Quantitative Methods for Environmental Justice Assessment of Transportation

Application of Executive Order 12898 to risk assessment of highway or rail transport of hazardous materials has proven difficult; in general, the location and conditions affecting the propagation of a plume of hazardous material released in a potential accident are unknown. Therefore, analyses have only been possible in a geographically broad or approximate manner. The advent of geographic information systems and development of software enhancements at Sandia National Laboratories have made kilometer-by-kilometer analysis of populations tallied by U.S. Census blocks along entire routes practicable. Tabulations of total or racially/ethnically distinct populations close to a route, its alternatives, or the broader surrounding area, can then be compared and differences evaluated statistically. This article presents methods of comparing populations and their racial/ethnic compositions using simple tabulations, histograms, and chi-square tests for statistical significance of differences found. Two examples of these methods are presented: comparison of two routes and comparison of a route with its surroundings.     

Industry and the environment: a case study of cleaner technologies in selected European countries

The aim of this case study is to discuss the role of technology in addressing environmental problems. The paper tries to scratch beneath the surface of the increasingly frequent ‘quick-fix’ solutions to the present environmental problems, based on such beguiling catchwords as Cleaner Technologies, Best Available Technologies, and Best Available Technologies Not Exceeding Excessive Costs, etc., in an attempt to discover whether there is any substance in them, or whether they are just full of hot air. Recent data from case studies performed by the author in Germany and Finland as well as a postal questionnaire in Denmark are presented. The paper analyses and discusses the roles and responsibilities of designers, industrialists, and government policy-makers. It is argued that existing regulatory regimes, supranational industrial structures, and market mechanisms do not favour the development of cleaner technologies, nor do they promote a reduction in consumption patterns. Evidence from ongoing empirical research in Northwest Europe suggests that industry is far from developing and/or implementing cleaner technologies. The paper closes with a discussion of some of the policy implications involved and some examples of urgently needed further research.     

中国碳排放的环境库兹涅茨曲线分析——基于空间面板模型的实证研究

在环境库兹涅茨曲线理论的基础上,选用30个省域2000—2009年数据,运用空间面板计量经济模型研究碳排放与经济增长的关系,结果表明:利用空间相关性指标检验出经济发展与碳排放之间存在显著的空间效应;利用空间面板自回归和误差模型发现,中国碳排放与经济增长存在倒U形关系,转折点在8.167亿元至11.025亿元人均GDP之间;工业结构比重对碳减排有消极影响,而技术进步、FDI与碳排放之间存在显著的正效应,这说明通过降低工业结构比重、促进新能源技术的革新以及引进外资等能减少中国的碳排放。     

Low dose risk estimation via simultaneous statistical inferences

Summary.  The paper develops and studies simultaneous confidence bounds that are useful for making low dose inferences in quantitative risk analysis. Application is intended for risk assessment studies where human, animal or ecological data are used to set safe low dose levels of a toxic agent, but where study information is limited to high dose levels of the agent. Methods are derived for estimating simultaneous, one-sided, upper confidence limits on risk for end points measured on a continuous scale. From the simultaneous confidence bounds, lower confidence limits on the dose that is associated with a particular risk (often referred to as a bench-mark dose ) are calculated. An important feature of the simultaneous construction is that any inferences that are based on inverting the simultaneous confidence bounds apply automatically to inverse bounds on the bench-mark dose.     

见义勇为的法律关系及其立法中的责任分担

见义勇为具有包含多个主体的复杂法律关系 ,因而对见义勇为人因见义勇为行为所致损害就有不同的承担主体 ,分别承担公平责任、侵权赔偿责任和行政补偿责任。如何科学地分配这三种责任 ,是今后见义勇为统一立法中一个值得关注的问题。     

区域经济增长与环境质量演进关系模型研究——基于环境库兹涅茨曲线

从社会福利最大化角度出发,通过设定物品消费偏好指数,建立两物品模型,推导出了区域环境最佳投资水平;在此基础上,从理论上证明了环境库兹涅茨曲线存在的依据以及在环境质量最低点和环境质量发生根本性好转的转折点的社会总投资水平。最后,得出环境质量演化过程曲线取决于社会经济发展状况,它与非环境物品生产函数和排污生产函数的技术参数、居民收入水平以及对环境物品和非环境物品的消费偏好以及国民收入分配政策等有关,而非仅仅与经济增长状况有关。     

《立法法》修改的宪法学分析

《立法法修正案(草案)》第5条缺乏宪法依据,该条规定将造成人民代表大会制度与依法治国(依宪治国)方略之间的冲突,且和《立法法修正案(草案)》第4条之间的逻辑关系混乱。《立法法修正案(草案)》第22条不是"根据宪法"制定出来的,其性质不能被视为对现行宪法第100条的修改或者拓展性解释。《立法法修正案(草案)》中没有涉及经济特区授权立法、民族自治地方立法方面的内容,也没有明确国务院发布的决定、命令相较于其他类型法律规范的位阶关系,应该将它们纳入其中。     

绿色贸易壁垒与我国纺织品出口对策

在纺织品服装领域存在四种绿色贸易壁垒——国际环境管理体系系列标准、生态纺织品认证标准、绿色标志制度、绿色法规，对我国入世后纺织品、服装出口具有重要影响，我国政府和企业应采取的对策是提高环保意识、发展企业的绿色生产、加强环保法规和标准建设、加强绿色纺织品的科研与开展等。     

公众参与环境保护的一种实证研究——基于陕西、广东两省的比较分析

以陕西和广东的公众参与环境保护问卷调查为数据分析的依据,问卷涉及环境知识、环境态度、个人行为参与、环境评价参与和诉讼参与五个方面。数据显示广东省的环保公众参与水平整体高于陕西省,在环境知识和环保态度方面二者差距较小,而在环保参与行为方面差距较大。为此文章提出提升陕西环保公众参与度的对策建议。