Politics and Corporate‐Sector Environmentally Significant Actions: The Effects of Political Partisanship on U.S. Utilities Energy Efficiency Policies

This study assesses the direct, indirect, and total impacts of political partisanship on state‐level utilities' investment in energy efficiency. This subject is of utmost importance because energy efficiency improvement has become a linchpin in worldwide efforts to combat climate change and other environmental challenges. Analysis of data on 51 electric utilities nested within 31 U.S. states indicates that political partisanship influences utilities' energy efficiency policies. There is strong evidence that electric utilities in states dominated by the Republican Party are less likely to invest in energy efficiency than those in states governed by the Democratic Party. This finding suggests that political partisanship may be shaping the policy and regulatory frameworks put in place by state governments to incentivize or compel the participation of private‐sector entities' in environmental management and/or resource conservation.     

论公众环境诉权的实现--对完善《环境保护法》第6条的思考

公众有权就环境问题提起诉讼是公众参与环境保护的主要形式 ,也是环境法实施的重要途径。但我国《宪法》和《环境保护法》仅对公众的环境诉权作了原则性规定 ,公众环境诉权缺乏程序性保障而难以实现。纵观国外在保障公众环境诉权方面 ,是不断放宽环境诉讼原告资格的过程。修订我国环境法有关环境诉讼的程序性规定 ,建立环境公众诉讼制度 ,是环境权从应有权利到实有权利的必由之路。     

论环境权的要素及与其他权利的界限

环境权作为环境法学核心问题之一,是随着世界环境危机和环境保护运动而生的晚近事物,其性质、内容均具有不确定性。应以环境权的私权化为前提,并以此为基础设计环境权的要素之边界,从而使环境权和其他权利在私法体系中协调共处。     

论地方环境立法公正和效率价值的平衡

我国地域辽阔,域内自然环境差别较大,其决定了地方环境立法居于不可或缺的地位。地方环境立法应兼顾公正和效率价值平衡,并坚持"效率优先、实现公正"的立法价值取向。地方政府应当对当地新生环境问题结合当地经济、技术、自然实际情况及环境保护的需要及时立法,并对不适时的地方法规进行及时修改,实现地方环境法制系统公正和效率价值的最大化追求。     

Negotiating Effective International Environmental Agreements: Is an Objective Approach to Differential Treatment Possible?

The negotiation of international environmental agreements is rendered less effective and more costly than necessary on account of the incentives for rent seeking. This article argues that the problem of rent seeking in this context is complicated by the legitimate demand for the differential treatment of relevant heterogeneity, when insufficient information is available to distinguish between demands based on legitimate differences and rent-seeking. In order to reduce the overall costliness of the totality of international resource agreements, the general rule should be that differential treatment should be provided only in exceptional circumstances. A corollary to this rule is that differences that do not affect future negotiating costs may be considered in current negotiations. This points to differences that are exogenous to the bargaining process, such as a country's physical location. It is argued that development status of a country is another such factor, since the incentives to pursue development are unlikely to be affected by its recognition in current negotiations. Furthermore, the failure to recognise development status as a legitimate basis for differentiated treatment implicitly rewards the early identification and exploitation of unmanaged resources. Restriction of differential treatment to a small number of such differences enables the focusing of negotiations, and the structuring of discussions. A case study of the Montreal Protocol illustrates how the differential impacts of a uniform standard may be estimated, once the range of impacts is delimited.     

环境治理中公众参与模式的战略性认知与建构

当前,世界各国都面临各种各样的环境问题。从根本上看,环境问题不仅仅是简单的自然问题,而是包含错综利益的政治问题和社会问题。20世纪以来的各类环境公害事件使西方各国将环境治理放在国家治理的重要位置,并逐渐形成环境治理的不同模式,而公众对于环境治理领域的广泛参与是西方各国环境治理呈现的共性特征。在我国,政府几乎成为环境治理的唯一主体,而作为环境污染直接受体的公众却被严重边缘化,这是造成我国环境治理"局部好转,整体恶化"局面的重要原因。为此,必须加深对我国环境治理中公众参与模式的认知,构建良性的模式运行基础,以改变愈发严峻的"环境赤字"局面。     

构建现代环境治理体系中地方政府的创造性执行

坚持和完善生态文明制度体系,构建现代环境治理体系,需要地方政府的创造性执行,把生态文明的制度优势转化为生态环境保护和环境治理效能,切实改善环境质量,不断满足人民日益增长的优美生态环境需要,建设美丽中国。推动地方政府的创造性执行,要建立必要的制度保障,核心就是地方政府推动发展的强力激励与地方政府生态环境主导责任落实的制度能够相容,还需要构建合宜的运行机理,即执行要落地、规划要协同、执法要服务。     

WTO与环保有关的贸易条款评析

WTO《马拉喀什建立世界贸易组织协定》、GATT1 994、《技术性贸易壁垒协定》、《实施卫生与植物卫生措施协定》、《补贴与反补贴措施协定》、《农业协定》、《服务贸易总协定》和《与贸易有关的知识产权协定》以及《政府采购协定》中均含有与环境保护有关的贸易条款。如何应对与运用这些条款并推动它们的进一步完善 ,是我们面临的重要问题 ,而这一问题的解决必须建立在对它们的深刻理解的基础上。     

环境侵权行为之界定

环境侵权行为是随着环境问题的出现而产生的,是一种特殊侵权行为,其具有不同于一般侵权行为的特征,如行为主体的不平等性;行为方式的间接性;行为过程的缓慢性以及行为后果的公害性。环境侵权行为侵害的对象主要是公民的环境权,而且违法性不是环境侵权民事责任的必要条件。