scholarly journals Contrasting Public and Scientific Assessments of Fracking

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6650
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
John A. Rupp ◽  
John D. Graham

This paper examines whether public perceptions of the claimed advantages and disadvantages of fracking are consistent with an evidence-based assessment of the claimed advantages and disadvantages. Public assessments are obtained from an internet-based opinion survey in 2014 in six states: California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The survey presented eleven advantages and eleven disadvantages of fracking derived from local media stories, from advocacy claims made by pro- or anti-fracking groups, and from think tank pieces. Then the respondents were asked to indicate their feelings about how important each claimed advantage and disadvantage was to their support of/opposition to fracking. Scientific assessments regarding the same claims are compiled from available peer-reviewed literature and evidence-based reviews. We classify each claim as either (a) supported by the weight of the available evidence, (b) not supported by the weight of the available evidence, or (c) there is inadequate evidence to assess it. We find less consistency with respect to the disadvantages than advantages. Respondents perceive four disadvantages out of eleven as extremely important while there is inadequate evidence to assess them or the available evidence does not support them. Our comparison has interesting implications for understanding the controversy about fracking.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2266
Author(s):  
Valentina Marincioni ◽  
Virginia Gori ◽  
Ernst Jan de Place Hansen ◽  
Daniel Herrera-Avellanosa ◽  
Sara Mauri ◽  
...  

Buildings of heritage significance due to their historical, architectural, or cultural value, here called historic buildings, constitute a large proportion of the building stock in many countries around the world. Improving the performance of such buildings is necessary to lower the carbon emissions of the stock, which generates around 40% of the overall emissions worldwide. In historic buildings, it is estimated that heat loss through external walls contributes significantly to the overall energy consumption, and is associated with poor thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Measures to improve the performance of walls of historic buildings require a balance between energy performance, indoor environmental quality, heritage significance, and technical compatibility. Appropriate wall measures are available, but the correct selection and implementation require an integrated process throughout assessment (planning), design, construction, and use. Despite the available knowledge, decision-makers often have limited access to robust information on tested retrofit measures, hindering the implementation of deep renovation. This paper provides an evidence-based approach on the steps required during assessment, design, and construction, and after retrofitting through a literature review. Moreover, it provides a review of possible measures for wall retrofit within the deep renovation of historic buildings, including their advantages and disadvantages and the required considerations based on context.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5503
Author(s):  
Roghayeh Sadeghi Pasvisheh ◽  
Marie Anne Eurie Forio ◽  
Long Tuan Ho ◽  
Peter L. M. Goethals

As an “international aquatic ecosystem” in Northern Iran, the Anzali wetland is a nursery for fish and a breeding and wintering area for a wide variety of waterfowl. The wetland is threatened by human activities (deforestation, hunting, tourism, and urbanization), leading to habitat destruction, eutrophication, and sediment accumulation. To stop the degradation and to set up effective protection and restoration in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, scientific insights must be integrated into a practical framework for evidence-based support for policymakers and managers of the Anzali wetland. In this study, the Drivers–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework is used as a suitable tool to link human pressures and state changes to derive an overview of the potential impacts. Population growth, intensive agriculture, increased urbanization, and industrialization are the major driving forces that have led to a complex cascade of state changes. For instance, during recent years, water quality deterioration, habitat degradation, and the overgrowth of invasive species in the Anzali wetland watershed have caused negative socio-economic and human health impacts. Integrated and innovative monitoring programs combined with socio-environmental modeling techniques are needed for a more evidence-based management approach as part of a multiresponse strategy for the sustainable development of the wetland system. In this respect, there is a critical gap in useful information concerning biological composition and innovative monitoring methods. Moreover, the relation of biota with human activity and environmental conditions needs to be better quantified. Therefore, ecological modeling techniques based on machine learning and statistics were reviewed for their advantages and disadvantages. The overview of approaches presented here can serve as the basis for scientists, practitioners, and decision-makers to develop and implement evidence-based management programs for the Anzali wetland.


2018 ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
I.B. Ventskovskaya ◽  
◽  
V.V. Bila ◽  
O.S. Countryside ◽  
◽  
...  

The article presents modern views on the pathogenesis of preterm labor, their relevance and classification. From the perspective of evidence-based medicine methods of prevention are considered. A comparison of the main tocolytic agents, their advantages and disadvantages is presented. Key words: premature birth, perinatal and infantile mortality, tocolysis, magnesium sulfate, gestational age.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Craig Greenham

In a 2004 autobiography, legendary player Pete Rose confessed to gambling on baseball games, even those that included his Cincinnati Reds. The passage of time has clarified much about the betting scandal that plagued Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1989. Over the course of the six-month saga, Rose’s denials and his adversarial relationship with the Commissioner’s Office shrouded MLB’s investigation in controversy. This study explores the press coverage of the scandal in 1989 and determines that the Cincinnati press was more sympathetic to, and supportive of Rose than out-of-market coverage, represented in this investigation by The New York Times. These findings are consistent with previous research that indicates that local media favors hometown institutions during times of crisis. This study expands that theory by demonstrating that favoritism extends to individual players whose connection to the city is significant, and furthers our understanding of the media’s role in shaping the narratives of scandal.


Author(s):  
Helen Pallett

Background:Debates about evidence-based policy (EBP) were revived in the UK in the 2010s in the context of civil service reform and changing practices of policy making, including institutionalisation of public participation in science policy making. Aims and objectives:This paper aims to explore this revival of interest in EBP in the context of the Government-funded public participation programme Sciencewise, which supports and promotes public dialogues in science policy making. It is based on in-depth ethnographic study of the programme during 2013, considering the impacts on Sciencewise practices and working understandings of engaging in the EBP debate. There is a particular focus on the advantages and disadvantages of categorising public participation as a source of evidence-based policy as opposed to presenting participation as a democratic act which is separate from discussions of EBP. Key conclusions:At different times Sciencewise actors moved between these stances in order to gain credibility and attention for their work, and to situate the outcomes of public participation processes in a broader policy context. In some instances the presentation of outputs from public participation processes as legitimate evidence for policy gave them greater influence and enriched broader discussions about the meaning and practice of open policy. However, it also frequently led to their dismissal on methodological grounds, inhibiting serious engagement with their outputs and challenging internal frameworks for evaluation and learning.


Author(s):  
David Koffman ◽  
David Lewis

Four techniques are described for forecasting the demand for paratransit required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): surveys, intuitive comparison with other systems, cross-sectional econometric analysis, and time-series econometric analysis. The application of these methods in Seattle and New York is described, illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The ADA leaves considerable room for localities to determine the level of trip denials that can be tolerated. The econometric models provide a quantitative forecast of the effects of different levels of service availability as measured by trip denial rates. It demonstrates that the importance of service availability varies among communities.


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