Price effects of an emissions trading scheme in New Zealand

Implementation of a New Zealand Emission Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) will begin in 2008, beginning with forestry, subsequently including energy and industrial emissions, and finally, agricultural GHGs from 2013. Reducing agricultural emissions is a major challenge for New Zealand as they account for over half its total GHG emissions. On the other hand, agriculture is critical to the economy, with its basic and processed products accounting for a third of exports. We use an environmental input-output model to analyse direct and indirect cost impacts of emissions pricing on food and fibre sectors. At NZ $25/t CO₂-eq, costs of energy-related emissions on the food and fibre sectors are very small; however, costs of agricultural emissions post 2013 would substantially impact on sheep, beef and dairy farming. Costeffective mitigation measures and land use changes should help reduce micro- and macroeconomic impacts, but the latter may also risk 'emissions leakage'.emissions trading, input-output price model, agricultural greenhouse gases, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Recycling Historical Events and Outcomes: Is Another World Possible Through Social Movement Activity?

Abstract From the left, there seems to be too much emphasis placed on blaming the “free-market, and neo-liberalism” (Bricmont, 2006; McNally, 2002). By doing so, modern social movement avoids the real issue which is “capitalism” (Wood, 2003). Thus, there seems to be evidence that current social movement activity has done little more than reproduce the same tactics used post-1960s, and while their actions may have awakened certain sets of social consciousness, they have yielded little socio-structural change, due either to their irrational ideologies and strategies in response to social inequality or their rational attempt(s) to innovate them. By taking this stance, global social movements may have centralized themselves into fixed spaces of contention where their most critical voices against neoliberalism only serves to inculcate the very system it is against. Key Words: modern social movements, neo-liberalism, free market, capitalism, ideologies, social inequality

Inverse limits of permutation maps

In this paper we study the topological properties of continua which arise as inverse limits on [0; 1] with bonding maps chosen from the permutation family of Markov maps. For such inverse limits, we examine the occurrence of indecomposability, the number of end points in the continuum, and the types of subcontinua present in the continuum. We provide a process for determining the topological structure of the inverse limit generated by a single permutation map, or by the composition of several such maps. Additionally, we show that all such inverse limits are Kelley continua. We will apply these results to study inverse limits on [0,1] with a single bonding map chosen from the one parameter family of logistic mappings. It is known that there is an open and dense subset of the parameter space for which the associated logistic maps have attracting periodic orbits. We show that any continuum generated by such a logistic map is homeomorphic to the inverse limit on [0,1] with some permutation bonding map. We close by providing a sufficient condition for the inverse limit on an interval with a single bonding map to fail to be a Kelley continuum, and applying this information to the logistic family --Abstract, page iii

Online Introduction to Information Literacy: Ticking that box or Embedding that attribute??

The University of Wollongong introduced an online compulsory undergraduate Information Literacy Introductory Program (ILIP) in 1999. Extensions and adjustments make ILIP 2003 a requirement for postgraduate coursework students as well as undergraduate students. ILIP is also highly recommended to incoming research students. Such policy initiatives for a compulsory online learning tool raise interesting questions about the interaction of University policy and learning and teaching policy, about the implementation of such policy and about the effectiveness of the tool both alone and as part of a process. This paper suggests that the compulsory ruling has effected the tool’s development and implementation. The paper contends the tool should be considered both as an online learning device and in its use in developing alliances between library and learning support staff and faculty in the development of desirable student learning outcomes. Such alliances are part of the University meeting its Graduate Attribute outcomes and thus part of the current debate regarding generic skill development and employability skills. Where the Program is most effectively used is where it becomes the stepping stone to interaction and integration of information literacy - a key component of success for students in their studies and beyond. Here it can have impact

Surface-hopping dynamics and decoherence with quantum equilibrium structure

In open quantum systems decoherence occurs through interaction of a quantum subsystem with its environment. The computation of expectation values requires a knowledge of the quantum dynamics of operators and sampling from initial states of the density matrix describing the subsystem and bath. We consider situations where the quantum evolution can be approximated by quantum-classical Liouville dynamics and examine the circumstances under which the evolution can be reduced to surface-hopping dynamics, where the evolution consists of trajectory segments evolving exclusively on single adiabatic surfaces, with probabilistic hops between these surfaces. The justification for the reduction depends on the validity of a Markovian approximation on a bath averaged memory kernel that accounts for quantum coherence in the system. We show that such a reduction is often possible when initial sampling is from either the quantum or classical bath initial distributions. If the average is taken only over the quantum dispersion that broadens the classical distribution, then such a reduction is not always possible.Comment: 11, pages, 8 figure

Price effects of an emissions trading scheme in New Zealand

Implementation of a New Zealand Emission Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) will begin in 2008, beginning with forestry, subsequently including energy and industrial emissions, and finally, agricultural GHGs from 2013. Reducing agricultural emissions is a major challenge for New Zealand as they account for over half its total GHG emissions. On the other hand, agriculture is critical to the economy, with its basic and processed products accounting for a third of exports. We use an environmental input-output model to analyse direct and indirect cost impacts of emissions pricing on food and fibre sectors. At NZ $25/t CO₂-eq, costs of energy-related emissions on the food and fibre sectors are very small; however, costs of agricultural emissions post 2013 would substantially impact on sheep, beef and dairy farming. Costeffective mitigation measures and land use changes should help reduce micro- and macroeconomic impacts, but the latter may also risk 'emissions leakage'

Creating Brave Space: Middle School Students Discuss Race

Racial disparities must be addressed in every sector in the United States (e.g., healthcare, education, incarceration, etc.) (Skiba et al., 2001). Mary, a middle school principal, created a series of conversations designed to help a small group of students begin to have more productive conversations about race. The purpose of the current study was to explore how educators create a space for middle school students to have inter- and intra- racial dialogues. Results suggest: (a) a demonstrated need and demand for spaces that support inter- and intra-racial dialogues; (b) the importance of strategic planning; and (c) the vital nature of developing relationships