Isn’t There a Better Way? (No, There Isn’t)

2019 ◽  
pp. 53-72
Author(s):  
Gilbert E. Metcalf

This chapter reviews alternative approaches to putting a price on pollution to control greenhouse gas emissions. It reviews the history of the Clean Air Act and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and demonstrates that these policies cut pollution at a much higher cost than by simply putting a price on pollution. It also reviews subsidies for clean energy, state-level renewable portfolio standards, and information and voluntary programs and demonstrates that a carbon tax is superior to any of these alternatives.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13282
Author(s):  
Parvez Mia ◽  
Tarek Rana ◽  
Lutfa Tilat Ferdous

This paper examines the effect of two Australian environmental regulatory changes, specifically the Clean Energy Act (CEA) 2011 and the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act 2007 with reference to voluntary corporate carbon disclosure practices. In doing so, it describes the brief history of this carbon-related regulatory change, its scope, enforcement criteria and corporations’ disclosures. This is a longitudinal analysis of 219 annual reports of 73 listed corporations in Australia which were subjected to carbon tax and report carbon emissions as per the CEA 2011 and NGER Act 2007 accordingly. Any corporation or facility that emitted scope 1 emissions of 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) or more were liable for a carbon tax in accordance with CEA 2011. Drawing on stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory, this study uses content analysis to examine corporate carbon disclosure. The findings suggest there is a considerable increase in the number of carbon-related disclosures following these regulations being enacted as law. In addition, carbon-specific communication has become much more prevalent and accounts for a larger proportion of the sampled organisations’ reported environmental information. The results of this study enrich the validity of the hypothesis that organisations would seek to legitimise their operations to stakeholders by increasing their environment-related declarations. The evidence presented in the analysis confirms the assertion that government environmental legislation/regulation has a positive impact on corporate behaviour and accountability. These findings have significant consequences for the government, decision-makers and the accounting profession, indicating that regulatory guidance enhances both mandatory and voluntary disclosure. It also offers key insights into the possible impacts of the carbon regulatory change for future research to consider.


Author(s):  
Kathryn M. de Luna

This chapter uses two case studies to explore how historians study language movement and change through comparative historical linguistics. The first case study stands as a short chapter in the larger history of the expansion of Bantu languages across eastern, central, and southern Africa. It focuses on the expansion of proto-Kafue, ca. 950–1250, from a linguistic homeland in the middle Kafue River region to lands beyond the Lukanga swamps to the north and the Zambezi River to the south. This expansion was made possible by a dramatic reconfiguration of ties of kinship. The second case study explores linguistic evidence for ridicule along the Lozi-Botatwe frontier in the mid- to late 19th century. Significantly, the units and scales of language movement and change in precolonial periods rendered visible through comparative historical linguistics bring to our attention alternative approaches to language change and movement in contemporary Africa.


2017 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 693-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Lelieveld

In atmospheric chemistry, interactions between air pollution, the biosphere and human health, often through reaction mixtures from both natural and anthropogenic sources, are of growing interest. Massive pollution emissions in the Anthropocene have transformed atmospheric composition to the extent that biogeochemical cycles, air quality and climate have changed globally and partly profoundly. It is estimated that mortality attributable to outdoor air pollution amounts to 4.33 million individuals per year, associated with 123 million years of life lost. Worldwide, air pollution is the major environmental risk factor to human health, and strict air quality standards have the potential to strongly reduce morbidity and mortality. Preserving clean air should be considered a human right, and is fundamental to many sustainable development goals of the United Nations, such as good health, climate action, sustainable cities, clean energy, and protecting life on land and in the water. It would be appropriate to adopt “clean air” as a sustainable development goal.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Omeziri

In 2010, forty-two million people worldwide were displaced from their homes due to environmental causes. These environmental migrants lack international recognition and have no recourse to the protections of the international refugee regime. This paper examines contradictions inherent in the environmental migration concept, and argues that state-level migration policies related to issues of environmental displacement are reactive and ad hoc in nature. Examining Canadian and US migration policies, this paper demonstrates that national governments have developed a "wait and see" approach towards environmental displacement. With a long history of responding to incidences of displacement, Canada is an important country in terms of its refugee resettlement policies. Accordingly, a review of Canadian refugee policy will provide insights relating to the policy response of western countries to future incidences of environmental displacement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 267-280
Author(s):  
Radosław Zarzecki

Determinants of Reconciliation in Cambodia Forty years after Cambodian genocide the reconciliation is still in early stage. Despite such long time there was almost nothing done, especially in 20th century, to make that process happened. The article discusses the determinants, reasons and factors that had impact on reconciliation. Determinants can be divided into different categories. First of all the socio-historical background. Circumstances in which Khmer Rouge come to power, their revolutionary approach to economy, implemented reforms, use of children, displacements of people and categorization of citizens had great impact on post-1979 Cambodia. Another determinant is a political one. Policy of post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia rulers stunted the reconciliation. There reason of such actions are multidimensional but the most important one is provenance of People’s Republic of Kampuchea leaders. The most important figures in Cambodia politics are ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers, accused by some of taking a part in genocide. What’s even more confusing, the most powerful opposition party in 1980s were perpetrators themselves and their allies. Even after signing Paris Peace Accords in 1991 until early 2000s there was no will to punish Khmer Rouge officials responsible for genocide. The Cambodian culture of silence, the third determinant, only exacerbates a difficult situation. Cambodians rarely speak about atrocities and harsh past because of fear, shame or trauma. Even in school textbooks until 2009 there was almost nothing said about tragic events which happened between 1975 and 1979. History of Democratic Kampuchea still affects the Cambodian society. Despite sentencing few Khmer Rouge officials in 2010s, there’s still lot to be done also on state-level. Reconciliation and coming back to the state of balance is the main challenge for Cambodia in the nearest future, crucially important to social and political life of this nation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAIMUND OTTOW

The author discusses the discourse-theory of the so-called ‘Cambridge School’ (Quentin Skinner, John Pocock), which is favorably compared to alternative approaches in the field of the intellectual history of political thought. Some conceptual problems of this kind of discoursetheory are discussed and some remedies proposed, resulting in the formulation of a general model, which could be applied to contemporary debates, exemplified by a short analysis of the discursive situation of modern liberalism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Author(s):  
Gulmira Mussagulova ◽  
Zulfiya Kassimova

The article is devoted to the consideration and study of the creativity of the most prominent representatives of the musical art of national ethnic groups, the role of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, the identification of various criteria for the relationship of ethnic groups living in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the peculiarities of their life, way of life, spheres of life, their relationship and views on the modern State, created by the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Nursultan Nazarbayev. The core of the projects completed in the period from 2012 to 2017 includes not only historical facts and materials found from the State Archives, Central Scientific Library and the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but also an overview of active participation in many events related to the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, to the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, associated with the considered ethnocultural centers and representatives of certain ethnic groups. Through the media, participation in international scientific and practical conferences, previously unknown facts of the studied ethnic groups were highlighted, and their relationship with the main population of the republic, their contribution to the multinational culture of Kazakhstan, which in turn confirms the prudent, orderly, and wise policy of Elbasy (The Head of the State). The authors use the following methods in the study: historical-chronological, source study, analytical, comparative, and interviewing. Since 2012, in Kazakh musicology, the musical heritage of ethnic groups inhabiting Kazakhstan has been studied. A unique opportunity for a full-fledged study of their work is presented thanks to the activities of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and systematic state policy, under the leadership of the First President. In 2017, the second book, entitled "The Historical Significance of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan in Interethnic Cultural Integration", was published, which became a fruitful result of the research project in 2015–2017. This book is a kind of continuation of the series, which began in the previous collective monograph "The Musical Art of the People of Kazakhstan", which was published at the end of 2014 and has undergone extensive testing not only among professionals, but also among fans of the musical culture of multinational Kazakhstan. Such research projects, which were not previously carried out in the domestic humanitarian science, are significant and in demand, since before their appearance in domestic musicology there were only separate reports on the activities of cultural centers, articles in the media and on Internet sites, a brief analysis of the work of specific masters in publications devoted to the study of the history of musical art of numerous national cultures. They give only fragmentary ideas about the art of the ethnic groups in question. The relevance and insufficient elaboration of these problems served as the basis for the study "The historical significance of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan in interethnic cultural integration", carried out by the Department of Musicology of the M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The implementation of such a complex and significant topic for the national musical art, coverage of the activities of large cultural centers of different ethnic groups, and much more makes it possible to determine the contribution of each of them to the history of Kazakhstan's development and outline ways to preserve the traditional folklore heritage and identity. In this regard, these projects are relevant and socially and politically significant at the state level.


Author(s):  
CHRISTOPH UEHLINGER

This chapter explores the potential use of visual sources, together with the methods employed for studying them, such as iconography or iconology, for the history of ‘ancient Israel’. It describes the theoretical and conceptual framework, particularly the notion of ‘eyewitnessing’, and considers the method, particularly iconography. The chapter also presents case examples chosen from monuments which are so well known to historians of ancient Israel that they are well suited to illustrate both the pitfalls of more conventional interpretations and the potential of alternative approaches. Before turning to the sources – namely visual evidence that may be related to the history of ancient Israel and Judah – the chapter discusses the state of the art among fellow historians in neighbouring disciplines, including those belonging to the so-called ‘humanities’ (or arts and letters). It also considers visual art and history, the metaphor of legal investigation, the balancing of testimony, and the particular status of an eyewitness.


Author(s):  
Claire Whitlinger

This chapter investigates the causal connection between the 2004 commemoration and another racially significant transformation: Mississippi Senate Bill 2718, an education bill mandating civil rights and human rights education in Mississippi schools. Providing historical perspective on the legislation—the first of its kind in the country—the chapter traces its origins to the fortieth anniversary commemoration in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 2004. After providing a brief history of school desegregation in Mississippi and previous efforts to mandate Holocaust education in the state, the chapter demonstrates how the 2004 commemoration and subsequent civil rights trial mobilized a new generation of local memory activists. When joined with institutional resources at the state-level, these developments generated the commemorative capacity for local organizers to institutionalize civil rights memory through curricular change. Thus, in contrast to other multicultural or human rights education mandates, which have typically been outgrowths of large-scale progressive social movements or the diffusion of global norms, Mississippi’s civil and human rights education bill emerged out of local commemorative efforts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 273-307
Author(s):  
Neena Samota

This chapter explores the broader context and history of race-related issues in the UK, considering why racial disparities persist in diverse societies like the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK, before narrowing the focus to race and ethnicity in the sphere of crime and criminal justice. The concepts of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ have long played major roles in both classroom and broader societal discussions about crime, punishment, and justice, but they have arguably never been more present and visible than today. The chapter looks at the problems with the statistics available on race, ethnicity, and crime, noting the ways in which they may not tell the whole story, before considering the statistics themselves as the chapter discusses the relationships between ethnicity and victimisation and offending. It then moves on to how ethnic minorities experience the various elements of the criminal justice system and the disadvantages they often face, before outlining the attempts that have been made to address these disparities at a state level. Finally, the chapter discusses critical race theory, a key theory in modern criminological examinations of race and its relationship to crime and justice, which grew out of the US but has much broader value and relevance as a framework of analysis.


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