Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Carbon Capture: A Technology Assessment, Peter Folger

Congressional Research Service Reports

Carbon capture and sequestration (or carbon capture and storage, CCS) is widely seen as a critical strategy for limiting atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)—the principal “greenhouse gas” linked to global climate change—from power plants and other large industrial sources. This report focuses on the first component of a CCS system, the CO2 capture process. Unlike the other two components of CCS, transportation and geologic storage, the CO2 capture component of CCS is heavily technology-dependent. For CCS to succeed at reducing CO2 emissions from a significant fraction of large sources in the United States, CO2 capture technologies would need to …

Ballast Water Management To Combat Invasive Species, Eugene H. Buck

Congressional Research Service Reports

The 111th Congress may elect to consider legislation (H.R. 500 and S. 237) that has been introduced to amend and reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to further study vessel ballast water management standards and modify how ballast water is handled.

In recent years, many people have become increasingly aware that the globalization of trade, the increased speed of travel, the massive volume of cargo shipments, and rising tourism have combined to increase the chance of accidental introductions of foreign species into the United States. Aquatic species arrive through a variety of mechanisms—unintentionally when attached …

Agricultural Biotechnology: Background And Recent Issues, Tadlock Cowan

Congressional Research Service Reports

U.S. soybean, cotton, and corn farmers have rapidly adopted genetically engineered (GE) varieties of these crops since their commercialization in the mid-1990s. Over the last decade, GE varieties in the United States have increased from 3.6 million acres to 143 million acres. Worldwide, 25 countries planted GE crops on approximately 309 million acres in 2008. GE varieties now dominate soybean, cotton, and corn production in the United States, and they continue to expand rapidly in other countries. As adoption has spread, policy debates have continued over the costs and benefits of GE products.

Ongoing concerns include the impacts of GE …

Wetlands: An Overview Of Issues, Claudia Copeland

Congressional Research Service Reports

Recent Congresses have considered numerous policy topics that involve wetlands. Many reflect issues of long-standing interest, such as applying federal regulations on private lands, wetland loss rates, and restoration and creation accomplishments. In the 110th Congress, a few of the topics were new, such as wetlands provisions in the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246). The 110th Congress also considered wetland topics at the program level, responding to legal decisions and administrative actions affecting the jurisdictional boundary limits of the federal wetland permit program in the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Perhaps the issue receiving the greatest attention has been determining which …

Animal Waste And Water Quality: Epa’S Response To The Waterkeeper Alliance Court Decision On Regulation Of Cafos, Claudia Copeland

Congressional Research Service Reports

In October 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a regulation to revise a 2003 Clean Water Act rule governing waste discharges from large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This action was necessitated by a 2005 federal court decision (Waterkeeper Alliance et al. v. EPA, 399 F.3d 486 (2nd Cir. 2005)), resulting from challenges brought by agriculture industry groups and environmental advocacy groups, that vacated parts of the 2003 rule and remanded other parts to EPA for clarification.

The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants from any “point source” to waters of the United States unless authorized under …

Gray Wolves Under The Endangered Species Act (Esa): Distinct Population Segments And Experimental Populations, Kristina Alexander

Congressional Research Service Reports

The wolf was among the first animals protected under the Endangered Species Preservation Act, a predecessor to the current Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1978 the gray wolf was listed as endangered in all of the conterminous 48 states except Minnesota, where it was listed as threatened. With the exception of experimental populations established in the 1990s, the protections for the gray wolf have been diminishing since that date, as wolf populations have increased in some areas. The use of distinct population segments (DPSs), a term created in the 1978 ESA amendments, has played a role in that reduced protection. …

Capturing Co2 From Coal-Fired Power Plants: Challenges For A Comprehensive Strategy, Larry Parker, Peter Folger

Congressional Research Service Reports

Any comprehensive approach to substantially reduce greenhouse gases must address the world’s dependency on coal for one-quarter of its energy demand, including almost half of its electricity demand. To maintain coal in the world’s energy mix in a carbon-constrained future would require development of a technology to capture and store its carbon dioxide emissions. This situation suggests to some that any greenhouse gas reduction program be delayed until such carbon capture technology has been demonstrated. However, technological innovation and the demands of a carbon control regime are interlinked; a technology policy is no substitute for environmental policy and should be …

Nanotechnology And Environmental, Health, And Safety: Issues For Consideration, John F. Sargent Jr.

Congressional Research Service Reports

Nanotechnology—a term encompassing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology—is focused on understanding, controlling, and exploiting the unique properties of matter that can emerge at scales of one to 100 nanometers. A key issue before Congress regarding nanotechnology is how best to protect human health, safety, and the environment as nanoscale materials and products are researched, developed, manufactured, used, and discarded. While the rapidly emerging field of nanotechnology is believed by many to offer significant economic and societal benefits, some research results have raised concerns about the potential adverse environmental, health, and safety (EHS) implications of nanoscale materials.

Some have described nanotechnology …

Agriculture In The Wto: Limits On Domestic Support, Randy Schnepf

Congressional Research Service Reports

Most of the provisions of the current farm bill, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), do not expire until 2012. However, hearings on the 2012 farm bill have already begun. Congress is in the process of reviewing farm income and commodity price support proposals that might succeed the programs due to expire in 2012.

A key question likely to be asked of virtually every new proposal is how it will affect U.S. commitments under the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture (AA), which commits the United States to spend no more than $19.1 billion annually on domestic farm …

Agricultural Disaster Assistance, Dennis A. Shields, Ralph M. Chite

Congressional Research Service Reports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several permanently authorized programs to help farmers recover financially from a natural disaster, including federal crop insurance, the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), and emergency disaster loans. The federal crop insurance program is designed to protect crop producers from unavoidable risks associated with adverse weather, and weather-related plant diseases and insect infestations. Producers who grow a crop that is currently ineligible for crop insurance may be eligible for a direct payment under NAP. Under the emergency disaster (EM) loan program, when a county has been declared a disaster area by either the …

Hardball, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This year’s holiday cheer has been dampened by a series of events that have shaken Taiwan’s sporting world – the abrupt release by the Sinon Bulls (興農牛) baseball team of All-Star catcher Yeh Chun-chang葉君璋, as well as the fishy circumstances surrounding his aborted attempt to resume his career with the Brother Elephants (兄弟象).

Reminder: China Beat At Aha

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A reminder that China Beat editors, contributors, and readers will be gathering for an informal get-together on Saturday, January 9 at the Marriott Starbucks at 7:30 a.m.

While We Were Away…

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The most distressing news from China over the holidays was the severe sentence (11 years in prison) handed to dissident Liu Xiaobo for his involvement in the writing and organization of Charter ’08 in December 2008. For those who are catching up on this story, a brief set of readings to bring you up to speed on the situation.

Upcoming Events

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few upcoming events that we think will be of interest to China Beat readers:

The China Beat: Lost In Translation Edition

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

1. A trackback on Peter Hessler’s recent China Beat photo essay, “Behind the Wheel, About to Snap” led us to this Spanish-language review of his latest book,Country Driving. If you don’t read Spanish, there’s a button on the page that takes you to a Google translation of the review; while the translation hits a few potholes along the way, it’s a generally good rendition of a perceptive and well-written overview of Hessler’s book.

“An Oasis Of Peace And Quietude”: The 1964/’65 World’S Fair China Pavilion, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

My grandfather took his job as family photographer seriously, and over the course of four decades he produced several huge boxes of slides that my mother has recently begun scanning and digitizing. Mixed in with the usual snapshots of weddings, birthday parties, and holiday gatherings are photos he took during a family trip to the 1964/’65 World’s Fair in New York.

Blogging Aas 2010 (4), Graham Sanders

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This panel attempted to think through a number of issues related to gossip and rumor in traditional China. Paola Zamperini of Amhest College presided over the affair in truly breathtaking Edwardian piratical style. Incisive comments were provided by Robert Hymes of Columbia University. Hymes asked the question of whether or not gossip was normative or subversive, suggesting that there was very little in any of the papers that could be taken as a subversive reading of gossip. Rather, gossip in each case tended to affirm or reaffirm normative social hierarchies and values.

What I Read On My Summer Vacation (Part Iii), Jeffrey Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I’ll get to books I actually read over the summer (or in one case, am part of the way through as I write), as opposed to simply ones I dipped into, learned about, wrote about, or thought about, in a minute. First, though, I want to mention briefly a trio of book-related summertime activities of mine that don’t quite fit into the format of this series.

Dialectic Tensions Experienced By Resettled Sudanese Refugees In Mediating Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An increasing number of global migrants are refugees who have fled religious, racial, ethnic, or other political persecution. As these refugee populations have grown, governmental and nonprofit organizations have emerged to help mediate the resettlement experience. The current study explores the dialectical tensions Sudanese refugees face in communicating with the organizations designed to make their resettlement successful. Sudanese refugees participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences communicating with mediating organizations. Four dialectical tensions emerged from participants’ stories about their communication in and with mediating organizations: (a) dissemination and dialogue, (b) emancipation and control, (c) empowerment and oppression, and (d) integration …

Discursive Struggles In Families Formed Through Visible Adoption: An Exploration Of Dialectical Unity, Meredith Marko Harrigan, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Grounded in the interpretive paradigm and framed by relational dialectics theory, the present study addressed the question: What discourses interpenetrate to reflect dialectical unity as parents communicate about their child’s adoption? Interviews with 40 parents across 31 visibly adoptive families—families with an obvious lack of biological connection—highlighted four instances of dialectical unity resulting from the following discursive struggles: (a) pride and imperfection; (b) love, constraint, and sacrifice; (c) difference, pride, and enrichment; and (d) legitimacy, expansion, similarity, and difference. Each struggle contains seemingly disparate discourses that, in combination, contribute to how parents discursively make sense of adoption. Practical implications of …

Annual Review Of The World Pheasant Association, 2009/2010, World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Reports and Other Materials

Chairman of Trustees' report.Tim Lovel

Treasurer's report for the year ended April 30, 2010, Ian Hoggarth

WPA around the world highlights from the chapters

Overview of the year's conservation activities, Philip J. K. McGowan

Making the Most of Resources

The IUCN-SSC/WPA Galliformes Specialist Group: A global network of technical excellence,Peter J. Garson and Ilse Storch

Highlights from the European Conservation Breeding Group, Heiner Jacken

Rejuvenating the United Kingdom Gaillformes census

Keeping count of Europe's Galliformes,Siro Serena

Developing conservation science leaders, Huw Lloyd

Planning to save our most threatened species, Philip J. K. McGowan

Just how important are Galliformes to humans? …

Reading Round-Up: Google And China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Stories about Google’s announcement that it will no longer censor its Chinese search engine, and that the company is reevaluating its presence in China, have been showing up at a breakneck speed over the past two days. While we anticipate that much more will be written about this development, here are some of the pieces that have caught our attention so far:

Sheep In Wolves’ Clothing? The Book The Han Nationalists Love To Loath, James Leibold

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

What book could cause one Chinese netizen to “shiver with fear from head to toe” and others to suggest that the Han people might once again face genocide? Wolf Totem (狼图腾), the semi-autobiographical polemic of Han author Lü Jiamin 吕嘉民 (aka Jiang Rong 姜戎) and his confessional self-awakening about the beauty, strength and freedom of the Mongolian steppe and its lupine culture.

Penny For A Photo

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

“In the Tibetan town of Tagong, Western Sichuan, this local poses enthusiastically for my camera.

Aha Update: Conference On Asian History Luncheon

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A quick note to call your attention to a scheduling change at this week’s American Historical Association meeting in San Diego:

China Beat At Aha

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

For those attending the American Historical Association meeting in San Diego next week:

Mao Fever And The Story Of A Mao Book, Ross Terrill

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

No abstract provided.

As China Beat Heads Into Its Third Year…, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In January, we marked the end of our second year online. China Beat has changed a lot during that time, and will be changing more in the coming weeks and months as China Beat’s new editor, Maura Cunningham, takes the helm. It’s been my pleasure to have been founding editor of China Beat, and as I transition to a new role at the blog (I will now join the ranks of the blog’s consulting editors), I wanted to look back at how China Beat has developed since January 2008—for new readers and for readers who have been with us since …

A Seventh Take On Jacques, Harald Bockman

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Since Jeff Wasserstrom posted a round-up of reviews of Martin Jacques’ When China Rules the World, pieces that reference the book have continued to be published, including a column by Robert Samuelson at the Wall Street Journalthat calls Jacques’ book ”masterful.” Jacques, meanwhile, published another op-ed on China and the US last week titled ”Crouching Dragon, Weakened Eagle” in the International Herald Tribune. Below, Harald Bockman raises his concerns about the on-going attention Jacques’ book is receiving, and points out—despite that attention—the weakness in the book that most reviewers are still missing.

Reading Round-Up: Barack Obama And The Dalai Lama

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

There have been plenty of news stories recently about today’s meeting between Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama. Here are some suggestions for further reading (and viewing):