John S. Dryzek, David Downes, Christian Hunold, David Schlosberg, and Hans-Kristian Hernes
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249022
- eISBN:
- 9780191599095
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249024.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Social movements take shape in relation to the kind of state they face, while, over time, states are transformed by the movements they both incorporate and resist. Social movements are central to ...
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Social movements take shape in relation to the kind of state they face, while, over time, states are transformed by the movements they both incorporate and resist. Social movements are central to democracy and democratization. This book examines the interaction between states and environmentalism, emblematic of contemporary social movements. The analysis covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era that begins in the 1970s, emphasizing the comparative history of four countries: the US, UK, Germany, and Norway, each of which captures a particular kind of interest representation. Interest groups, parties, mass mobilizations, protest businesses, and oppositional public spheres vary in their weight and significance across the four countries. The book explains why the US was an environmental pioneer around 1970, why it was then eclipsed by Norway, why Germany now shows the way, and why the UK has been a laggard throughout. Ecological modernization and the growing salience of environmental risks mean that environmental conservation can now emerge as a basic priority of government, growing out of entrenched economic and legitimation imperatives. The end in view is a green state, on a par with earlier transformations that produced first the liberal capitalist state and then the welfare state. Any such transformation can be envisaged only to the extent environmentalism maintains its focus as a critical social movement that confronts as well as engages the state.Less
Social movements take shape in relation to the kind of state they face, while, over time, states are transformed by the movements they both incorporate and resist. Social movements are central to democracy and democratization. This book examines the interaction between states and environmentalism, emblematic of contemporary social movements. The analysis covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era that begins in the 1970s, emphasizing the comparative history of four countries: the US, UK, Germany, and Norway, each of which captures a particular kind of interest representation. Interest groups, parties, mass mobilizations, protest businesses, and oppositional public spheres vary in their weight and significance across the four countries. The book explains why the US was an environmental pioneer around 1970, why it was then eclipsed by Norway, why Germany now shows the way, and why the UK has been a laggard throughout. Ecological modernization and the growing salience of environmental risks mean that environmental conservation can now emerge as a basic priority of government, growing out of entrenched economic and legitimation imperatives. The end in view is a green state, on a par with earlier transformations that produced first the liberal capitalist state and then the welfare state. Any such transformation can be envisaged only to the extent environmentalism maintains its focus as a critical social movement that confronts as well as engages the state.
David Vogel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691124162
- eISBN:
- 9781400842568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691124162.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter discusses how within political systems, there are important linkages among many health, safety, and environmental risk regulations. Their public issue life cycles overlap and they often ...
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This chapter discusses how within political systems, there are important linkages among many health, safety, and environmental risk regulations. Their public issue life cycles overlap and they often follow parallel or convergent political trajectories. Each regulatory decision or non-decision has distinctive and multiple causes, and no single theory can adequately account for all the policy outcomes that have taken place in both Europe and the United States since 1960. The chapter then establishes an explanatory framework that focuses on the role and interaction of three factors: the extent and intensity of public pressures for more stringent or protective regulations, the policy preferences of influential government officials, and the criteria by which policy makers assess and manage risks.Less
This chapter discusses how within political systems, there are important linkages among many health, safety, and environmental risk regulations. Their public issue life cycles overlap and they often follow parallel or convergent political trajectories. Each regulatory decision or non-decision has distinctive and multiple causes, and no single theory can adequately account for all the policy outcomes that have taken place in both Europe and the United States since 1960. The chapter then establishes an explanatory framework that focuses on the role and interaction of three factors: the extent and intensity of public pressures for more stringent or protective regulations, the policy preferences of influential government officials, and the criteria by which policy makers assess and manage risks.
Sara Fuller, Karen Bickerstaff, Fu-Meng Khaw, and Sarah Curtis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199562848
- eISBN:
- 9780191722523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562848.003.17
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter reviews research on the potential for knowledge exchange and participative approaches in making risk communication more effective. It focuses particularly on examples of communication ...
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This chapter reviews research on the potential for knowledge exchange and participative approaches in making risk communication more effective. It focuses particularly on examples of communication concerning ‘chronic’, persistent risks associated with environments that are known to be contaminated, as well as ‘potential’ sources of environmental contamination, such as industrial facilities, in their normal operation and decommissioning.Less
This chapter reviews research on the potential for knowledge exchange and participative approaches in making risk communication more effective. It focuses particularly on examples of communication concerning ‘chronic’, persistent risks associated with environments that are known to be contaminated, as well as ‘potential’ sources of environmental contamination, such as industrial facilities, in their normal operation and decommissioning.
Annalee Yassi, Tord Kjellström, Theo de Kok, and Tee L. Guidotti
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195135589
- eISBN:
- 9780199864102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195135589.003.0004
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter outlines the principles of risk management. Topics discussed include risk evaluation, factors affecting the perception and acceptance of risk, prevention and control of exposure to ...
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This chapter outlines the principles of risk management. Topics discussed include risk evaluation, factors affecting the perception and acceptance of risk, prevention and control of exposure to environmental hazards, risk monitoring and use of indicators, special problems in managing environmental health risks, and cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis on interventions.Less
This chapter outlines the principles of risk management. Topics discussed include risk evaluation, factors affecting the perception and acceptance of risk, prevention and control of exposure to environmental hazards, risk monitoring and use of indicators, special problems in managing environmental health risks, and cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis on interventions.
Michael E. Kraft
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262036580
- eISBN:
- 9780262341585
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036580.003.0005
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
The concept of environmental risk is pervasive in contemporary environmental policy, and there are legions of experts, within and outside of government, who conduct, communicate, interpret, and ...
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The concept of environmental risk is pervasive in contemporary environmental policy, and there are legions of experts, within and outside of government, who conduct, communicate, interpret, and debate studies designed to influence decisions on myriad environmental risks that we face today. Such use of risk analysis is likely to continue for the indefinite future. The chapter focuses on the key conceptual innovations that lie behind ideas about environmental risk, the practical implications of using environmental risk assessment and risk evaluation in governmental decision making, and the role that environmental risk concepts may play in the future. As sustainable development becomes the long-term goal of environmental policy actions, citizens and policymakers will have to search for new ways to think about, measure, compare, and act on both new and old environmental risks. Less
The concept of environmental risk is pervasive in contemporary environmental policy, and there are legions of experts, within and outside of government, who conduct, communicate, interpret, and debate studies designed to influence decisions on myriad environmental risks that we face today. Such use of risk analysis is likely to continue for the indefinite future. The chapter focuses on the key conceptual innovations that lie behind ideas about environmental risk, the practical implications of using environmental risk assessment and risk evaluation in governmental decision making, and the role that environmental risk concepts may play in the future. As sustainable development becomes the long-term goal of environmental policy actions, citizens and policymakers will have to search for new ways to think about, measure, compare, and act on both new and old environmental risks.
Kristin Shrader‐Frechette
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195325461
- eISBN:
- 9780199869275
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325461.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter begins by explaining why the complexity of health-related science often makes it susceptible to manipulation. It then shows what some special interests do when they literally “buy” ...
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This chapter begins by explaining why the complexity of health-related science often makes it susceptible to manipulation. It then shows what some special interests do when they literally “buy” private-interest science through front groups, think tanks, and “hire education” (“hire education” refers to industry funding of academic research that serves its corporate goals). The chapter surveys how private-interest science is done — with incomplete data, contraindicated models, inadequately sensitive tests of pollution damage, and so on. Finally, the chapter shows how and why private-interest science often leads to death, injury, and flawed ethics.Less
This chapter begins by explaining why the complexity of health-related science often makes it susceptible to manipulation. It then shows what some special interests do when they literally “buy” private-interest science through front groups, think tanks, and “hire education” (“hire education” refers to industry funding of academic research that serves its corporate goals). The chapter surveys how private-interest science is done — with incomplete data, contraindicated models, inadequately sensitive tests of pollution damage, and so on. Finally, the chapter shows how and why private-interest science often leads to death, injury, and flawed ethics.
David Vogel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691124162
- eISBN:
- 9781400842568
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691124162.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This book examines the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation in the United States and Europe over the last five decades, explaining why America and Europe have often regulated a wide ...
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This book examines the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation in the United States and Europe over the last five decades, explaining why America and Europe have often regulated a wide range of similar risks differently. It finds that between 1960 and 1990, American health, safety, and environmental regulations were more stringent, risk averse, comprehensive, and innovative than those adopted in Europe. But since around 1990 global regulatory leadership has shifted to Europe. What explains this striking reversal? This book takes an in-depth, comparative look at European and American policies toward a range of consumer and environmental risks, including vehicle air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, beef and milk hormones, genetically modified agriculture, antibiotics in animal feed, pesticides, cosmetic safety, and hazardous substances in electronic products. The book traces how concerns over such risks—and pressure on political leaders to do something about them—have risen among the European public but declined among Americans. The book explores how policymakers in Europe have grown supportive of more stringent regulations while those in the United States have become sharply polarized along partisan lines. And as European policymakers have grown more willing to regulate risks on precautionary grounds, increasingly skeptical American policymakers have called for higher levels of scientific certainty before imposing additional regulatory controls on business.Less
This book examines the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation in the United States and Europe over the last five decades, explaining why America and Europe have often regulated a wide range of similar risks differently. It finds that between 1960 and 1990, American health, safety, and environmental regulations were more stringent, risk averse, comprehensive, and innovative than those adopted in Europe. But since around 1990 global regulatory leadership has shifted to Europe. What explains this striking reversal? This book takes an in-depth, comparative look at European and American policies toward a range of consumer and environmental risks, including vehicle air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, beef and milk hormones, genetically modified agriculture, antibiotics in animal feed, pesticides, cosmetic safety, and hazardous substances in electronic products. The book traces how concerns over such risks—and pressure on political leaders to do something about them—have risen among the European public but declined among Americans. The book explores how policymakers in Europe have grown supportive of more stringent regulations while those in the United States have become sharply polarized along partisan lines. And as European policymakers have grown more willing to regulate risks on precautionary grounds, increasingly skeptical American policymakers have called for higher levels of scientific certainty before imposing additional regulatory controls on business.
Thomas J. Smith and David Kriebel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195141566
- eISBN:
- 9780199872145
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195141566.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Environmental chemical hazards are a highly contentious topic in modern life. Nearly every nation on earth has faced its own environmental crises, and also shares perspectives on the possibility of ...
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Environmental chemical hazards are a highly contentious topic in modern life. Nearly every nation on earth has faced its own environmental crises, and also shares perspectives on the possibility of global catastrophes. Of the many global concerns we face, the environmental issue is unique in many ways. The greatest of these is the fundamental scientific nature of the issue, and the extent to which our opinions are formed based on high-level scientific inquiry and assessment. The two key fields of study on this issue, environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment, are still given separate names because of their separate historical roots and scientific traditions, but are seen increasingly as inseparable aspects of the same basic investigation. In this book, the authors assert that important advances in the quantification of environmental risks can only come through a true synthesis of the two fields. They have built a common biologic model of exposure, physiologic response and disease, a synthesis of the various existing models which serves to both simplify and improve the application of environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment to current and future environmental chemical risks. When exposure assessor and epidemiologist agree from the start on the model for their study, the conceptual framework for the study they design and the analyses they carry out are much more likely to yield useful exposure-risk information. An explicit biologic model of the apparent processes linking exposure to disease should form the basis for any study seeking to quantify risk from environmental chemicals.Less
Environmental chemical hazards are a highly contentious topic in modern life. Nearly every nation on earth has faced its own environmental crises, and also shares perspectives on the possibility of global catastrophes. Of the many global concerns we face, the environmental issue is unique in many ways. The greatest of these is the fundamental scientific nature of the issue, and the extent to which our opinions are formed based on high-level scientific inquiry and assessment. The two key fields of study on this issue, environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment, are still given separate names because of their separate historical roots and scientific traditions, but are seen increasingly as inseparable aspects of the same basic investigation. In this book, the authors assert that important advances in the quantification of environmental risks can only come through a true synthesis of the two fields. They have built a common biologic model of exposure, physiologic response and disease, a synthesis of the various existing models which serves to both simplify and improve the application of environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment to current and future environmental chemical risks. When exposure assessor and epidemiologist agree from the start on the model for their study, the conceptual framework for the study they design and the analyses they carry out are much more likely to yield useful exposure-risk information. An explicit biologic model of the apparent processes linking exposure to disease should form the basis for any study seeking to quantify risk from environmental chemicals.
Annalee Yassi, Tord Kjellström, Theo de Kok, and Tee L. Guidotti
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195135589
- eISBN:
- 9780199864102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195135589.003.0003
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter lays out the basic approach to risk assessment. Topics discussed include epidemiological methods, hazard identification in the field, the relationship between dose and health outcome, ...
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This chapter lays out the basic approach to risk assessment. Topics discussed include epidemiological methods, hazard identification in the field, the relationship between dose and health outcome, human exposure assessment, health risk characterization, and health in environmental impact assessment.Less
This chapter lays out the basic approach to risk assessment. Topics discussed include epidemiological methods, hazard identification in the field, the relationship between dose and health outcome, human exposure assessment, health risk characterization, and health in environmental impact assessment.
James Meadowcroft and Daniel J. Fiorino (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262036580
- eISBN:
- 9780262341585
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036580.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Concepts are thought categories through which we apprehend the world; they enable, but also constrain, reasoning and debate and serve as building blocks for more elaborate arguments. This book traces ...
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Concepts are thought categories through which we apprehend the world; they enable, but also constrain, reasoning and debate and serve as building blocks for more elaborate arguments. This book traces the links between conceptual innovation in the environmental sphere and the evolution of environmental policy and discourse. It offers both a broad framework for examining the emergence, evolution, and effects of policy concepts and a detailed analysis of eleven influential environmental concepts. In recent decades, conceptual evolution has been particularly notable in environmental governance, as new problems have emerged and as environmental issues have increasingly intersected with other areas. “Biodiversity,” for example, was unheard of until the late 1980s; “negative carbon emissions” only came into being over the last few years. After a review of concepts and their use in environmental argument, chapters chart the trajectories of a range of environmental concepts: environment, sustainable development, biodiversity, environmental assessment, critical loads, adaptive management, green economy, environmental risk, environmental security, environmental justice, and sustainable consumption. The book provides a valuable resource for scholars and policy makers and also offers a novel introduction to the environmental policy field through the evolution of its conceptual categories. Contributors Richard N. L. Andrews, Karin Bäckstrand, Karen Baehler, Daniel J. Fiorino, Yrjö Haila, Michael E. Kraft, Oluf Langhelle, Judith A. Layzer, James Meadowcroft, Alexis Schulman, Johannes Stripple, Philip J. VergragtLess
Concepts are thought categories through which we apprehend the world; they enable, but also constrain, reasoning and debate and serve as building blocks for more elaborate arguments. This book traces the links between conceptual innovation in the environmental sphere and the evolution of environmental policy and discourse. It offers both a broad framework for examining the emergence, evolution, and effects of policy concepts and a detailed analysis of eleven influential environmental concepts. In recent decades, conceptual evolution has been particularly notable in environmental governance, as new problems have emerged and as environmental issues have increasingly intersected with other areas. “Biodiversity,” for example, was unheard of until the late 1980s; “negative carbon emissions” only came into being over the last few years. After a review of concepts and their use in environmental argument, chapters chart the trajectories of a range of environmental concepts: environment, sustainable development, biodiversity, environmental assessment, critical loads, adaptive management, green economy, environmental risk, environmental security, environmental justice, and sustainable consumption. The book provides a valuable resource for scholars and policy makers and also offers a novel introduction to the environmental policy field through the evolution of its conceptual categories. Contributors Richard N. L. Andrews, Karin Bäckstrand, Karen Baehler, Daniel J. Fiorino, Yrjö Haila, Michael E. Kraft, Oluf Langhelle, Judith A. Layzer, James Meadowcroft, Alexis Schulman, Johannes Stripple, Philip J. Vergragt
William W. Buzbee
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451904
- eISBN:
- 9780801470301
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451904.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter assesses Westway's defeat, starting with an examination of the consequences, then looking at the outcome both under the law and facts relevant to the Westway proposal and as a lens to ...
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This chapter assesses Westway's defeat, starting with an examination of the consequences, then looking at the outcome both under the law and facts relevant to the Westway proposal and as a lens to critique the law's attributes in modern regulatory wars, especially over environmental stakes. While commentators included many who bemoaned Westway's defeat, others praised the result and the process that allowed citizens, politicians, and agency scientists to oppose and defeat a project supported by many powerful interests. Hence part of this clash of views hinged on whether Westway's defeat revealed legal or political dysfunction, even if it was a sound result under the law. Westway's lengthy war and defeat also offer lessons about the law, especially in complicated regulatory wars involving all branches and layers of government, citizen activists, and clashes over environmental risks and urban priorities.Less
This chapter assesses Westway's defeat, starting with an examination of the consequences, then looking at the outcome both under the law and facts relevant to the Westway proposal and as a lens to critique the law's attributes in modern regulatory wars, especially over environmental stakes. While commentators included many who bemoaned Westway's defeat, others praised the result and the process that allowed citizens, politicians, and agency scientists to oppose and defeat a project supported by many powerful interests. Hence part of this clash of views hinged on whether Westway's defeat revealed legal or political dysfunction, even if it was a sound result under the law. Westway's lengthy war and defeat also offer lessons about the law, especially in complicated regulatory wars involving all branches and layers of government, citizen activists, and clashes over environmental risks and urban priorities.
Maria Powell, Jim Powell, Ly V. Xiong, Kazoua Moua, Jody Schmitz, Benito Juarez Olivas, and VamMeej Yang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262015790
- eISBN:
- 9780262298407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262015790.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter focuses on how scientific assessments of environmental risks neglect minorities, and how community participation can help in their inclusion, in the process. The Madison Environmental ...
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This chapter focuses on how scientific assessments of environmental risks neglect minorities, and how community participation can help in their inclusion, in the process. The Madison Environmental Justice Organization (MEJO) highlights the differences in environmental risk assessments associated with subsistence fish consumption. The chapter describes how knowledge and communication disparities associated with fish consumption are created and ignored by institutions responsible for addressing them. It also focuses on the challenges that MEJO faces in highlighting these issues in institutional risk assessment processes. The experiences of MEJO reveal that extensive efforts are transforming power-sharing relations among groups involved in and influenced by environmental risk assessments. These interactions are also encouraging scientists to induct specific cultural and local knowledge of different community members into such risk assessments and communication strategies.Less
This chapter focuses on how scientific assessments of environmental risks neglect minorities, and how community participation can help in their inclusion, in the process. The Madison Environmental Justice Organization (MEJO) highlights the differences in environmental risk assessments associated with subsistence fish consumption. The chapter describes how knowledge and communication disparities associated with fish consumption are created and ignored by institutions responsible for addressing them. It also focuses on the challenges that MEJO faces in highlighting these issues in institutional risk assessment processes. The experiences of MEJO reveal that extensive efforts are transforming power-sharing relations among groups involved in and influenced by environmental risk assessments. These interactions are also encouraging scientists to induct specific cultural and local knowledge of different community members into such risk assessments and communication strategies.
Jon Birger Skjærseth and Tora Skodvin
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719065583
- eISBN:
- 9781781700471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719065583.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter explores the explanatory power of the approach this book has labelled the Corporate Actor (CA) model in accounting for the differences in the climate change strategies adopted by the oil ...
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This chapter explores the explanatory power of the approach this book has labelled the Corporate Actor (CA) model in accounting for the differences in the climate change strategies adopted by the oil companies in this study. It explains that the CA model suggests that differences in the companies' climate strategy choice are explained by differences in the companies themselves. This chapter analyses three company-specific factors that may have an impact on strategy choice in relation to an issue such as climate change. These include the environmental risk associated with current and future corporate operations, the company's capacity for organisational learning, and the environmental reputation of the company.Less
This chapter explores the explanatory power of the approach this book has labelled the Corporate Actor (CA) model in accounting for the differences in the climate change strategies adopted by the oil companies in this study. It explains that the CA model suggests that differences in the companies' climate strategy choice are explained by differences in the companies themselves. This chapter analyses three company-specific factors that may have an impact on strategy choice in relation to an issue such as climate change. These include the environmental risk associated with current and future corporate operations, the company's capacity for organisational learning, and the environmental reputation of the company.
Christian Gollier
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691148762
- eISBN:
- 9781400845408
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148762.003.0016
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This introductory chapter considers the problem of investment project selection, i.e. which projects should be implemented to maximize intergenerational welfare. To address the challenge of ...
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This introductory chapter considers the problem of investment project selection, i.e. which projects should be implemented to maximize intergenerational welfare. To address the challenge of allocating present sacrifices for the future in the way that maximizes the increase in welfare of future generations, the chapter introduces the cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The CBA is a set of valuation techniques that enables priorities to be put on the set of investment opportunities to be compatible with maximizing intertemporal welfare. The focus here is on how to compare temporally distributed valuations of different projects’ impacts, once these valuations have been made. One key ingredient in the CBA toolkit is the discount rate, which can be interpreted as the minimum rate of return required from a safe investment project to make it socially desirable to implement.Less
This introductory chapter considers the problem of investment project selection, i.e. which projects should be implemented to maximize intergenerational welfare. To address the challenge of allocating present sacrifices for the future in the way that maximizes the increase in welfare of future generations, the chapter introduces the cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The CBA is a set of valuation techniques that enables priorities to be put on the set of investment opportunities to be compatible with maximizing intertemporal welfare. The focus here is on how to compare temporally distributed valuations of different projects’ impacts, once these valuations have been made. One key ingredient in the CBA toolkit is the discount rate, which can be interpreted as the minimum rate of return required from a safe investment project to make it socially desirable to implement.
William W. Buzbee
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451904
- eISBN:
- 9780801470301
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451904.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter assesses Westway's defeat, starting with an examination of the consequences, then looking at the outcome both under the law and facts relevant to the Westway proposal and as a lens to ...
More
This chapter assesses Westway's defeat, starting with an examination of the consequences, then looking at the outcome both under the law and facts relevant to the Westway proposal and as a lens to critique the law's attributes in modern regulatory wars, especially over environmental stakes. While commentators included many who bemoaned Westway's defeat, others praised the result and the process that allowed citizens, politicians, and agency scientists to oppose and defeat a project supported by many powerful interests. Hence part of this clash of views hinged on whether Westway's defeat revealed legal or political dysfunction, even if it was a sound result under the law. Westway's lengthy war and defeat also offer lessons about the law, especially in complicated regulatory wars involving all branches and layers of government, citizen activists, and clashes over environmental risks and urban priorities.
Less
This chapter assesses Westway's defeat, starting with an examination of the consequences, then looking at the outcome both under the law and facts relevant to the Westway proposal and as a lens to critique the law's attributes in modern regulatory wars, especially over environmental stakes. While commentators included many who bemoaned Westway's defeat, others praised the result and the process that allowed citizens, politicians, and agency scientists to oppose and defeat a project supported by many powerful interests. Hence part of this clash of views hinged on whether Westway's defeat revealed legal or political dysfunction, even if it was a sound result under the law. Westway's lengthy war and defeat also offer lessons about the law, especially in complicated regulatory wars involving all branches and layers of government, citizen activists, and clashes over environmental risks and urban priorities.
D. E. Broadbent, J. Reason, and A. Baddeley (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198521914
- eISBN:
- 9780191688454
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521914.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Human-Technology Interaction
Human performance is a key factor in the operation of many systems: for example, in nuclear power installations and in transport. The topics discussed in this volume are of both theoretical and ...
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Human performance is a key factor in the operation of many systems: for example, in nuclear power installations and in transport. The topics discussed in this volume are of both theoretical and practical relevance. The contributions were presented and discussed at a Royal Society meeting in June 1989 and also appeared in the Society's Philosophical Transactions series B in 1990. Together they provide a valuable survey of areas in which research of special significance is being done. This volume is concerned with practical aspects of environmental risk, work design, and complex human-machine operations.Less
Human performance is a key factor in the operation of many systems: for example, in nuclear power installations and in transport. The topics discussed in this volume are of both theoretical and practical relevance. The contributions were presented and discussed at a Royal Society meeting in June 1989 and also appeared in the Society's Philosophical Transactions series B in 1990. Together they provide a valuable survey of areas in which research of special significance is being done. This volume is concerned with practical aspects of environmental risk, work design, and complex human-machine operations.
Michael B. Bracken
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300188844
- eISBN:
- 9780300189551
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300188844.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Environmental History
The press and other media constantly report news stories about dangerous chemicals in the environment, miracle cures, the safety of therapeutic treatments, and potential cancer-causing agents. But ...
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The press and other media constantly report news stories about dangerous chemicals in the environment, miracle cures, the safety of therapeutic treatments, and potential cancer-causing agents. But what exactly is meant by “increased risk”—should we worry if we are told that we are at twice the risk of developing an illness? And how do we interpret “reduced risk” to properly assess the benefits of noisily touted dietary supplements? Demonstrating the difficulty of separating the hype from the hypothesis, the author of this book clearly communicates how clinical epidemiology works. Using everyday terms, he describes how professional scientists approach questions of disease causation and therapeutic efficacy to provide readers with the tools to help them understand whether warnings of environmental risk are truly warranted, or if claims of therapeutic benefit are justified.Less
The press and other media constantly report news stories about dangerous chemicals in the environment, miracle cures, the safety of therapeutic treatments, and potential cancer-causing agents. But what exactly is meant by “increased risk”—should we worry if we are told that we are at twice the risk of developing an illness? And how do we interpret “reduced risk” to properly assess the benefits of noisily touted dietary supplements? Demonstrating the difficulty of separating the hype from the hypothesis, the author of this book clearly communicates how clinical epidemiology works. Using everyday terms, he describes how professional scientists approach questions of disease causation and therapeutic efficacy to provide readers with the tools to help them understand whether warnings of environmental risk are truly warranted, or if claims of therapeutic benefit are justified.
NICOLAS DE SADELEER
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199254743
- eISBN:
- 9780191719851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199254743.003.13
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter concludes by presenting a number of arguments supporting to tilt the balance in favour of environmental concerns. It explains that the directing principles have a common denominator ...
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This chapter concludes by presenting a number of arguments supporting to tilt the balance in favour of environmental concerns. It explains that the directing principles have a common denominator which is the battle against environmental risks. It stresses that these principles could be best described using three distinct models representing three paradigms of protection: a curvative model, a preventive model, and an anticipatory model. This chapter also clarifies that directing principles represent the interface between modern and post-modern law. It discusses that at the EC level, the directing principles specify that ‘Community policy on the environment shall aim at a high level of protection’. It argues that while concentric circles are taking shape around environmental interests, each of those interests still provides evidence of a certain fragility. Yet they must be strengthened for the environmental directing principles to succeed and come to maturity.Less
This chapter concludes by presenting a number of arguments supporting to tilt the balance in favour of environmental concerns. It explains that the directing principles have a common denominator which is the battle against environmental risks. It stresses that these principles could be best described using three distinct models representing three paradigms of protection: a curvative model, a preventive model, and an anticipatory model. This chapter also clarifies that directing principles represent the interface between modern and post-modern law. It discusses that at the EC level, the directing principles specify that ‘Community policy on the environment shall aim at a high level of protection’. It argues that while concentric circles are taking shape around environmental interests, each of those interests still provides evidence of a certain fragility. Yet they must be strengthened for the environmental directing principles to succeed and come to maturity.
Annalee Yassi, Tord Kjellström, Theo de Kok, and Tee L. Guidotti
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195135589
- eISBN:
- 9780199864102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195135589.003.0006
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter focuses on water and sanitation. Topics discussed include the importance of water quality; water quality, sanitation, and health; adequacy of freshwater supply to meet the world's needs, ...
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This chapter focuses on water and sanitation. Topics discussed include the importance of water quality; water quality, sanitation, and health; adequacy of freshwater supply to meet the world's needs, drinking-water quality criteria, drinking-water supply and monitoring, sanitation, water pollution control, recreational water guidelines, and ensuring safe and sufficient water supply.Less
This chapter focuses on water and sanitation. Topics discussed include the importance of water quality; water quality, sanitation, and health; adequacy of freshwater supply to meet the world's needs, drinking-water quality criteria, drinking-water supply and monitoring, sanitation, water pollution control, recreational water guidelines, and ensuring safe and sufficient water supply.
William W. Buzbee
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451904
- eISBN:
- 9780801470301
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451904.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
From 1971 to 1985, battles raged over Westway, a multibillion-dollar highway, development, and park project slated for placement in New York City. It would have projected far into the Hudson River, ...
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From 1971 to 1985, battles raged over Westway, a multibillion-dollar highway, development, and park project slated for placement in New York City. It would have projected far into the Hudson River, including massive new landfill extending several miles along Manhattan's Lower West Side. The most expensive highway project ever proposed, Westway also provoked one of the highest stakes legal battles of its day. This book reveals how environmentalists, citizens, their lawyers, and a growing opposition coalition, despite enormous resource disparities, were able to defeat this project supported by presidents, senators, governors, and mayors, much of the business community, and most unions. Although Westway's defeat has been derided as lacking justification, Westway's critics raised substantial and ultimately decisive objections. They questioned claimed project benefits and advocated trading federal Westway dollars for mass transit improvements. They also exposed illegally disregarded environmental risks, especially to increasingly scarce East Coast young striped bass often found in extraordinarily high numbers right where Westway was to be built. This book goes beyond the veneer of government actions and court rulings to illuminate the stakes, political pressures, and strategic moves and countermoves that shaped the Westway war, a fight involving all levels and branches of government, scientific conflict, strategic citizen action, and hearings, trials, and appeals in federal court. This Westway history illuminates how high-stakes regulatory battles are fought, the strategies and power of America's environmental laws, ways urban priorities are contested, the clout of savvy citizen activists and effective lawyers, and how separation of powers and federalism frameworks structure legal and political conflict.Less
From 1971 to 1985, battles raged over Westway, a multibillion-dollar highway, development, and park project slated for placement in New York City. It would have projected far into the Hudson River, including massive new landfill extending several miles along Manhattan's Lower West Side. The most expensive highway project ever proposed, Westway also provoked one of the highest stakes legal battles of its day. This book reveals how environmentalists, citizens, their lawyers, and a growing opposition coalition, despite enormous resource disparities, were able to defeat this project supported by presidents, senators, governors, and mayors, much of the business community, and most unions. Although Westway's defeat has been derided as lacking justification, Westway's critics raised substantial and ultimately decisive objections. They questioned claimed project benefits and advocated trading federal Westway dollars for mass transit improvements. They also exposed illegally disregarded environmental risks, especially to increasingly scarce East Coast young striped bass often found in extraordinarily high numbers right where Westway was to be built. This book goes beyond the veneer of government actions and court rulings to illuminate the stakes, political pressures, and strategic moves and countermoves that shaped the Westway war, a fight involving all levels and branches of government, scientific conflict, strategic citizen action, and hearings, trials, and appeals in federal court. This Westway history illuminates how high-stakes regulatory battles are fought, the strategies and power of America's environmental laws, ways urban priorities are contested, the clout of savvy citizen activists and effective lawyers, and how separation of powers and federalism frameworks structure legal and political conflict.
