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How genuine is the Conservative party's rediscovery of the environment? Would a Conservative government led by David Cameron implement a wide-ranging and progressive environmental policy? This article explores why Cameron has embraced the environment so enthusiastically when Conservative governments have had a poor record of environmental protection and the Conservative party has traditionally shown little interest in the issue. It assesses the impact of Cameron's strategy both on his own party and on the wider world of environmental politics and it evaluates the continuing commitment of the Conservatives to the issue by assessing what kind of policies a future Conservative government might implement. Although Cameron remains committed to the issue and he has already had a positive impact on Labour government policy, he has not yet convinced his party or its supporters, so a future Conservative government would probably represent continuity rather than significant change in environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a new approach to the development of environmental policy, relying on the combination of several instruments to achieve different objectives and on the active involvement of the stakeholders in the policy development process. The development of an innovative system of environmental policy instruments for sustainable management of pig farming in a municipality in Portugal is used to illustrate the proposed approach. The system is based on the adoption of a policy mix, combining a command and control approach, established through a regulation for the pig farming sector, with economic instruments (a sustainability fund and a tradable pig raising rights system) and voluntary approaches (an eco-label for meat products from farms with superior sustainability performance). The design of the instruments has followed a participatory and transparent approach, where the stakeholders were actively engaged in the decision making process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Upgrade of the emergy analysis of Sečovlje saltpans [Babič, J., 2005. Emergy analysis of the salt production process at the Sečovlje saltpans, Slovenia. In: Proceedings of the Third Biennial Emergy Analysis Research Conference, January 29–31, 2004. The Center for Environmental Policy, Gainesville, FL] was performed with STELLA programming language. STELLA model of the solar salt production process was constructed to simulate emergy flows and emergy indices. Sensitivity analysis of state variables with regard to various emergy indices was also performed. We compared several process scenarios as well as the process behavior under different environmental and economic conditions. The model structure enables adding new state variables in order to obtain better control over emergy flows within the model and between the model and its environment. Results show that evaporated water contributes the highest identified environmental renewable emergy inflow to the area. Precipitations themselves have very negative effect on actual salt production due to the dilution of concentrated brine with rainwater. However, human labor, as it is driven mostly by nonrenewable emergy, contributes the highest nonrenewable emergy inflow. The general trend of decreasing percentage of renewable emergy in human work as well as the need for additional inputs of nonrenewable emergy aimed at reducing labor demand, limits the possibilities to achieve a higher sustainability and a lower environmental loading of the investigated production process. The paper compares the effects of different process modifications and the effect of changing meteorological conditions to the indicators of environmental loading and degree of sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Market-based pollution control instruments represent the influence of a commitment to the principle of laissez faire economics and the success of orthodox economics to steer public policy formation. The criteria for design and assessment of policy interventions, however, should not be influenced by a prior commitment to a problem-solving strategy. Rather, the inquiry guiding policy design and assessment should be guided by the recognition of social, ecological, and technological interdependence and by the discovery of evaluative criteria consistent with this interdependence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective. Despite the rich discussions about the role of information disclosure programs in environmental policy, our theoretical understanding of how and why information disclosure programs work lacks a clear framework. This article begins to fill that void by laying out some fundamental theories and concepts that underlie the empirical work on the subject. Methods. Basic theories arising from our knowledge of economics, psychology, and politics are compared. Previous research is analyzed with these theories in mind. Results. Research results confirm the plausibility of each of these theories, though the most compelling evidence so far suggests that shock and shame are key motivating factors for improved environmental performance by industry. Conclusions. The argument is made that our theoretical foundations must be understood better if we are to make sense of the empirical work on the subject. Policy implications are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]