of the 23% decline in 2030 US greenhouse gas emissions forecasts between 2007 and 2011. Dynamic regression modeling predicts that the Great Recession contributed to about 67% of the 2008–2009 emissions decline, but then fell to about an 18% share for the 2030 emissions forecast. An analysis of electricity generation forecasts show that switching from coal to gas contributed only 6% to the total 2030 decline. In contrast, regulatory impact assessments and policy analysis showed that state and federal policies were responsible for 46% of the 2030 decline in emissions.     

美国和中国油气系统甲烷排放状况

文章通过调研、分析美国和中国近年来油气系统中甲烷排放状况,对比分析美国与中国应用的主要甲烷计算方法,表明:美国油气系统中对甲烷排放量的计算方法可采用1996IPCC指南中提供的第一层次(Tier1)和第二层次(Tier2)法,计算结果相对比较准确,甲烷的排放呈逐年增加趋势;中国油气系统中甲烷排放量的计算方法目前只限于1996IPCC指南中提供的Tier1法,中国甲烷排放量相对于美国等发达国家较少,但整体呈增长趋势。     

Critical infrastructures and responsibility: A conceptual exploration

In this article some considerations are presented as a starting point for judging responsibility for infrastructural systems from a moral point of view. Infrastructural systems are essential for present day high-tech society. Without good working infrastructural systems people would hardly be able to survive. The importance and relevance of good working critical infrastructures for states and other public authorities are illustrated with some examples. Next, the meaning of the concept of responsibility in relation to infrastructural systems is developed. Outcome responsibility and remedial responsibility – developed in philosophy of law and political philosophy – are elaborated as useful concepts for dealing with responsibilities in infrastructural systems. This analysis is applied to the players on the infrastructural field: governments and other public authorities, non-state institutional actors and last but not least individual agents. In a last paragraph some conclusions are drawn, which can be applied for apportioning responsibility for infrastructures in practice.     

The long iron line: Water resources development at the United States Military Academy,West Point (1802–1943)

Comprehensive analyses of long-term region-specific water resources developments could offer new insights for contemporary water resources planners and decision makers. The objective of this work was to analyze water supply development at the United States Military Academy (USMA) during the 19th and early 20th Centuries through the lens of selected modern water resources planning and management practices. Analysis of water usage, population, and technological growth revealed that changes in technology had a greater influence on total water withdrawals than an increase in population. The USMA water supply system evolved incrementally over much of the 141-year study period and failure to adequately recognize shortcomings in water supply options resulted in several suboptimal decisions. Communications and enhanced stakeholder participation might have resulted in alternative decisions.