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.     

Effects of Remanufacturable Product Design on Market Segmentation and the Environment

Despite documented benefits of remanufacturing, many manufacturers have yet to embrace the idea of tapping into remanufactured‐goods markets. In this article, we explore this dichotomy and analyze the effect of remanufacturable product design on market segmentation and product and trade‐in prices by studying a two‐stage profit‐maximization problem in which a price‐setting manufacturer can choose whether or not to open a remanufactured‐goods market for its product. Our results suggest that it is optimal for a manufacturer to design a remanufacturable product when the value‐added from remanufacturing is relatively high but product durability is relatively low and innovation is nominal. In addition, we find that entering a remanufactured‐goods market in and of itself does not necessarily translate into environmental friendliness. On the one hand, the optimal trade‐in program could result in low return and/or remanufacturing rates. On the other hand, a low price for remanufactured products could attract higher demand and thereby potentially result in more damage to the environment. Meanwhile, external restrictions imposed on total greenhouse gas emissions draw criticism in their own right because they risk stifling growth or reducing overall consumer welfare. Given these trade‐offs, we therefore develop and compare several measures of environmental efficiency and conclude that emissions per revenue can serve as the best proxy for emissions as a metric for measuring overall environmental stewardship.     

Transforming Social Work Curricula: Institutional Supports for Promoting Sustainability

Due to the centrality of human rights and social justice in the profession, social work must collectively take a stand on ecological degradation and the climate crisis. Overall, social work education's engagement with issues of sustainability and an expanded ecological justice perspective has been peripheral and piecemeal. It is crucial that social work education expand opportunities to prepare social workers to respond to the global environmental crisis. This conceptual paper considers strategies for integrating environmental content in social work curricula and addresses the essential role of institutional supports for curricular change and professional development focused on sustainability. The role of institutional supports to advance curricular change to respond to environmental crises and promote sustainability is highlighted, along with specific examples from the authors' home institution, including (1) institutional commitment and culture, (2) curricular supports and guidelines, and (3) interdisciplinary faculty development.     

论环境公益诉讼的历史发展及检察机关在其中的定位

新《环境保护法》即将实施,党的十八届四中全会公报明确提出探索建立检察机关提起公益诉讼制度,这意味着环境公益诉讼在我国的司法实践将获得突破。本文试图结合环境公益诉讼的历史发展结合检察机关在环境公益诉讼中的主体地位进行初步探讨,以期确定检察机关在环境公益诉讼的定位。     

"环境工程设计"综合素质培养体系及内容优化

针对“环境工程设计”存在的问题 ,并结合目前我国环保产业对环境工程专业提出的要求 ,优化“环境工程设计”各个教学环节的课程内容、课程深度、课程范围 ,形成“环境工程设计”综合素质培养体系。     

云南少数民族的水文化与当代水环境保护

云南少数民族中存在着丰富的水文化,对于各民族长期的生存与发展有着积极的作用,同时也保护了云南的生态环境。由水的观念、使用与保护水的习俗、制度、规范、宗教等构成的水文化,是当代解决水危机、营造良好的水环境、实现可持续发展的重要基础,是从源头解决水环境问题的有效手段。在当代,少数民族的水文化仍然具有重要的价值,有助于人类认识与平衡自身与自然之间关系。