184 research outputs found

    Environmental attitudes in the aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill

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    In the 1960s and 1970\u27s, prominent environmental disasters seemed to mobilize the U.S. public, and many key environmental laws were subsequently enacted. Theories surrounding public opinion formation, however, generally regard single events as unlikely to impact attitudes in a major way. Given the conflicting evidence provided by anecdotal accounts and public opinion theory, we explore whether the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Gulf Oil Spill) impacted public concern for the environment in the United States. In this study we use data from a national-level survey implemented before and after the Gulf Oil Spill to examine pre- and post-spill environmental attitudes as measured by a subset of the New Ecological Paradigm scale. We find that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the recent Gulf Oil Spill had a significant impact on environmental attitudes, a result consistent with theories concerning the influence of individual events on public opinion. Additional findings imply that some types of messages are likely to be more effective than others in public communications about the environment

    Actual Versus Hypothetical WTA Stated Values for Recreational Fishing Licenses: Experimental Evidence of Fish Tales

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    We compared hypothetical willingness to accept (WTA) values for Massachusetts saltwater recreational fishing licenses with WTA values obtained in an actual (simulated) marketplace. Using a dichotomous choice contingent valuation approach, our results align with past evidence that found WTA values elicited from hypothetical transactions overstate those derived from an actual marketplace. We also provide the first evidence about the effectiveness of an ex-post certainty adjustment technique in a WTA environment. While the adjustment technique has been found to eliminate hypothetical bias in willingness to pay (WTP) settings, we find that when applied in a WTA setting, the approach mitigates but does not eliminate the overstated hypothetical WTA bias. We provide some theoretical conjecture as to the likely reasons why the certainty adjustment approach failed to remove the hypothetical WTA bias in our study and conclude with some practical policy implications

    The Evolution of Non-Market Valuation of U.S. Coastal and Marine Resources

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    At the federal level, particularly within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), regulatory and programmatic needs have driven the continued development and application of non-market valuation approaches to marine and coastal resources. The evolution of these valuation approaches not only entails adopting the recommendations of the 1993 NOAA blue ribbon panel on contingent valuation, but also an expansion of stated preference approaches with increased use of stated preference choice experiments. Revealed preference approaches have also advanced with more sophisticated random utility models. We provide an overview of this evolution in the areas of natural resources damage assessment, protected resources, recreational fisheries, and coastal management. With the broad adoption of an ecosystem services approach to marine and coastal resource management, the demand for valuation of ecosystem services has grown and will continue to provide the impetus for more studies similar to those presented. Similar to what occurred initially as a result of the blue ribbon study, greater adoption of valuation estimates, particularly for non-use value, may be facilitated by guidance and standards from a high-level or highly respected authority. La evolución de la valoración no basada en el mercado de recursos marinos y costeros de Estados Unidos Lea el abstracto en español 请点击此处阅读中文摘

    Adherence to Best Practices for Stated Preference Valuation within the U.S. Marine Ecosystem Services Literature

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    Non-market economic values derived from stated preference (SP) methods are often of interest for policy analysis and evaluation, program design, green accounting, and damage assessments and are increasingly in demand with adoption of ecosystem-based management approaches that emphasize accounting for ecosystem services and their values. A recent guidance prescribes a set of twenty-three best practices guidelines (BPGs) to follow when conducting a SP study to ensure the validity of the results and maximize its ability to provide reliable economic value information. In this article, we evaluate adherence to these guidelines within the U.S. SP marine ecosystem service valuation literature. Our results suggest adherence by the literature to the guidelines is heterogeneous with none of the studies examined adhering to all guidelines and some guidelines being adhered to better than others. Evidence points to adherence differences between older and more recent studies, between studies using different SP valuation methods, and between studies valuing recreation ecosystem services and ones valuing other ecosystem services. Furthermore, a citation analysis suggests studies addressing elements embodied in the BPGs tend to have more citations all else being equal. We discuss several challenges to valuing marine ecosystem services and areas for improvement and inquiry

    Compliance with vessel speed restrictions to protect North Atlantic right whales

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    Environmental regulations can only be effective if they are adhered to, but the motivations for regulatory compliance are not always clear. We assessed vessel operator compliance with a December 2008 regulation aimed at reducing collisions with the endangered North Atlantic right whale that requires vessels 65 feet or greater in length to travel at speeds of 10 knots or less at prescribed times and locations along the U.S. eastern seaboard. Extensive outreach efforts were undertaken to notify affected entities both before and after the regulation went into effect. Vessel speeds of 201,862 trips made between November 2008 and August 2013 by 8,009 individual vessels were quantified remotely, constituting a nearly complete census of transits made by the regulated population. Of these, 437 vessels (or their parent companies), some of whom had been observed exceeding the speed limit, were contacted through one of four non-punitive information programs. A fraction (n = 26 vessels/companies) received citations and fines. Despite the efforts to inform mariners, initial compliance was low (<5% of the trips were completely <10 knots) but improved in the latter part of the study. Each notification/enforcement program improved compliance to some degree and some may have influenced compliance across the entire regulated community. Citations/fines appeared to have the greatest influence on improving compliance in notified vessels/companies, followed in order of effectiveness by enforcement-office information letters, monthly summaries of vessel operations, and direct at-sea radio contact. Trips by cargo vessels exhibited the greatest change in behavior followed by tanker and passenger vessels. These results have application to other regulatory systems, especially where remote monitoring is feasible, and any setting where regulatory compliance is sought
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