environmental activists Articles
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Walkerton: requiem for the New Public Management in Ontario?
In May 2000, seven residents of Walkerton, Ontario, died, and hundreds more became seriously ill as a result of the contamination of the town's water supply. Immediately, residents and environmental activists pointed to the weakening of the province's environment ministry as the principal cause. Since coming to power in 1995, the Progressive Conservatives had taken steps to privatise and ...
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Bringing interregional linkages back in: industrial symbiosis, international trade and the emergence of the synthetic dyes industry in the late 19th century
Many sustainable development theorists and environmental activists often take two basic assumptions for granted. The first is that local production is generally preferable to long-distance trade. The second is that renewable sources of energy or materials are preferable to nonrenewable sources. These assumptions are, to a large extent, implicit in much of the industrial symbiosis and ...
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Social amplification of risk and environmental collective activism: a case study of Cobalt-60 contamination incident in Taiwan
This paper employs an integrated framework – social amplification of risk – to study the incident of Cobalt-60 radioactive contamination in residences in Taiwan. Here, local collective actions were briefly resident-driven and the broader movement was subsequently dominated by activists who had never been directly impacted. The author utilises a qualitative case study that draws upon in-depth ...
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Study of environmental perceptions of Europeans
The nature of environmental challenges has changed considerably in recent decades. Nonetheless, the global nature of environmental problems has long been known, as issues such as pollution, loss of biodiversity, global warming, ozone depletion and tropical deforestation do not respect international borders. One can argue, however, that it is only in recent years that these problems have become ...
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Is a French revolution on the road?
Any observer of French political life can tell you that the silence of the Ministry of the Environment always precedes a media storm. The press conference held yesterday by Nicolas Hulot, the Minister of the Environment, was no exception to the rule. The disclosure of the French Climate Plan ended the lengthy wait of many legal experts and result in the announcement (a week before Bastille Day) ...
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The power of words – how can words change mindsets and sustainability behaviours and save us from environmental disaster?
‘‘Action speaks louder than words’’. Well, many linguists and psychologists would not agree with this well-known proverb. Language and words as its means are powerful enough to create thoughts and these thoughts initiate behaviours. And exactly here we come to the very facts that climate change is induced by human activity: that main contributors to the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in ...
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TSCA Reform: Legislative Action Begins
On April 15, 2010, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) released the text of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, S. 3209 (SCA),1 which is intended to address the “core failings” of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). On the same day, Representatives Bobby Rush (D-IL), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, and Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of ...
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Air quality in America
Although most Americans tell pollsters they believe air pollution in the United States is getting worse, the reality is quite different. In 'Air Quality in America: A Dose of Reality on Air Pollution Levels, Trends, and Health Risks' (AEI Press, January 2008) environmental scientist Joel Schwartz and political scientist Steve Hayward demonstrate why air pollution has been dropping steadily for ...
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New inventory update rule reporting heads our way
Proposed rule will significantly impact reporting functions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed important revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Update Rule (IUR). This column explains why chemical manufacturers and other stakeholders must be aware of the proposal and prepare now for its implications. Background The IUR requires manufacturers ...
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Sustainability in fashion: A necessary and inevitable change
“There’s no fashion on a dead planet.” This was just one of the protestors’ slogans who were expressing their rage and anger during the London Fashion Week by blocking Mercedes-Benz-sponsored cars and wearing green coats. Still, this year BBC Earth has launched a new brand to “place sustainable fashion at the heart” of London Fashion Week in collaboration with ...
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What the Green Climate Fund really means for international development
In its seventh year, progress for the fund has been slow. What will it take to fulfill the GCF’s promise? When the world’s poor countries demanded action during the failing United Nations–led climate negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009, the U.S. government responded with a promise: It would help raise US$100 billion a year by 2020 to assist efforts to cope with climate change in ...
By Ensia
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What the Green Climate Fund really means for international development
In its seventh year, progress for the fund has been slow. What will it take to fulfill the GCF’s promise? When the world’s poor countries demanded action during the failing United Nations–led climate negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009, the U.S. government responded with a promise: It would help raise US$100 billion a year by 2020 to assist efforts to cope with climate change in ...
By Ensia
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Special Report: Water Resources Bill Draws Interest From Cities, Utilities, Industries
The forces driving the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (H.R. 3080) can be seen in the large array of cities, counties, utilities and industries hoping to see the bill become law. At least 496 nonprofit organizations, companies, state and local governments and other entities have disclosed their lobbying efforts on WRRDA, set for floor action in the House Oct. 23. The number ...
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Clean goes green
Her daughter's eyes were pink and puffy. The child's nose was scratchy and runny. Nancy Figueroa of Jamaica Plain did everything she could to make her daughter well: She bought one medicine after another; did more wash than a 24-hour laundromat; gave to charity her daughter's stuffed animals that might be carrying dust, including the little monkey that young Katherine clung to for comfort. ...
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TSCA IUR revision poses challenges for firms
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Update Rule (IUR), the consultation on which closes in October. Lynn Bergeson explains why domestic chemical manufacturers and importers must be aware of the proposal and prepare for its implications. Background The IUR requires manufacturers, defined to include ...
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How California’s greenhouse gas laws can better serve disadvantaged communities
Environmental justice advocates are working to ensure the state’s efforts to combat climate change benefit everyone — and the lessons can be applied nationwide. It was a time of year that should have been perfect. Warming temperatures marked Southern California’s gentle return to spring. The grass had shifted from drab to glowing green. The sky, which can be pale and hard in ...
By Ensia
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Break-up calls and societal pressure: Big Oil is pushed to change
The world’s top oil and gas (O&G) producers have been challenged by climate activists, investors, and lawmakers to transform faster their businesses and to make more ambitious commitments to cut down on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. International O&G companies are facing an increasing pressure to set short-, medium- and long-term targets that are consistent with the Paris ...
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Enacting ecological and collaborative rationality through multiparty collaboration – a case of innovation in governance
The article presents the case study of a partnership between a metallurgy company and an NGO concerned with environmental protection. The partnership constituted an attempt to reconcile the firm's economic objectives with those of the citizens who lived in the area on which it had an ecological impact. Driven by high ideals, the multistakeholder partnerships were an innovation inspired by the ...
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