Wade E. Martin - Böcker

This text examines the impact of environmental concerns and their related legislation on the mining industry. Specifically, the book focuses on two issues facing the mining industry: Superfund liability and global warming. The first issue has a tremendous impact on the sale of properties, insuring operations, developing new properties, joint venture and many other aspects of mining firm operations. The second issue is of interest due to the uncertainty associated with the "greenhouse effect". By focusing on these issues, the volume reveals the tradeoffs between the desire to create and maintain a given level of environmental quality while continuing to produce the goods we use to make our everyday lives more enjoyable.

This study demonstrates a link between physical models of the environment and policy analysis in support of policy making. Each chapter addresses an environmental policy issue using a quantitative modelling approach. Three general areas of environmental policy are addressed: non-point source pollution in the agricultural sector; pollution generated in the extractive industries; and transboundary pollutants from burning fossil fuels. The book concludes by discussing the modelling efforts and the use of mathematical models in general.

The continuing encroachment of human settlements into fire-prone areas and extreme fire seasons in recent years make it urgent that we better understand both the physical and human dimensions of managing the risk from wildfire. Wildfire Risk follows from our awareness that increasing public knowledge about wildfire hazard does not necessarily lead to appropriate risk reduction behavior. Drawing heavily upon health and risk communication, and risk modeling, the authors advance our understanding of how individuals and communities respond to wildfire hazard. They present results of original research on the social, economic, and psychological factors in responses to risk, discuss how outreach and education can influence behavior, and consider differences among ethnic/racial groups and between genders with regard to values, views, and attitudes about wildfire risk. They explore the role of public participation in risk assessment and mitigation, as well as in planning for evacuation and recovery after fire. Wildfire Risk concludes with a dedicated section on risk-modeling, with perspectives from decision sciences, geography, operations research, psychology, experimental economics, and other social sciences.

The continuing encroachment of human settlements into fire-prone areas and extreme fire seasons in recent years make it urgent that we better understand both the physical and human dimensions of managing the risk from wildfire. Wildfire Risk follows from our awareness that increasing public knowledge about wildfire hazard does not necessarily lead to appropriate risk reduction behavior. Drawing heavily upon health and risk communication, and risk modeling, the authors advance our understanding of how individuals and communities respond to wildfire hazard. They present results of original research on the social, economic, and psychological factors in responses to risk, discuss how outreach and education can influence behavior, and consider differences among ethnic/racial groups and between genders with regard to values, views, and attitudes about wildfire risk. They explore the role of public participation in risk assessment and mitigation, as well as in planning for evacuation and recovery after fire. Wildfire Risk concludes with a dedicated section on risk-modeling, with perspectives from decision sciences, geography, operations research, psychology, experimental economics, and other social sciences.

Superfund liability). This is an issue that is currently having an dramatic impact on the industry. The impact is being felt in transactions involving the potential sale of properties, insuring operations, development of new properties, joint ventures, or more generally, practically every phase of the mining firms operation. The second issue focuses on an environmental topic that has not been specifically addressed in federal legislation, although it has been indirectly considered, that is global warming or the "greenhouse effect". One of the interesting aspects to this environmental problem is the uncertainty associated with it at every phase of the analysis. The predictions of the general circulation models of climatologists are questioned due to the uncertainty of ocean effects, urbanization, etc. (see Burness & Martin, Chapter 5). The economic models are criticized for the uncertainty associated with the benefit estimates from reducing greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (COJ, concentrations in the atmosphere as well as estimates of the cost of reducing GHG concentrations and/or emissions. This raises the interesting question of what is the optimal policy and what will be the impact of this policy(s) on the mining sector, given the uncertainty. The first of these two topics is addressed by V. Kerry Smith and Ronald G. Cummings, et al. Professors Smith and Cummings were chosen due to their pioneering work in the area of valuation of nonmarket goods, particularly involving the use of survey methods.