School of Geography - Theses
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ItemEnvironmental policy and orthodox economics: a case study of Victorian solid waste( 2007)In this thesis I use the idea of 'rational ideologies' to investigate the value and role of orthodox economics in solid waste policy in Victoria, and its relationship with a dominant set of policy ideas that I call industrial ecology. I show that many orthodox economists criticise industrial ecology and prescribe alternative policies based principally on market-based instruments (MBIs) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with environmental valuation. They largely ignore the economic underpinnings of industrial ecology. I report on four empirical research projects. Firstly, I investigate the influence of unit-based pricing of domestic garbage in Melbourne on garbage quantities. I find its effects trivial except where rates were set at levels higher than orthodox economic theory would suggest is appropriate. Home owners have reduced garbage for non-economic reasons. Secondly, I compare 37 cost-benefit studies of recycling, revealing enormously varied approaches and results that are often apparently infused by analyst ideology or sponsor interests. Rather than the hard rationality it seems to promise, CBA with environmental externality valuation diverts debate into complexities that are the preserve of experts. The ideological foundations of some orthodox economic interpretations of environmental issues are shown to be weakly supported by theory or logic. Thirdly, I review the history of Victorian solid waste policy since 1970. As an early pollution crisis was overcome, the agenda shifted to waste minimisation. Regulation, corporatist agreements, targets and strategies have helped to level off the quantity of waste to landfill and grow post-consumption recycling into a major industrial operation. Costs have risen substantially but public support remains strong. Industry, local government and environment groups have competed for influence in the policy arena. While waste management has been transformed into a competitive market structure, orthodox economics has played only a small role in the policy history. Where CBAs have not be desultory they have failed to resolve policy disputes. Use of MBIs has been beset by administrative and sunk-cost concerns. Finally, I report on a survey of 46 members of the solid waste policy community on the economics of solid waste. There is a surprisingly high degree of in-principle acceptance of orthodox economics conceptions of the environment, such as CBA, environmental valuation and MBIs. There is more disagreement over resource efficiency,, recycling targets and interpretation of the value of economic tools in practice. Variation in views is linked with professional grouping more than economics education. There is strong support for the economic underpinnings of industrial ecology. I suggest that environmentalists' simultaneous acceptance of orthodox economists' intellectual framework yet rejection of their prescriptions demonstrates the practical weakness of that framework but also represents a latent danger to environmentalism. In concluding, I interpret orthodox economics as a rational ideology that is blind to its ideological content. I argue that this blindness has led to overconfidence, inflexibility and overambition, and that these characteristics have marginalised orthodox economics in Victorian solid waste policy. I argue for analytical plurality and the supremacy of political judgement.
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ItemThe use of life cycle assessment in environmental impact assessment( 2003)The increasing use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in environmental management reflects a shift by some practitioners away from project-level to system-level whole-oflife assessment. However, despite growing support for the adoption of this approach to understanding the impacts on the environment of decisions made within the economy, some researchers have questioned the validity o f the results obtained from it. Moreover, the pressure to cut comers and generate conclusions of value to the client has meant that many LCA studies have been criticized for making claims that cannot be justified by the results. Indeed, when these concerns are contrasted with the success to date of projectlevel EIA methods, it comes as no surprise that some people doubt whether LCA has a future as an environmental impact assessment method. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to determine whether LCA can be a useful tool in environmental impact assessment. To achieve this aim I begin by classifying problems linked to the release of waste into the environment into two groups, acute and cumulative. I then use this framework to compare the advantages and disadvantages of a range of environmental impact assessment methods, including LCA. During my critique of LCA, I focus on the problem o f uncertainty, and discuss the implications for impact assessment of a lack of site-specific information in the inventory. This analysis leads to a research program that examines the use of LCA in environmental impact assessment. The program comprises: (1) an investigation into how practitioners report the problem of uncertainty in their studies; (2) a case study that examines one way of improving the reliability of LCA results; and (3) a case study that explores the relevance of LCA results for policy development. The conclusions drawn from this thesis are that LCA is not suitable for identifying single-concentrated sources of pollutants and quantifying the direct impacts of particular economic activities. Such an analysis should be left to project-level EIA methods. However, it is possible for LCA to generate useful insight into the management of large-scale environmental effects provided that practitioners collect the spatial and temporal data needed to reliably assess them. If this is done, then LCA is a powerful tool for the development of policy strategies for the management o f cumulative environmental problems.
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ItemThe role of public participation in the Philippine environmental impact assessment (EIA) process : an analysis of the Batangas coal-fired thermal power project( 1998)The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in the Philippines has been evolving gradually from a technical exercise in decision-making based on objective data to a procedure which emphasises public views. Its objective now is to address fully the social dimension of project development review procedures and the need for effective public participation. This thesis utilises ? case study of a coal-fired power plant located in the coastal town of Calaca, province of Batangas t? document and highlight the values and constraints of public participation in the Philippines EIA process. The thesis argues that public participation played a crucial role in the evaluation and decision-making process for the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) approval of the Batangas Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant. Following considerable delays experienced by the developer, the National Power Corporation (NPC), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) put into place the necessary procedural guidelines. The lessons to be learned from the case study are: how to resolve issues through amicable agreements, how to create acceptance of the project with minimum levels of impacts, share decision-making and responsibilities through multisectoral monitoring, and several others. This thesis concludes that such participation paved the way for improvements and innovative changes in the procedural requirements of the EIA process. Most importantly, acceptance by the local community must be secured before the approval of the project. This will tend to make the development of the project environmentally sound and socially acceptable.