Louisiana is currently losing approximately 155 square kilometers of highly productive wetlands t... more Louisiana is currently losing approximately 155 square kilometers of highly productive wetlands to the Gulf of Mexico each year and the rate is accelerating. The physical cause of the problem lies in man's attempts to control the Mississippi River's flooding and to enhance navigation. Secondary (and possibly primary) causes include erosion, canalization, sea level rise, hydrologic modification, and direct conversion of wetlands to other uses. Federal policy and the resultant institutional arrangements maintain the nearly total dedication of the River's resources to navigation, causing the continued and accelerating degradation of the environment and, increasingly, the economy of south Louisiana. At issue is a contradictory federal policy which seeks to maintain the Mississippi River in its present channel for the benefit of navigation and, at the same time (but not with the same vigor), to preserve wetlands as a habitat for fisheries and other wildlife.
Hydrologic and ecological systems are continually interacting and mutually shaping the landscape.... more Hydrologic and ecological systems are continually interacting and mutually shaping the landscape. Actions of man that change one or the other may have unanticipated effects, or impacts, which can be spread beyond the site by the hydrologic cycle. This chapter will present a way to recognize impacts to hydrology or anticipate changes from hydrologic changes. One useful technique is to link landforms and hydrologic processes through Comparative Hydrology, which defines eight major landforms and links them to a number of hydrologic processes. Changes to either hydrologic processes or landforms can result in impacts, and tables are given which allow some prediction. A process for developing an environmental assessment is presented along with techniques used by planners for impact assessment statements. The chapter provides a guide to those interested in impact assessment and refers the reader to additional sources for more detailed analyses.
Freedom has appeared in the world at different times and under various forms; it has not been exc... more Freedom has appeared in the world at different times and under various forms; it has not been exclusively bound to any social condition, and it is not confined to democracies. Freedom cannot, therefore, form the distinguishing characteristic of democratic ages. The peculiar and preponderating fact which marks those ages as its own is the equality of conditions; the ruling passion of men in those periods is the love of this equality.-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835 The impetus for the research presented here comes from the four years I spent as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the state of Louisiana. I was a scientist at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1987 when Buddy Roemer, a reform-minded candidate, was elected governor. (Roemer was trained at Harvard, but when asked about it he usually replied, "Don't hold that against me.") After his election, Roemer advertised in the Wall Street Journal for positions in his cabinet, an unconventional approach in a state known for political patronage. I had hosted the first Earth Day at LSU in 1970, and had led the development of the state's coastal management program. I had never met the governor, but I liked what I had heard him say about pollution. Having complained for years about environmental destruction in Louisiana, I thought it was time to "put up or shut up." So I applied, along with a couple hundred others, to be environmental secretary. I got the job. During my tenure, the DEQ expanded its capacity, helped to draft new laws, drew up new regulations, and stepped up enforcement. With nearly every move to tighten up on pollution
This paper examines relationships among power distribution, the environment, and public health by... more This paper examines relationships among power distribution, the environment, and public health by means of a cross-sectional analysis of the 50 US states. A measure of interstate variations in power distribution is derived from data on voter participation, tax fairness, Medicaid access, and educational attainment. We develop and estimate a recursive model linking the distribution of power to environmental policy, environmental stress, and public health. The results support the hypothesis that greater power inequality leads to weaker environmental policies, which in turn lead to greater environmental degradation and to adverse public health outcomes.
Preliminary management guidelines have been derived for oil and gas activities in coastal Louisia... more Preliminary management guidelines have been derived for oil and gas activities in coastal Louisiana. Derivation of these guidelines was done in terms of the natural function of the coastal ecosystem; this means that all economic activities should be designed to complement natural function as much as possible. The guidelines range in scope from very specific, almost performance standards, to very
China's economic growth over the past several decades has been among the highest in the world. It... more China's economic growth over the past several decades has been among the highest in the world. It has been fueled by cheap fossil fuel energy so energy consumption has risen rapidly, but there are signs that negative feedbacks in the form of waste and inefficiency may affect future development. If energy throughput exceeds the capacity of the environment to process the inevitable waste from production then the development may not be sustainable. We calculate economic diversity using an energy flow network analysis method to explore the relationships of development policy, energy use, efficiency and sustainable development. China and its provinces are presented as a case study and the development status of each province in China is presented. China's development policy does not appear to be sustainable over the period 1985-1998 because of unsustainable energy consumption trends and declining economic diversity. An energy consumption tax is proposed for increasing diversity and dealing with increasing energy consumption in China.
... River Delta has experienced a relative sea level rise (RSLR) and thus serves as an analogy or... more ... River Delta has experienced a relative sea level rise (RSLR) and thus serves as an analogy ormodel for what can ... We conclude that coastal wetlands can be man-aged to survive rising sea level, but that only comprehensive, integrated, long-term planning can effectively ...
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The purpose of this paper is to outline a recently developed environmental management tool, the e... more The purpose of this paper is to outline a recently developed environmental management tool, the environmental scorecard. The scorecard is an incentive-based instrument which established an explicit formula for determining the percentage of a property tax exemption a facility would receive. Tax exemption programs are typical economic development tools. However, they traditionally do not incorporate other factors than development criteria. This creates the possibility that economic development inducements can be contrary to environmental goals. The scorecard was designed to bridge the gap between the use of pure development and pure environmental management tools. It was actually implemented in Louisiana for one year before it was terminated for political reasons. This paper illustrates the application and costs to firms of the implemented scorecard.
Ecosystem management is a structured process for society to define what ecological condition is d... more Ecosystem management is a structured process for society to define what ecological condition is desired at each part of a region and to develop and implement management policies designed to achieve that mosaic of desired sustainable ecological conditions (US MAB 1994, IEMTF 1995a, 1995b, Christensen et al. 1996, Harwell et al. 1996, Harwell 1998). Ideally, the establishment of ecological goals involves a close linkage between scientists and decision makers, in which science informs decision makers and the public by characterizing the ecological conditions that are achievable under particular management regimes, and decision makers make choices reflecting societal values, including issues of economics, politics, and culture. Because ecosystem management is adaptive-that is, man-This framework is driven from the top down by the societal goals for ecosystem integrity and from the bottom up by detailed scientific measurements of ecosystem conditions agement is adjusted if necessary to achieve goals-the general public, the scientific community, resource managers, and decision makers need to be routinely apprised of progress toward achieving the desired ecological goals, that is, they need a "report card" on ecosystem condition or integrity. The concept of report cards or performance measurements to describe progress toward environmental goals has evolved over the past few decades as environmental legislation and the appropriation of public funds for environmental restoration, preservation, and management have increased. Over this time, reports have expanded from measurement of the effects of single initiatives (e.g., land acquisition goals for parks and protected areas) and progress toward pollution reduction in single media (e.g., reduction of air or water emissions) to encompass the broader and longer-term regional ecosystem management and restoration approaches that have been developing in highly valued ecosystems throughout the country (e.g., the Greater Everglades, San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Northwest). These holistic, often multi-agency efforts to maintain accountability for regional ecosystem integrity and the progress of restoration activities stem in part from the proactive desire of resource managers to maintain public interest, support, and, consequently, funding for long-term environmental restoration and management efforts. They also stem in part from specific legislative or regulatory requirements to engage the public in the ecosystem management process (e.g.
Industrial economies ingest materials, energy and information to produce goods and services and e... more Industrial economies ingest materials, energy and information to produce goods and services and excrete wastes and emissions. Wastes can be minimized and the relative amounts of resources, which go into goods and services, as opposed to waste, are essential to clean production and to the sustainability of the production system. A regression model based on empirical data is presented that provides a partition coefficient expressing the ratio of energy (or material) resources invested in goods to energy going to waste. Partition coefficients are developed for five countries and are shown to be related to GDP, energy and material consumption and energy and waste intensities. Higher partition coefficients mean higher productivity and lower energy, waste and material intensities. In addition, energy use/capita and pollution/capita is lower. The price of energy to the industrial sector is related to the partition coefficient. The policy implications are that partitioning of resources to goods should be maximized and waste minimized for economic as well as environmental reasons.
Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2004
As industrial economies develop over time they become more complex with more components mutually ... more As industrial economies develop over time they become more complex with more components mutually interacting via additional interconnections. The changes are manifested in properties that emerge over time. Some emergent properties are proposed here and tested with empirical data, where available. Diversity, energy and material intensities, and production capacity are examined and tested at a macro level using data from the states of the USA. All are found to be related to the degree of development represented by Gross State Product. Diversity is related to the number of energy flows through the energy consuming sectors and the allocation of energy use across sectors. Although data is limited for energy consumption by sector the diversity calculated here relates to a number of other physical and economic variables, including the proportion of waste recycled. Other emergent properties of economic systems are suggested and discussed but not tested. The relationships between diversity and energy and waste intensities are illustrated using data from Japan.
This paper describes microcomputer applications used to study urban ozone. It provides a capsule ... more This paper describes microcomputer applications used to study urban ozone. It provides a capsule description of some of the analytical findings and summarizes the use of a variety of different software systems. INTRODUCTION A dominant relationship that humans have with the environment is the simple act of breathing, which can be hazardous to one's health in many major cities of the world. Urban air quality is measured by its ozone level in parts per million volume (ppmv). Levels of ozone exceeding 120 ppmv are termed exceedences, for they violate the National Ambient Air Quality standard. Exceedences were recorded in communitities with a combined population of 63 million people in the U.S. during the past several years. The economic impacts of being in a region where exceedences occur is significant due to limitations imposed on industrial growth and, in some instances, vehicular restrictions; and the health impacts are of a growing concern [1].
International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, Sep 1, 1995
SUMMARY This paper examines the relationship of economic scale, as reflected in a country's e... more SUMMARY This paper examines the relationship of economic scale, as reflected in a country's energy throughput, to that of renewable energy flows through the supporting ecosystem. The renewable flow is net primary productivity (NPP) and is calculated by country and grouped by income per capita levels. The use of fossil fuels first rises and then declines relative to available renewable energies as gross national product (GNP) per capita rises, suggesting that sustainability may be feasible in developed countries if energy efficiency is pursued rigorously. A strong sustainability condition requiring only renewable energy use is investigated by calculating GNP with two levels of NPP energy. Excess GNP (i.e. beyond current levels) is shown to be positive in developing countries but negative in developed countries, suggesting that a reduction in GNP is in order for developed economies or that additional renewable supplies must be found. The ‘energy intensity’-i.e. the energy used to generate a dollar (or a giv...
An empirical equity measure involving energy, taxes, and pollution is developed and analyzed stat... more An empirical equity measure involving energy, taxes, and pollution is developed and analyzed statistically with economic, environmental, energy, and sustainability indicators. The pollution equity measure is an emissions‐to‐jobs ratio, the energy measure is the ratio of energy prices of the residential sector to the industrial sector, and the tax measure is the ratio of regressive tax revenues to progressive tax
... Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water ... p... more ... Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water ... perceived to be linked to emissions from a nearby manufacturing or waste disposal facility. ... In this sense, outrage over the perceived risk associated with a new technology or facility may ...
Louisiana is currently losing approximately 155 square kilometers of highly productive wetlands t... more Louisiana is currently losing approximately 155 square kilometers of highly productive wetlands to the Gulf of Mexico each year and the rate is accelerating. The physical cause of the problem lies in man's attempts to control the Mississippi River's flooding and to enhance navigation. Secondary (and possibly primary) causes include erosion, canalization, sea level rise, hydrologic modification, and direct conversion of wetlands to other uses. Federal policy and the resultant institutional arrangements maintain the nearly total dedication of the River's resources to navigation, causing the continued and accelerating degradation of the environment and, increasingly, the economy of south Louisiana. At issue is a contradictory federal policy which seeks to maintain the Mississippi River in its present channel for the benefit of navigation and, at the same time (but not with the same vigor), to preserve wetlands as a habitat for fisheries and other wildlife.
Hydrologic and ecological systems are continually interacting and mutually shaping the landscape.... more Hydrologic and ecological systems are continually interacting and mutually shaping the landscape. Actions of man that change one or the other may have unanticipated effects, or impacts, which can be spread beyond the site by the hydrologic cycle. This chapter will present a way to recognize impacts to hydrology or anticipate changes from hydrologic changes. One useful technique is to link landforms and hydrologic processes through Comparative Hydrology, which defines eight major landforms and links them to a number of hydrologic processes. Changes to either hydrologic processes or landforms can result in impacts, and tables are given which allow some prediction. A process for developing an environmental assessment is presented along with techniques used by planners for impact assessment statements. The chapter provides a guide to those interested in impact assessment and refers the reader to additional sources for more detailed analyses.
Freedom has appeared in the world at different times and under various forms; it has not been exc... more Freedom has appeared in the world at different times and under various forms; it has not been exclusively bound to any social condition, and it is not confined to democracies. Freedom cannot, therefore, form the distinguishing characteristic of democratic ages. The peculiar and preponderating fact which marks those ages as its own is the equality of conditions; the ruling passion of men in those periods is the love of this equality.-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835 The impetus for the research presented here comes from the four years I spent as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the state of Louisiana. I was a scientist at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1987 when Buddy Roemer, a reform-minded candidate, was elected governor. (Roemer was trained at Harvard, but when asked about it he usually replied, "Don't hold that against me.") After his election, Roemer advertised in the Wall Street Journal for positions in his cabinet, an unconventional approach in a state known for political patronage. I had hosted the first Earth Day at LSU in 1970, and had led the development of the state's coastal management program. I had never met the governor, but I liked what I had heard him say about pollution. Having complained for years about environmental destruction in Louisiana, I thought it was time to "put up or shut up." So I applied, along with a couple hundred others, to be environmental secretary. I got the job. During my tenure, the DEQ expanded its capacity, helped to draft new laws, drew up new regulations, and stepped up enforcement. With nearly every move to tighten up on pollution
This paper examines relationships among power distribution, the environment, and public health by... more This paper examines relationships among power distribution, the environment, and public health by means of a cross-sectional analysis of the 50 US states. A measure of interstate variations in power distribution is derived from data on voter participation, tax fairness, Medicaid access, and educational attainment. We develop and estimate a recursive model linking the distribution of power to environmental policy, environmental stress, and public health. The results support the hypothesis that greater power inequality leads to weaker environmental policies, which in turn lead to greater environmental degradation and to adverse public health outcomes.
Preliminary management guidelines have been derived for oil and gas activities in coastal Louisia... more Preliminary management guidelines have been derived for oil and gas activities in coastal Louisiana. Derivation of these guidelines was done in terms of the natural function of the coastal ecosystem; this means that all economic activities should be designed to complement natural function as much as possible. The guidelines range in scope from very specific, almost performance standards, to very
China's economic growth over the past several decades has been among the highest in the world. It... more China's economic growth over the past several decades has been among the highest in the world. It has been fueled by cheap fossil fuel energy so energy consumption has risen rapidly, but there are signs that negative feedbacks in the form of waste and inefficiency may affect future development. If energy throughput exceeds the capacity of the environment to process the inevitable waste from production then the development may not be sustainable. We calculate economic diversity using an energy flow network analysis method to explore the relationships of development policy, energy use, efficiency and sustainable development. China and its provinces are presented as a case study and the development status of each province in China is presented. China's development policy does not appear to be sustainable over the period 1985-1998 because of unsustainable energy consumption trends and declining economic diversity. An energy consumption tax is proposed for increasing diversity and dealing with increasing energy consumption in China.
... River Delta has experienced a relative sea level rise (RSLR) and thus serves as an analogy or... more ... River Delta has experienced a relative sea level rise (RSLR) and thus serves as an analogy ormodel for what can ... We conclude that coastal wetlands can be man-aged to survive rising sea level, but that only comprehensive, integrated, long-term planning can effectively ...
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The purpose of this paper is to outline a recently developed environmental management tool, the e... more The purpose of this paper is to outline a recently developed environmental management tool, the environmental scorecard. The scorecard is an incentive-based instrument which established an explicit formula for determining the percentage of a property tax exemption a facility would receive. Tax exemption programs are typical economic development tools. However, they traditionally do not incorporate other factors than development criteria. This creates the possibility that economic development inducements can be contrary to environmental goals. The scorecard was designed to bridge the gap between the use of pure development and pure environmental management tools. It was actually implemented in Louisiana for one year before it was terminated for political reasons. This paper illustrates the application and costs to firms of the implemented scorecard.
Ecosystem management is a structured process for society to define what ecological condition is d... more Ecosystem management is a structured process for society to define what ecological condition is desired at each part of a region and to develop and implement management policies designed to achieve that mosaic of desired sustainable ecological conditions (US MAB 1994, IEMTF 1995a, 1995b, Christensen et al. 1996, Harwell et al. 1996, Harwell 1998). Ideally, the establishment of ecological goals involves a close linkage between scientists and decision makers, in which science informs decision makers and the public by characterizing the ecological conditions that are achievable under particular management regimes, and decision makers make choices reflecting societal values, including issues of economics, politics, and culture. Because ecosystem management is adaptive-that is, man-This framework is driven from the top down by the societal goals for ecosystem integrity and from the bottom up by detailed scientific measurements of ecosystem conditions agement is adjusted if necessary to achieve goals-the general public, the scientific community, resource managers, and decision makers need to be routinely apprised of progress toward achieving the desired ecological goals, that is, they need a "report card" on ecosystem condition or integrity. The concept of report cards or performance measurements to describe progress toward environmental goals has evolved over the past few decades as environmental legislation and the appropriation of public funds for environmental restoration, preservation, and management have increased. Over this time, reports have expanded from measurement of the effects of single initiatives (e.g., land acquisition goals for parks and protected areas) and progress toward pollution reduction in single media (e.g., reduction of air or water emissions) to encompass the broader and longer-term regional ecosystem management and restoration approaches that have been developing in highly valued ecosystems throughout the country (e.g., the Greater Everglades, San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Northwest). These holistic, often multi-agency efforts to maintain accountability for regional ecosystem integrity and the progress of restoration activities stem in part from the proactive desire of resource managers to maintain public interest, support, and, consequently, funding for long-term environmental restoration and management efforts. They also stem in part from specific legislative or regulatory requirements to engage the public in the ecosystem management process (e.g.
Industrial economies ingest materials, energy and information to produce goods and services and e... more Industrial economies ingest materials, energy and information to produce goods and services and excrete wastes and emissions. Wastes can be minimized and the relative amounts of resources, which go into goods and services, as opposed to waste, are essential to clean production and to the sustainability of the production system. A regression model based on empirical data is presented that provides a partition coefficient expressing the ratio of energy (or material) resources invested in goods to energy going to waste. Partition coefficients are developed for five countries and are shown to be related to GDP, energy and material consumption and energy and waste intensities. Higher partition coefficients mean higher productivity and lower energy, waste and material intensities. In addition, energy use/capita and pollution/capita is lower. The price of energy to the industrial sector is related to the partition coefficient. The policy implications are that partitioning of resources to goods should be maximized and waste minimized for economic as well as environmental reasons.
Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2004
As industrial economies develop over time they become more complex with more components mutually ... more As industrial economies develop over time they become more complex with more components mutually interacting via additional interconnections. The changes are manifested in properties that emerge over time. Some emergent properties are proposed here and tested with empirical data, where available. Diversity, energy and material intensities, and production capacity are examined and tested at a macro level using data from the states of the USA. All are found to be related to the degree of development represented by Gross State Product. Diversity is related to the number of energy flows through the energy consuming sectors and the allocation of energy use across sectors. Although data is limited for energy consumption by sector the diversity calculated here relates to a number of other physical and economic variables, including the proportion of waste recycled. Other emergent properties of economic systems are suggested and discussed but not tested. The relationships between diversity and energy and waste intensities are illustrated using data from Japan.
This paper describes microcomputer applications used to study urban ozone. It provides a capsule ... more This paper describes microcomputer applications used to study urban ozone. It provides a capsule description of some of the analytical findings and summarizes the use of a variety of different software systems. INTRODUCTION A dominant relationship that humans have with the environment is the simple act of breathing, which can be hazardous to one's health in many major cities of the world. Urban air quality is measured by its ozone level in parts per million volume (ppmv). Levels of ozone exceeding 120 ppmv are termed exceedences, for they violate the National Ambient Air Quality standard. Exceedences were recorded in communitities with a combined population of 63 million people in the U.S. during the past several years. The economic impacts of being in a region where exceedences occur is significant due to limitations imposed on industrial growth and, in some instances, vehicular restrictions; and the health impacts are of a growing concern [1].
International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, Sep 1, 1995
SUMMARY This paper examines the relationship of economic scale, as reflected in a country's e... more SUMMARY This paper examines the relationship of economic scale, as reflected in a country's energy throughput, to that of renewable energy flows through the supporting ecosystem. The renewable flow is net primary productivity (NPP) and is calculated by country and grouped by income per capita levels. The use of fossil fuels first rises and then declines relative to available renewable energies as gross national product (GNP) per capita rises, suggesting that sustainability may be feasible in developed countries if energy efficiency is pursued rigorously. A strong sustainability condition requiring only renewable energy use is investigated by calculating GNP with two levels of NPP energy. Excess GNP (i.e. beyond current levels) is shown to be positive in developing countries but negative in developed countries, suggesting that a reduction in GNP is in order for developed economies or that additional renewable supplies must be found. The ‘energy intensity’-i.e. the energy used to generate a dollar (or a giv...
An empirical equity measure involving energy, taxes, and pollution is developed and analyzed stat... more An empirical equity measure involving energy, taxes, and pollution is developed and analyzed statistically with economic, environmental, energy, and sustainability indicators. The pollution equity measure is an emissions‐to‐jobs ratio, the energy measure is the ratio of energy prices of the residential sector to the industrial sector, and the tax measure is the ratio of regressive tax revenues to progressive tax
... Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water ... p... more ... Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water ... perceived to be linked to emissions from a nearby manufacturing or waste disposal facility. ... In this sense, outrage over the perceived risk associated with a new technology or facility may ...
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