环境法的修改与历史转型

我国可以新制定一部环境基本法或修改现行的<环境保护法>,使其成为名副其实的环境基本法,以实现环境法的历史转型.环境基本法的修改坚持国家生态安全与公民生态环境生存权相结合、环境保护与经济建设相结合、污染防治与生态保护建设相结合、国家干预与公众参与相结合、行政主导与市场机制相结合、国内环境法与国际环境法相结合等原则.环境基本法的基本框架应包括总则、政府环境保护管理的组织体制与决策机制、环境法基本制度、环境法律责任和环境损害救济、附则等部分.     

Evaluating the impact of utility company billing plans on residential energy consumption

Many utility companies offer their customers the choice of participation in an average payment plan, which enables them to pay a fixed sum for their utility bill each month (with final settlement at the end of the billing year), instead of the conventional “pay as you go” billing procedure. Because customers on average payment plans are protected from paying large bills during peak energy-use seasons and because the information about monthly energy use and its cost is perhaps less salient to them, it was hypothesized that customers on the average payment plan would use more electricity than customers not on the plan. Using a nonequivalent control group design, the electricity consumption of a selection of customers of two utility companies (Ns = 475 and 74) was examined. The results showed that there was no evidence to support the hypothesis. Since the logic of hypothesis testing does not permit the ready acceptance of the null hypothesis, several procedural, methodological, and statistical points were made to buttress the conclusion that the average payment plans had no effect on electricity consumption.     

发展中的国际成人环境教育

本文回顾了国际成人环境教育方面的一些主要活动 ,并分析了发展趋势     

整合财政支农资金加大农村基础设施投入力度

由于历史原因和体制惯性,“三农”投入,特别是财政支农资金的投入存在许多问题,多头管理、分散使用、效率低下的现象十分突出。继续加大对“三农”尤其是农村基础设施的投入力度,推进财政支农资金整合,提高财政支农的政策效应和制度效应,对发展现代农业,建设社会主义新农村意义重大。     

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.     

山西水资源短缺的法律对策

水作为人类赖以生存的必要因素,已成为紧缺性资源,缺水问题成为我国乃至世界性问题。山西是中国严重缺水的省份之一。从考察山西省的缺水现状出发,通过分析其原因,法律的层面提出了应贯彻执行节约用水、水价交易、水环境影响评价和实施兴水战略,以期缓解山西的缺水危机。     

论环境侵权民事责任的构成要件

对《民法通则》第124条和《环境保护法》第41条的误读,引发了我国环境法学界环境侵权民事责任构成要件的“违法性肯定论”与“违法性否定论”之争。上述两款法条,前者规范超标排污行为所导致的环境损害救济,其民事责任成立的“门槛”较高,但救济对象较广。后者则降低了环境侵权民事责任的“标准”,但缩小了救济对象。两者为环境污染的受害人提供了不同的救济途径,在司法实践中,应由法院根据个案选择适用。     

Regression Modelling of Disease Risk in Relation to Point Sources

We describe a class of models for the investigation of possible raised risk of disease around putative sources of environmental pollution. An adaptation of the point process method suggested by Diggle and Rowlingson is presented, allowing the use of routinely available aggregated data and incorporating the more general distance–risk model suggested by Elliott and co-workers. An application to data on cancers of the stomach around municipal solid waste incinerators is presented.     

Sustainable urban development? Low-cost housing challenges in South Africa

Low-cost housing provision has been a major focus of government in post-apartheid urban South Africa. While successes can be noted, there is growing concern regarding the social and environmental sustainability of housing programs and the impacts upon both the surrounding environment and human health. Utilizing key informant interviews, survey research, Census data and documentary review, this essay identifies the major impediments to a sustainable low-cost housing provision in urban South Africa. The essay also points to hopeful signs in new policy directions, particularly attention to health issues and informal settlement upgrade programs. However, the major obstacles to a sustainable low-cost housing process, including macro-economic conditions, enduring historical legacies of race and class, the scale and rapidity of urban growth and institutional challenges show little indication of abating.     

Hope for a Cause as Cause for Hope: The Need for Hope in Environmental Sociology

Hope is a crucial component of agency involving the setting of goals, visualization of obstacles, and increasing willpower in the effort of achieving a desired goal. This hope is not simply optimism and is potentially a bridge between structure and agency. Yet, the powers of hope in sociology have been greatly unexplored including the ability of collective hope to create social change. This lack of hope is particularly poignant in environmental sociology as the sub-discipline looks for solutions to some of the greatest challenges humanity and the planet faces. This article discusses the undercurrent of pessimism in environmental sociology and calls for the integration of hope as it is necessary for generating potential social environmental change.