Political considerations

Helium from Natural Gas. Recovery of helium from a given natural-gas stream depends almost entirely on the total economic picture of the stream. In the United States, the lowest practical helium level that is recovered is most frequendy 0.3 vol %, although helium is frequendy ignored, and hence wasted, in streams containing somewhat high concentrations. In other parts of the wodd where political considerations sometimes interact with the economic, the use of helium concentrations lower than 0.3 vol % maybe dictated. 

In Fig. 5-1, the words "Social and political considerations" appear several times. Discuss these considerations for the various contexts involved. 

New subsidies often outlive the public policy purpose that they were intended to address. The better-designed subsidies contain sunset provisions that require explicit action to reauthorize them after a certain time. Subsidy and externality policies arc often interrelated. It may be politically difficult to tax an energy source with high external costs, but much easier to subsidize a competing energy source with low external costs. Such second best solutions arc often implemented when political considerations block the preferred option. 

An ElA can be particularly useful in distinguishing the relative environmental impact of alternative sites, processes and strategies for industrial, rural or urban development. Decision-makers to choose the alternative that will provide maximum economic and social benefits with the minimum of environmental disturbance can then use this essential environmental information, together with financial and political considerations. Guidelines for assessing... 

In the development of regulatory standards, acconnt must be taken of acceptable risk, which will involve political considerations. Perhaps the way forward has been indicated over the past 30 years by bodies such as the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, who have made a great contribution by publishing annually recommended standards for several hundred toxic substances. These standards have been used extensively with minor modifications by regulatory bodies in many countries. 

In crisis situations, concerned agencies respond differently, stemming from variations in tasks, jurisdictions, education, geographical environment, level of preparedness, and other administrative and political considerations. Consequently, they are drawn into a crisis at different moments, with varying viewpoints and purposes. Considering these divergent responsibilities, it is essential to coordinate efforts to mitigate and control civil disorders. 

The essays in this book, written by scientists who have participated in or witnessed firsthand political-scientific interactions, provide descriptions of political manipulations of science and of political considerations. The essays describe excessive politicization—the misapplication or outright manipulation of the scientific record to advance policy agendas. Ultimately, actions such as those described have unintended consequences, the brunt of which are borne by everyday citizens, not those who politicize at the expense of objectivity. 

Many reasons, such as the expectation of a hostile media response, local political considerations, international pressures, or even personal aggrandizement can explain why poor-country politicians do not always do what is, seemingly, best for their people.4 There are probably thousands of examples of these decisions, such as recent rejections of well-planned, needed dam construction projects because of environmental destruction that accompanied poorly planned dams in years past. Although it s relatively easy and inexpensive to discover anecdotal examples of such decisions, few such decisions have been analyzed and documented, probably because research costs are so high. Careful, properly documented analyses are particularly rare in the environmental field. 

Because a permanent disposal strategy has proven illusive due to technical and political considerations, plans have been made for interim storage facilities where... 

The host medium can be bedded salt, salt domes, granite, basalt, or volcanic tuff. Each medium has advantages and disadvantages with regard to resistance to water intrusion, site availability, and political considerations. Each medium can work and the most important factor is how the local site is designed. An additional factor is the... 

Bass BM, McGregor DW, Walters JL (1977) Selecting Foreign Plant Sites Economic, Social and Political Considerations. Adacemy of Management Journal 20 535-551... 

WILTSHIRE, S. and DOW, K. (1995). Social and political considerations, pages 97 to 105 inRadioactive and Mixed Waste—Risk as a Basis for Waste Classification, NCRP Symposium Proceedings No. 2 (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Maryland). 

In the USA, research and development is heavily focused on the security of the energy supply, and the large native reserves of coal and oil shale could be used for the manufacture of sulphur-free, synthetic fuels, which could be used in existing internal combustion engine technologies. This would seem a likely way forward for vehicle propulsion, although the ultimate direction will be dictated by environmental and political considerations. 

Decisions about the use of herbicides in forests customarily take into account social and political considerations. In addition, they must include technically sound assessments of risk ( ). Traditional risk assessments are basically assessments of single organisms, however, not of an ecosystem (2). 

Fourthly, overall political considerations concerning bilateral relations with the suspected State Party might possibly have been behind the United States determining not to request a challenge inspection. ... 

---