Strong Public Opposition Research Articles

A comparative assessment of biomethane potential of fresh fecal matter and fecal sludge and its correlation with malodor.

Comprehensive and proper management of fecal sludge (FS) is an ongoing concern in many nations.Decentralizedfecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs) are effective in this regard; however, many have experienced strong public opposition based partly on suspicion of malodor. Fecal sludge and freshly generated fecal matter (FM) samples from various FSTPs were collected, characterized, and investigated for biomethane potential. The homogenized samples were anaerobically digested for 28days. Digestion successfully reduced total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, and threshold odor number values of 97,350-97,420mg/l, 43,230-43,260mg/l, and 130-150 for FM, to 49,500-49,650mg/l, 23,760-23,850mg/l, and 3338, respectively, for FS samples. The comprehensive gas yield from Bhongir, Boduppal, and Shadnagar FS samples was 40, 55, and 31ml, respectively. In contrast, cumulative gas generation from the FM was 26,361ml. Digestion of FS samples also reduced concentrations of volatile solids and coliforms by 66-72% and 99%, respectively. Characterization of gas samples revealed methane and carbon dioxide concentrations as 56% and 22% for FM, and 0.4% and 61% for FS samples, respectively. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas were absent in FS samples, dispelling common societal misconceptions of FSTPs being associated with malodor.

Bandwagoning by stealth? Explaining Georgia’s Appeasement Policy on Russia

ABSTRACT Bandwagoning by stealth refers to a situation when a government of a small state tries to accommodate a great power turned to aggressor amid a strong public opposition. We explain it with the example of Georgia’s foreign policy towards Russia in the period of 2012–2022. It is argued that Georgia’s attempt for rapprochement to Russia since 2012 can be explained by two unit-level variables: (1) a belief of the country’s leadership in the need to accommodate Russia and (2) a societal and public opposition to the Russia-accommodating policy. A conflictual dynamic between the Russia-accommodating government and Russia-sceptic public resulted in bandwagoning by stealth – a defacto and partial bandwagoning with Russia without formally changing Georgia’s declared pro-Western foreign policy.

Perspectives of community processes in establishing community-based mental health services in Hong Kong: a case study

BackgroundIntegrated Community Centres for Mental Wellness (ICCMWs) provide district-based community support services for patients discharged from mental health facilities and other residents in Hong Kong. However, selecting locations for these community centres is challenging primarily because of community opposition, which has introduced barriers to responses to service users’ interests and the operations of individual centres. This study examines public preferences for conflict resolution options, evaluates the feasibility of different consultation approaches, identifies effective methods for reducing public opposition and recommends possible approaches to public consultation and location selection.MethodsA total of 74 individual interviews were conducted with key informants, including government personnel, service operators, politicians, resident representatives, community activists and service users. These interviewees were asked about their knowledge, experiences and perspectives of centre location selection processes.ResultsInterviews revealed that neighbourhood consultations for establishing community centres for mental wellness are time-consuming and did not yield a consensus of support from residents. In some instances, the government may decide to delay or withdraw location selection plans because of strong public opposition mainly because of bias and misunderstanding towards service users. However, the role of local politicians in mediating neighbourhood opinions and the government’s determination in planning location selection are essential for successfully selecting ICCMW locations.ConclusionGovernment departments should develop stronger collaboration to study target neighbourhoods and lobby stakeholders at earlier stages. Such investigations should involve identifying key stakeholders, the political and social dynamics of controversies and community demographics. A protocol specifying a time frame should be implemented to facilitate smooth and effective public consultation and community mental health service location selection processes.

Algae and Their Metabolites as Potential Bio-Pesticides.

An increasing human population necessitates more food production, yet current techniques in agriculture, such as chemical pesticide use, have negative impacts on the ecosystems and strong public opposition. Alternatives to synthetic pesticides should be safe for humans, the environment, and be sustainable. Extremely diverse ecological niches and millions of years of competition have shaped the genomes of algae to produce a myriad of substances that may serve humans in various biotechnological areas. Among the thousands of described algal species, only a small number have been investigated for valuable metabolites, yet these revealed the potential of algal metabolites as bio-pesticides. This review focuses on macroalgae and microalgae (including cyanobacteria) and their extracts or purified compounds, that have proven to be effective antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, nematocides, insecticides, herbicides, and plant growth stimulants. Moreover, the mechanisms of action of the majority of these metabolites against plant pests are thoroughly discussed. The available information demonstrated herbicidal activities via inhibition of photosynthesis, antimicrobial activities via induction of plant defense responses, inhibition of quorum sensing and blocking virus entry, and insecticidal activities via neurotoxicity. The discovery of antimetabolites also seems to hold great potential as one recent example showed antimicrobial and herbicidal properties. Algae, especially microalgae, represent a vast untapped resource for discovering novel and safe biopesticide compounds.

Let the people speak! Resisting the erosion of the right to public participation in the wake of The Federation of Fly Fishers v The Minister of Environmental Affairs

The need for public participation in environmental decisions is accepted in both international and South African law. In the run up to, and just after, the transition to democracy, South Africa was exemplary in many instances in ensuring that participation occurred in a meaningful and broad-based way. In recent years, however, some may question whether the underlying rationale for public participation is still as valued by government, or whether it is being diluted to a mechanistic procedural requirement reminiscent of the past. Disputes about the way in which requirements to give effect to public participation are being implemented have recently surfaced in the courts in respect of several environmental issues. There has been strong public opposition to municipal service delivery regarding waste and water, seismic testing off the South African coast, and law-making activities regarding trout. This article considers the court’s oversight of public participation processes in respect of one of those issues — recent decisions on the introduction of executive regulations. It does so by tracing the particular dynamics regarding the need for public participation in South Africa and assessing the way in which the court has adjudicated public participation disputes in the law-making context. It finds that the court appears to be willing to play its oversight role in a way which is true to the underlying ethos of democratic decision-making in the environmental context, albeit that further opportunities for the court to consider the full range of matters involving participation should be welcomed.

Scaling up urban infrastructure for physical activity in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Scaling up urban infrastructure for physical activity in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Current status and future development of plastics: Solutions for a circular economy and limitations of environmental degradation.

Plastics are the most advanced materials, regarding their application and property range, with an annual worldwide demand of over 400 million tonnes, but have been facing strong public opposition lately. In the debate on sustainable plastics, plastic waste and plastic littering, bio-based and especially biodegradable plastics have gained attention as potential solution to these problems. This has been accompanied by misunderstanding, false and inadequate labeling of plastics as well as insufficient communication with the public and authorities. The plastic waste and littering problems are addressed by already implemented and planned bans on single-use plastics, improved regulations for labeling and communication of biodegradable plastics, and enhancement of plastic recycling. The future will show how successful these strategies are. If plastics are produced with renewable carbon from biomass, direct CO2 utilization and recycling, the production can be completely independent from fossil resources in a long-term future perspective which supports the circular renewable carbon economy.

Site Selection For Sanitary Landfill in Kuksi Region in Albania, Using Multi-criteria Analysis Evaluation

Landfill is a common solution for the final disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Albania. Landfill siting is an extremely difficult task to accomplish because the site selection process depends on different factors and regulations. To ensure that an appropriate site is chosen, a systematic process should be developed and followed. Unsuccessful landfill siting is typically the result of strong public opposition. In this study, 11 candidate sites for an appropriate landfill area in Kukës Region are determined by using the integration multi-criteria evaluation (MCE). From the application of the exclusion criteria provided in the study methodology, it was able to find the best three alternatives. The statistical processing for the determination of the best place was accomplished through Multi-criteria Analysis and Environmental Management. The application of this method has led to the identification of the most suitable site for the construction of sanitary landfill in the Kukës Region.

Shale gas potential in the north of Spain in the transition to energies with a lower carbon footprint

The change to an energy model with lower carbon footprint sources, and the development of the corresponding technologies and extraction techniques has placed shale gas in the spotlight as it is a less polluting resource and it is abundant in the north of Spain. This energy model could be able to supply, to a large extent, the current energy needs of the country. However, there is a relevant lack of information on the subject regarding geological, economic, environmental and social issues. Consequently, a strong public opposition has developed, that has so far paralyzed the exploration and potential exploitation of these resources. The future changes required in the search for less polluting energy sources and the need to acquire a strategic position in the energy sector make it essential to allow both research into this resource and its exploration in Spain. Therefore, this study aims to show the current situation of natural gas in a “transitory” context towards less aggressive energies to the environment as well as to explain how shale gas is produced and how extraction should be carried out in Spain with the problems that this would entail. The study also aims to analyze the citizens’ responses and concerns regarding the development of this technology.

Public Perception towards Waste-to-Energy as a Waste Management Strategy: A Case from Shandong, China.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is posing great challenge for most countries in the world, which can cause severe negative impacts to the environment and human health. Waste-to-energy has great potential in China because of its technological maturity and policy support at the national level. However, there are significant conflicts between the huge market demand and strong public opposition. It is imperative to examine the public perception of waste-to-energy, especially for developing countries where a large number of projects are under construction or have been approved. The public perception of waste-to-energy was carried out by a questionnaire survey in this research. A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed and 629 questionnaires were returned, with a response rate of 96.8%. The results show that the public showed general concern in regard to environmental issues. Respondents had an overall positive attitude towards waste-to-energy, but it varied according to the demographic details of residents, such as age, education, and income. Recognition level of the benefits was higher than the concern of associated risks. Multiple linear regression shows that awareness of environmental issues had no impact on public attitude towards waste-to-energy, while public awareness and perceived benefits had notable positive impacts. Perceived risks had a positive correlation with public attitude. In order to promote the development of MSW incinerators, the government should make more publicity efforts. Rural residents, people over 50 years old, and people with low education and low income are the major groups which should be focused on to enhance the public perception. The findings provide a theoretical and practical reference for enhancing the social acceptance of waste-to-energy development.

In search of politically feasible policy-packages for sustainable passenger transport: insights from choice experiments in China, Germany, and the USA

The main obstacle to making the transportation sector ecologically more sustainable is political feasibility. Effective policy-interventions usually encounter strong public opposition as they interfere in costly ways with people’s daily lives, unveiling a dilemma between political feasibility and environmental policy effectiveness. Evidencing the existence of this dilemma, the literature on attitudes towards different policy instrument types maintains that so-called push measures are less supported by citizens than pull measures, and that market-based instruments tend to be less supported than non-market instruments. While these findings may uphold when considering single policy instruments, whether they continue to do so when considering policy-packages, that is, simultaneously implemented policy-interventions consisting of several policy instruments, remains unclear. To identify politically feasible and effective policy-packages aimed at greening the transportation sector we use choice experiments with representative samples of citizens from China, Germany, and the USA (N = 4′876). Contrary to existing literature, we find that public support does not necessarily depend on the instrument type but rather on specific policy design and is highly context dependent. Moreover, despite significant differences between the three country contexts considered, various combinations of policy measures appear to be both potentially effective and supported by most citizens. Altogether, these results suggest that carefully bundled policy-packages may allow governments to employ instruments that would not be politically feasible if introduced in isolation.

A distinction with a difference: The influence of social concerns and racial prejudice on support for amnesty

In recent years, strong public opposition to amnesty has prevented the passage of any new immigration laws that include a “pathway to citizenship” for the millions of undocumented immigrants who reside in the United States. Much scholarship on the origins of white opposition to immigration has focused on ethnocentrism. However, it has also tended to conflate racial prejudice with potentially non-racial social concerns – even though the latter could, in theory, be ameliorated through policy design in ways that racism could not. Using experiments embedded within a large national survey, we disentangle the effects of both ethnic prejudice and social concerns on public opinion. Our results indicate that significant social concerns exist independent of racial considerations, and attitudes are quite responsive to policy designed to alleviate them. Further, the extent of this responsiveness depends on partisanship. Once these considerations are addressed through policy design, we find measurably wider support for a pathway to citizenship than would be predicted were racial prejudice the underlying motivator of these social concerns.

Public-Private Cooperation and Judicial Review: A Case Study Drawn from European Infrastructure Projects

National administrative law traditions are changing under the influence of socio-economic factors and the Europeanization of legal norms. To illustrate this evolution this article discusses the roles of judges in three European major transport infrastructure projects in England, France and Belgium where long-term public-private cooperation was developed and strong public opposition voiced. Public-private cooperation to develop infrastructure projects is not new. EU financial requirements and EU procurement directives, though, constrain more than ever how these public-private cooperations can be contractually designed, while EU sectoral legislation may offer new opportunities for public-private cooperation. In parallel, citizens are entitled to be involved in large projects affecting the environment and no longer mainly seek protection for their individual property rights. These changes illustrate the changing role of private parties (economic actors and citizens) in major infrastructure projects. They also result in public bodies endorsing an increasingly supervisory and monitoring role while not having the suitable skills, resources or information in-house to do so. These adaptations under the pressure of socio-economic and political concerns call for administrative law to revisit the role that judges play in adjudicating issues arising from these complex publicprivate contracts, where public bodies and private parties are locked together for a long term and where changing the relationship is extremely expensive for the public purse.

Public-Private Co-Operation and Judicial Review - A Case Study Drawn from European Infrastructure Projects

National administrative law traditions are changing under the influence of socio-economic factors and the Europeanisation of legal norms. To illustrate this evolution this paper discusses the roles of judges in three European major transport infrastructure projects in England, France and Belgium where long-term public-private co-operation was developed and strong public opposition voiced. Public-private co-operation to develop infrastructure projects is not new. EU financial requirements and EU procurement directives, though, constrain more than ever how these public-private co-operations can be contractually designed, while EU sectoral legislation may offer new opportunities for public-private co-operation. In parallel, citizens are entitled to be involved in large projects affecting the environment and no longer mainly seek protection for their individual property rights. These changes illustrate the changing role of private parties (economic actors and citizens) in major infrastructure projects. They also result in public bodies endorsing an increasingly supervisory and monitoring role while not having the suitable skills, resources or information in-house to do so. These adaptations under the pressure of socio-economic and political concerns call for administrative law to revisit the role that judges play in adjudicating issues arising from these complex public-private contracts, where public bodies and private parties are locked together for a long term and where changing the relationship is extremely expensive for the public purse.

The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement: Relevance, Content and Policy Implications

On 6 July 2017, after four years of negotiation, the EU reached an agreement with Japan over the main elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement. The breakthrough came at a time when progress on multilateral trade negotiations at the global level seemed out of reach and EU bilateral trade agreements faced strong public opposition. This paper examines the content of the new agreement with a view to global trade dynamics and assesses its main trade policy implications.

Understanding public perception of hydraulic fracturing: a case study in Spain

Public acceptance is crucial for the implementation of energy technologies. Hydraulic fracturing is a technology widely used in the USA for natural gas production from shale formations, but currently finds strong public opposition worldwide, especially in Europe. Shale gas exploitation and exploration have the potential to significantly reduce import dependency in several countries, including Spain. To better understand public opinion on this issue, this article reports a survey targeting both the entire Spanish population and the inhabitants of the province of Burgos, the location where shale gas exploration permits have already been issued. Results demonstrate that half of the Spanish population opposes shale gas, and this opposition increases in autonomous communities that are closer to possible exploration sites. The results also show that socio-demographic aspects are not strong predictors of opposition. In addition, Burgos' population show different behaviours toward shale gas that demonstrates that proximity and prospect of shale gas development affects opinion. Finally, there is still a great level of unfamiliarity with high volume hydraulic fracturing and shale gas in both populations sampled.

When tourists meet transmission lines: The effects of electric transmission lines on tourism in Iceland

The transition towards a low-carbon economy has led to a growing demand for renewable energy. However, while publics are often supportive of renewable energy they are often more critical of the infrastructure required to generate and distribute energy. Although transmission lines are necessary to carry renewable energy, they are often highly visible and frequently meet strong public opposition. This is especially true in areas with a high degree of perceived aesthetic naturalness, which are often valued landscapes for nature-based tourism. While nature-based tourism in Iceland has increased greatly, so also has energy production. There are plans for reinforcing the distribution system by building transmission lines in either existing areas or new locations, such as the relatively pristine Central Highlands. Due to tourism's economic importance, and the growing necessity for a stronger transmission system, it is imperative to identify tourists' opinions on transmission lines in natural areas. Attitudes were analysed by employing a questionnaire at seven locations where power plants are proposed. Results demonstrate that tourists are generally negative towards transmission lines, especially in the Highlands and consider them one of the least desirable infrastructures. Nevertheless, there is considerable variance between different markets, with opposition highest among domestic tourists.

Not in My Backyard: CCS Sites and Public Perception of CCS.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology that counteracts climate change by capturing atmospheric emissions of CO2 from human activities, storing them in geological formations underground. However, CCS also involves major risks and side effects, and faces strong public opposition. The whereabouts of 408 potential CCS sites in Germany were released in 2011. Using detailed survey data on the public perception of CCS, this study quantifies how living close to a potential storage site affects the acceptance of CCS. It also analyzes the influence of other regional characteristics on the acceptance of CCS. The study finds that respondents who live close to a potential CCS site have significantly lower acceptance rates than those who do not. Living in a coal-mining region also markedly decreases acceptance.

Life cycle environmental and economic assessment of lead refining in China

Purpose Lead is one of the most commonly used metals in the past millennium because of its various properties. Moreover, lead is easy to extract and handle. However, the lead industry often encounters strong public opposition because of lead poisoning. This study analyzes the economic and environmental impacts of lead in China, which is the world’s largest producer and consumer of lead.

Policy and Prejudice: An Experimental Look at the Drivers of Immigration Attitudes

Immigration has been a hot topic of debate in recent years, with lawmakers from both major political parties proposing policy solutions to address the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. However, strong public opposition to policies that propose a “pathway to citizenship” have stalled the passage of a new law. Recent political discourse and public opinion scholarship have focused on the role that prejudice plays in shaping immigration attitudes, however, in this paper we investigate whether anti-Latino prejudice is strong enough to prevent bipartisan support for amnesty after other considerations are addressed through policy design. Using original experimental and cross-sectional national data, our analyses show that views are affected by both prejudice and cultural concerns that are responsive to policy specification. However, with more stringent conditions, a policy that includes a “pathway to citizenship” garners majority public support among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents — a result that emerges even after accounting for the share of opposition driven by ethnic prejudice.