Environmental Studies Commons^™

Climate Duties, Human Rights And Historic Emissions, Derek Bell

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The problem of global climate change cannot be resolved without the cooperation of both China and the USA. However, neither government appears close to signing up to mandatory emissions reductions. Both nations defend their climate policies by appealing to ideas of fairness, equity and justice. This paper outlines the arguments offered by Chinese opponents of mandatory emissions reductions, highlighting three central claims about historical responsibility, ability to pay and the right to development. The first part of the paper examines these claims, the arguments supporting them, the relationships among them and their implications for a just global climate regime. Two …

Mitigation Of Short-Lived Greenhouse Gases As The Foundation For A Fair And Effective Climate Compromise Between China And The West, Frances C. Moore, Michael C. Maccracken

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Short-lived greenhouse gases that also contribute to air pollution are playing a major role in global warming. Black carbon alone is likely the second or third most important climate forcing agent. The short atmospheric lifetime of these pollutants means that, unlike CO2, reducing emissions produces a decrease in atmospheric concentration and a reduction of the radiative forcing that drives climate change. Black carbon and tropospheric ozone also have large negative effects at the regional and local level contributing substantially to indoor and urban air pollution and the formation of Atmospheric Brown Clouds that disrupt regional climate. Moreover, technologies to reduce …

Differentiating (Historic) Responsibilities For Climate Change : Exploring The Case Of China, Christian Ellermann, Niklas Höhne

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Following the conclusion of the official work of the Ad hoc group for the modelling and assessment of contributions of climate change (MATCH), this paper takes a look on the politically more sensitive aspect of the Brazilian Proposal, namely the issue of differentiating (historic) responsibility for, and not merely (causal) contribution to climate change. Its aim is (i) to highlight the fact that, while related, the two issues (‘contribution to’ and ‘responsibility for’) are fundamentally different and should not be confused, (ii) to propose a methodology of calculating shares of responsibilities as opposed to the shares in causal contribution arrived …

The Right To Equal Aspirations And The Obligation To Be Different, As A Basis For A Common Future, Olivia Bina

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

By virtue of its sheer size and growth trajectory, China knows it cannot be ignored. The question is whether it can offer leadership in terms of greater responsibility, both towards its own people and the rest of the world. The climate change crisis is the ultimate expression of unsustainable patterns of growth. Based on this perspective of the climate change debate, I explore the theme of responsibility as traditionally focused around the need to limit emissions, but also in terms of the obligation to pursue development aspirations through a different path. I consider the argument that China’s leadership has an …

The Chinese [Climate] Box : A Scalar Approach To Evaluating Ethical Obligations In Climate Strategies For China, Erich W. Schienke

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Assuming that all nations have the ethical obligation to reduce emissions to their global fair share, this paper investigates how distributive and procedural justice obligations, under the broader rubric of Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change program, play out across various political and ecological scales in China. As China is such a large and necessary player in any global strategies for addressing climate change, it is imperative that the nation receive closer ethical investigation across scales and sectors, and that other nations and multi-national corporations do their fair share in helping China's various regions and sectors reach its obligations in a …

Social Economic And Political Aspects Of Climate Change, Anandi Sharan

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Instead of the notion that “developing countries will be able to use emission backed currency units to pay off their debts”, we find “developing countries must forgive developed countries their $ debts so that the ecbu-based climate regime can be introduced.” Looking at foreign debt as it stands, India may not yet have an interest in an emission backed currency unit (ecbu), and other developing countries might or might not either, or too, not until the dollar mess is sorted out. More important before the introduction of the emission backed currency unit is the demise of the dollar economies and …

Global Sustainability, Climate Change And China : The Need For A New Paradigm For International Cooperation, Mukul Sanwal

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The basic assumptions of global environmental sustainability around international cooperation that were laid out fifty years ago no longer hold. This common understanding was based on the fact of the historical responsibility of developed countries for causing the pollution – developed countries would do whatever has to be done and support developing countries through provision of financial resources and technology. Therefore, to ensure global sustainability, we have to seriously consider whether adopting a defensive posture in the ongoing climate negotiations is the best policy or, with the balance of economic power shifting out of the United States and Europe to …

Getting Hotter : How Could China’S Climate Change Policy Trajectory Impact A Post-Kyoto Accord?, Gloria Jean Gong

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China’s unprecedented economic growth has given rise to equally rapid increases in greenhouse gas emissions. China has already ratified the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols, yet as the international community looks beyond Kyoto, China’s willingness to adhere to binding emissions standards remains a critical question. This study describes and analyzes the factors that influence China’s possible participation in a binding greenhouse gas emissions treaty. Existing international treaty compliance models often overlook China’s own official policies and stances toward such treaties. This study examines China’s current climate change policy, historical adjustments of that policy, and potential future trajectory to determine the factors …

Two Logics Of Climate Change Games : Environmental Governance And Know-How Competition, Hongyuan Yu

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Global warming and the resulting climate change present the world with major and potentially devastating challenges. They lead to environmental degradation/scarcity and a radical reform of the energy mix among industrial countries, in addition to other nontraditional security concerns.2 From the 1992 Rio Summit through the Kyoto Conference and the Bali Roadmap, a generation has passed since the world's governments began to seriously consider the problems of global warming and the resulting climate change. It is now patently clear that the world should get together to combat the climate disaster. However, we are always confused with two questions: why has …

Climate Change, Water, And China’S Security : Implications For Global Cooperation On Climate Change, Scott Moore

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

This paper links the issues of climate change, water, and China’s security, arguing that the water-related impacts of climate change post significant strategic challenges for China and Asia, with consequent implications for China’s participation and engagement in global climate change cooperation efforts. Specifically, water-related climate impacts will strain the capacity of many key public institutions, and imperil the government’s strategic development objectives. Recognizing these imperatives points the way toward a strategic dialogue with China on climate change. This paper first discusses scientific assessments of predicted hydrological changes in China and neighboring countries under climate change, progressing to a security analysis …

Introduction, Paul G. Harris

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

In December 2009, diplomats will meet in Copenhagen to finalize what many hope will be a strong agreement to fight global warming and climate change. They will grapple with how to address these problems in light of new scientific findings showing that the adverse effects of global warming are happening sooner and are more severe than scientists predicted only a year or two ago. Some countries, notably in Europe, have started to take serious steps to limit and in several cases reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

However, those efforts have been very slow in coming, …

It's All Happening At The Zoo: Children's Environmental Learning After School, Jason A. Douglas, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

Pairing dynamic out-of-school-time (OST) programs with zoos can encourage young people's relationships with and sense of responsibility for animals and the environment. The project presented in this article, Animal Rescuers, gave the authors the opportunity to examine how such a pairing can work. OST programs enable learning in settings that are generally unavailable during school time (Honig & McDonald, 2005). They provide space for collaboration among students, teachers, and others such as program visitors or outside educators. Taking advantage of the flexibility, location, and educational playfulness of an OST setting, the authors worked intensively with a small number of 10-12-year-old …

Results Of Archeological Monitoring Of Spur 3, Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas 2000-2007, Barbara M. Meissner, Steve A. Tomka, Jennifer A. Thompson, Raymond P. Mauldin

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report is the second volume in a two volume set (see Jackson et al. 2004) detailing the archeological work conducted at site 41NU2 over several years. This volume focuses on the results of construction monitoring associated with road improvements to Spur 3, in Corpus Christi. The work was conducted under Texas Antiquities Committee Permit Number 2445, originally issued to Dr. Robert Hard, who served as the Principal Investigator during the early phases of the project. In 2001, the permit was transferred to Dr. Raymond P. Mauldin, who served as the Principal Investigator the remainder of the project.

Documentation Of Unassociated And Culturally Unidentifiable Funerary Objects In The U. S. Army Corps Of Engineers, Fort Worth District Collections Housed At The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory At The University Of Texas At Austin, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Cast, Bobby Gonzalez, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report concerns the documentation of unassociated Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) funerary objects from prehistoric sites at several man-made reservoirs operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District (COE) in northeastern Texas: Lake Wright Patman, Lake O’ the Pines, and Lake Sam Rayburn in the Sulphur River, Big Cypress Creek, and Angelina River basins, respectively. These NAGPRA materials are presently held at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL).

Documentation Of The Native American Ceramic Vessels From Northeastern Texas, Southern Arkansas, And Eastern Oklahoma In The Boyce Smith Museum In Troup, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Boyce Smith Museum opened in 1968 with the purpose of displaying a large collection of Historic artifacts as well as Native American artifacts collected and/or purchased over the years by Mr. Boyce Smith of Troup, Texas, now deceased. After learning of the museum in 2002, and taking a short visit to the museum at that time, it was apparent that the Boyce Smith Museum contained an important collection of Native American ceramic vessels that warranted documentation. With the permission of Jo Beth Smith, the wife of Boyce Smith, and their son Rial Smith, we returned to the Boyce Smith …

Caddo Pottery Vessels And Pipes From Sites In The Middle And Upper Sabine And Upper Neches River Basins, Smith And Wood Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Shawn Marceaux, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report documents two collections of Caddo ceramic vessels and pipes from sites of prehistoric to early historic age in Smith and Wood counties, Texas, in the upper Sabine and upper Neches river basins in East Texas. Most of these Caddo artifacts are from the J. A. Walters collection, with the remainder being from the Bernie Ward collection.

Prehistoric Artifact Assemblages From Sites Along Hickory Creek In The Davy Crockett National Forest, Houston County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The National Forests and Grasslands (U.S.D.A. Forest Service) in Texas (NFGT) conducted Passports in Time (PIT) projects in 2006 and 2007 on Hickory Creek in the Davy Crockett National Forest, Houston County, Texas. The work—varying in extent—took place at four prehistoric archeological sites: 41HO13, HC-1, Hickory Creek #2 (HC-2), and HC-3, with the majority of the work occurring at HC-2.

We learned of the PIT projects at the sites in April 2007, when John Ippolitto, then Heritage Program Manager for the NFGT, mentioned the project to Perttula at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held in Austin, …

Documentation Of Caddo Funerary Objects In The Gilcrease Museum Collections, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters, Robert Cast, Bobby Gonzalez

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report is the latest in a series of reports produced and published by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, Historic Preservation Program, that concern the documentation of funerary objects in museum facilities that are subject to the provisions and regulations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). These documentation studies have been done either with grants from the National Park Service, or through funding provided by the museum facility. In the case of the present study of Caddo funerary objects in the collections at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the documentation effort was supported by a …

Prehistoric Caddo Ceramics From The Henry Lake Site (41ce324), Cherokee County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Tom Middlebrook

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This article discusses the character of the Caddo ceramics from a single component Frankston phase (ca. A.D. 1400-1650) occupation at the Henry Lake site (41CE324) in northwestern Cherokee County, Texas. This follows a brief discussion of the history of the site, and we conclude this article with a consideration of the temporal and cultural place of the site's Caddo ceramic assemblage within the upper Neches River basin.

Prehistoric Ceramics From The Browning Site (41sm195a), Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Archaeological work at the Browning site (4JSM195A) in eastern Smith County, Texas, has shown that it is a stratified site with two very distinct occupations: an early nineteenth century assemblage of artifacts in the upper zone overlying a buried prehistoric occupation. This occupation appears to be confined to the Woodland time period (ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 800) with little evidence of any earlier or later prehistoric activity. The Woodland period in East Texas is a time of important cultural changes, "the most obvious (and most important?) of which is pottery-making and the bow and arrow."

The main focus of …

The Ceramics From A Late Caddo Site On Mud Creek In Cherokee County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This article discusses the character of a large assemblage of prehistoric Caddo vessel sherds from a Late Caddo site (41CE309) on Mud Creek in Cherokee County, Texas, not far from the creek's confluence with the Angelina River. The site was discovered by Bill Young, an avocational archaeologist and Texas Archeological Steward, on a terrace of Mud Creek, just west of the city of Reklaw, Texas.

During the course of a number of visits to the site in the 1980s, more than 2300 ceramic sherds were collected by Young, most of the sherds being found in the central part of the …

History Of The East Texas Caddoan/Caddo Research Group, 1996-2008, Timothy K. Perttula, Tom Middlebrook

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Recently, the senior author of this article has been working with Hester Davis (Arkansas Archeological Survey) regarding the editing of her manuscript on the history of the Caddo Conference, which had its 50th meeting in March 2008. In her manuscript she laments the fact that there is very little time being spent by its participants in keeping track of its history: either in the form of transcripts of the meetings, notes on each conference, saving photographs and images, or actively maintaining an archive of materials resulting from each Conference. Davis pointed out that it was important to maintain a record …

Frankston Phase Ceramics From The Alcoa #1 (41an87) Site, Mound Prairie Creek, Anderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In 1990, Amick investigated a well-preserved Late Caddo Frankston phase midden deposit at the ALCOA #1 (41AN87) site on Mound Prairie Creek, about 7 km northeast of Palestine, Texas. During the course of that work, more than 900 Caddo ceramic vessel sherds and a few pipe sherds were recovered, but they were only cursorily described by Amick. That was unfortunate at the time because it appeared then, and is still evident now, that the ALCOA #I site was a single component 15th century A.D. Frankston phase settlement, and detailed study of the recovered ceramic assemblage would have provided unique insights …

Caddo Ceramics From An Early 18th Century Spanish Mission In East Texas: Mission San Jose De Los Nasonis (41rk200), Timothy K. Perttula, Bill Young, P. Shawn Marceaux

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Mission San Jose de los Nasonis (4JRK200) and two contemporaneous Nasoni Caddo sites (41RK191 and 41RK197) were located by Mr. Bill Young more than 25 years ago in the southern part of Rusk County, Texas after the general area of the site had been cleared of timber. The mission site covers ca. 6.6 acres of an upland ridge along a small tributary to the Angelina River; the ridge projects into the Angelina River floodplain. The topographic setting of Mission San Jose conforms in all particulars to the settings of other known mission sites established among the Caddo: small hills adjacent …

Late Caddo Ceramics From 41he337 In Henderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Site 41HE337 is a Late Caddo settlement located on the north side of Caddo Creek, an eastward-flowing tributary to the Neches River, and just west of the city of Poynor, in Henderson County, Texas. Bill Young, an avocational archaeologist living in Corsicana, Texas, has a substantial collection of Caddo ceramic vessel sherds from the site. He gave his permission to study and document these materials as part of a broader study I am engaged in of post-A.D. 1300 Caddo ceramic traditions in the upper Neches River basin of East Texas.

Caddo Sherds From The Hudnall-Pirtle Site (41rk4) In The Buddy Jones Collection At The Gregg County Historical Museum, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Buddy Calvin Jones, a resident of Longview, Texas, conducted excavations in 1958 and 1959 of an unknown extent at the Hudnall-Pirtle site (41RK4), a well-known and significant Early Caddo (ca. A.D. 900-1200) multiple mound center on a Sabine River alluvial terrace in Rusk County, Texas. The site is now owned by The Archaeological Conservancy as a Caddo archaeological preserve. Caddo sherds from the site are in the Jones collection curated at the Gregg County Historical Museum, and recently I had an opportunity to examine this collection. This paper puts the findings of that examination on record.

Towards The Concerted Study Of Caddo Origins, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The study of the origins of any people from an archaeological perspective is a considerable undertaking, one that may task the efforts and thoughts of a multitude of people, probably from several disciplines. After the talking and discussion in the 2008 East Texas Caddo Research Group (ETCRG) meeting about Caddo origins, how do we proceed from here on out to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of Caddo origins? For the purposes of discussion, I am assuming that the ETCRG participants agree that the concerted study of Caddo origins is an issue and research problem worth undertaking.

I recently had …

A 19th Century Caddo Component At The Gatlin Site (41rk1) In The Angelina River Basin Of East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Gatlin site (41RK1) is located ca. 1 mile to the southeast of the small community of Mount Enterprise in Rusk County in the headwaters of the Angelina River basin in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site was first investigated by the landowner in about 1895 (Records on file at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory [TARL], The University of Texas at Austin). At that time, the landowner exposed a single burial with preserved skeletal remains and two extra skulls in the burial pit; each of the skulls supposedly had a hole (bullet hole?) on one side of the head. Among …

Issues Regarding The Early Development Of Caddo Culture Discussion Topics For The East Texas Caddo Research Group, December 2008, Jeffery S. Girard

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Is there a consensus regarding which archaeological traits are diagnostic of Caddo culture? What are the necessary and sufficient traits for designating a context as “Caddo” as opposed to, for example, “pre-Caddo” or “Coles Creek?”

Caddo Origins, A Smith County Perspective, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Attempting to trace Caddo Origins in Smith County and surrounding counties depends a lot on what we end up defining as Caddo. Separating the Caddo culture from previous cultures in East Texas becomes tedious when trying to fit the available archaeological record to existing models of Woodland cultures. Krieger stated that there was no evidence in East Texas of a Woodland (or Hopewellian) culture, with Mississippian culture beginning as early as 500 B.C. I mention this partly for the sake of argument, but also to point out that in this area there is not such a clearcut difference between the …