对我国生态环境保护的初步探讨

中国是世界上最大的发展中国家,由于现代工农业生产而造成了严重的环境污染,尤其是大量使用农用化学品所导致的生态失调与环境破坏,已严重威胁到人类生存环境及生活健康。今后社会发展必须大力提倡与推广无公害、无污染的清洁生产,全面实现生产的"零污染"与废物的"零排放"、保护环境与追求生态和谐的发展目标。     

吉林省经济增长与环境污染水平计量模型研究

根据吉林省1992~2004年经济与环境数据,以废水、固体废物、烟尘、粉尘、SO2和COD的排放量作为环境污染程度指标,以人均GDP作为经济发展指标,建立了吉林省环境库兹涅茨曲线的计量模型。研究结果表明,吉林省人均GDP在4000~5000元时,环境污染程度达到最大。经分析可知,决定吉林省环境库兹涅茨曲线特征的主要因素是粗放型的经济增长模式。     

建立绿色会计核算体系初探

目前我国正处在经济高速增长期。年GDP增长率9％-11％，同时又造成了严重的环境污染，土地大规模沙化，空气质量下降，长江、黄河等七大水系都遭受到了前所未有的污染。因此，对环境破坏进行成因分析，建立绿色会计体系，计价、计量自然环境。才能达到遏制环境污染的目的。     

环境监察专业人才培养规格和课程体系的研究与实践

我国环境监察专业人才的社会需求量大并且紧迫。目前我国高等教育在其专业人才培养上处于起步阶段，通过对环境监察专科人才培养规格和课程体系的设置进行研究和探索，可为普通高等院校在环境监察专业专科人才培养方面提供实践范例。     

嘉兴市不同区域空气微生物污染状况调查

了解嘉兴市不同区域空气微生物污染状况，随机选择嘉兴市城区、城郊结合部和郊区农村三个检测点进行10天的空气采样检测．结果显示空气微生物污染程度以农村为重，其次是城区和城郊结合部．检出污染的细菌以革兰阳性球菌和芽孢杆菌为主，马丁霉菌和耐高渗透压霉菌均以青霉属为优势菌．嘉兴市（尤其是郊区农村）空气微生物污染严重，应引起有关部门关注．     

国际投资中污染产业转移的实证分析

国际投资中污染产业转移的问题受到了发达国家和发展中国家的普遍关注。理论分析认为，由于各国的环境标准存在差异．因而导致污染产业从环境标准高的国家转移到环境标准低的国家。在实际中是否存在这种现象以及转移的范围及程度多大则需要实证分析来验证。本文的实证分析表明：环境标准与污染产业转移之间并不存在必然的联系。     

Timing of environmental inspections: survival of the compliant

Environmental inspection agencies have limited resources. A natural response to this shortage of resources is targeting and this targeting policy leads to higher compliance than random inspections. This paper uses individual inspection data on the inspection policy of the environmental agency for the textile industry in Flanders (Belgium). We distinguish between three types of inspections and use a survival model to show that the environmental agency inspects firms in a non-random way. Even though the agency solves most environmental problems, it can increase compliance by using the deterrence effect of more stringent inspections and sanctions.      

Reconciling sustainability and discounting in Cost–Benefit Analysis: A methodological proposal

The incorporation of the intergenerational equity objective has rendered the traditional Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach obsolete for the evaluation of projects presenting an important number of environmental externalities and for those whose impacts extend throughout a long period of time.Based on the assumption that applying a discount rate rewards current consumption and, therefore, that it is only possible to introduce a certain intergenerational equity in a Cost–Benefit Analysis, in this work we propose an approach to discounting based on a different rationale for tangible and intangible effects. We designed two indicators of environmental profitability: a) the Intergenerational Transfer Amount (ITA), which quantifies in monetary units what the current generation is willing to pass on future generations when an environmental restoration project is carried out, and b) the Critical Environmental Rate (CER), measures the implicit environmental profitability.These concepts were tested through an empirical case study pertaining to the assessment of an Erosion Control Project in the southeast of Spain. The results yield traditional profitability indicators that are higher — and probably closer — to the real values set by the contemporary society. The information provided by the environmental profitability indicators proposed renders more transparency to the quantification of the levels of intergenerational equity applied, thereby facilitating the difficult reconciliation of the CBA technique with the objective of sustainability.     

Piercing the Veil of Uncertainty in Transboundary Pollution Agreements

This paper addresses the question of how uncertainty in costs and benefits affects the difficulty of reaching a voluntary agreement among sovereign states. A measure of difficulty is constructed related to side-payments necessary to make an agreement a Pareto-improving move. Using a simple model, it is shown that uncertainty actually makes agreement easier.JEL classifications: Q5, H4, D7, D8An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Conference on Risk and Uncertainty in Environmental and Resource Economics, Wageningen, The Netherlands, June 2002.     

Post OPA-90 Vessel Oil Transfer Spill Prevention: The Effectiveness of Coast Guard Enforcement

Although oil spills from tanker accidents receive the most publicity, most vessel spills are not the result of accidents but of oil transfer activities. We investigate determinants of the size of vessel oil transfer spills as well as the effectiveness of Coast Guard enforcement activities in reducing their size. Vessel out-of-water and in-water oil transfer spillage functions are estimated utilizing tobit regression and detailed data on individual vessel oil transfer spills as well as Coast Guard safety/environmental enforcement activity data for the 1991–1995 period. Our estimation results suggest that Coast Guard hull but not machinery inspections are effective in reducing both out-of-water and in-water spills; patrols by air, but not by boat, are effective in reducing out-of-water spills; but neither is effective in reducing in-water spills. The results also show that the type of vessel (oil- and non-oil-cargo), vessel characteristics, vessel operations, weather/visibility conditions, and waterway type are determinants of post OPA-90 vessel oil transfer spills.