Michigan is widely recognized as having one of the most innovative programs for converting brownfields into productive uses. The state provides a number of financial incentives along with suspension of retroactive liability for prospective developers. Michigan also has among the greatest number of brownfields of any state. The sheer number of sites and locations throughout the state, the cost of acquisition and cleanup, and the amount of information needed to make a reasoned decision and complete the necessary permits can make the choice of candidate sites difficult. A method to differentiate among potential sites for selection is clearly necessary. In this paper, a Brownfield Site Ranking Model is proposed for selecting sites for potential redevelopment. This process identifies 11 siting criteria derived from the review of general siting factors that can be evaluated in locating a business on a formerly used site. Such factors include commercial marketing guidelines, financial incentives, environmental regulatory compliance requirements, regional infrastructure and labor resources, and local community acceptance. These factors were integrated into a conventional, step-by-step, site identification and selection process using a multi-tiered, weighted procedure. The process was developed in cooperation with the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of Jackson County and was tested on several prospective commercial and industrial sites. Results suggest a high degree of correlation between site characteristics and likely end uses and argue for a selection process that allows participation by local governments. The complete process, which can be computerized and adapted to a geographic information system, provides a model for commercial developers, real estate brokers, siting consultants, and local communities in selecting target sites for redevelopment.

Governments and managers have generally conducted inadequate cost-benefit analysis (CBA) by failing to incorporate environmental impact costs. This is not a straightforward task, owing to the intangibility, in monetary terms, of most environmental goods and services. By means of a theoretical example, we present a practical approach to correct cost-benefit analysis for environmental externalities that do not need natural resource valuations. The theoretical example is based on ventures that potentially pollute river waters. However, we think that the methodological approach presented here may be used to internalize (in monetary terms) the costs of negative external impacts on the environment, which may result from any type of venture or project.

In December of 2000, Environmental Practice published an article by Robin Shoal in which she concluded that ISO 14001's ability to reduce negative environmental impacts depended largely upon the strength and sincerity of the environmental commitments of those firms choosing to adopt an ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS). According to Shoal, the jury was still out on whether ISO 14001 would move beyond hype and offer true hope for improved environmental performance of firms worldwide. Building on the work of Shoal and others, this article draws a more definitive conclusion about the ability of ISO 14001 to actually improve the environmental performance of American firms and the motivation of those firms seeking certification. Data from a mailed survey of randomly selected ISO 14001 certified companies in the US reveals that the majority of firms became certified out of a desire to “be a good neighbor” and to establish themselves as environmental leaders within their industries. While managers hope that ISO 14001 will help them increase profitability, they generally say that they care even more about ISO 14001's ability to improve environmental performance. Data from this study show that the vast majority of respondents reported environmental improvements related to the implementation of an ISO 14001 EMS, regardless of their reasons for becoming certified.

In The Skeptical Environmentalist, Danish statistician Bjorn Lomborg delivers one overarching message: don't worry. The world is doing fine. Water, forests, fossil fuel supplies, biodiversity, and air quality are all in good shape, and most are getting better. Global human welfare is improving in every possible way. Thing are not perfect, but technology will deliver the answers to all our worries. Contemporary environmental concerns are a “litany” developed by a handful of people to serve their own agendas. Above all, Lomborg seeks to free the world from the tyranny of that litany.

Public meetings that are attended by a broadly representative cross-section of the potentially affected public are more likely than those that aren't to provide decision makers with an understanding of the range of citizen concerns regarding a potential decision. Previous research suggests that working and lower middle class women are particularly unlikely to attend environmentally related public meetings. This decreases the likelihood that decision makers will fully understand citizen concerns as a result of these meetings. This article reports on the results of a small qualitative study aimed at understanding why these women are less likely to attend. The interviewed women were socially oriented in their skills, activities, and sense of self-confidence. This, along with the way that these women conceptualized "environment," suggests that they are unlikely to see themselves as valuable participants in a public meeting on an environmental issue. Other obstacles to their participation, including a lack of time and self-con fidence, pertained more to women in one life stage than another. Environmental managers may attract more working and lower middle class women by making our suggested choices regarding meeting technique, attributes, and advertising.

Many environmental professionals are reluctant to interact with the media, often because of a negative experience and the perception that poor coverage can affect environmental programs and policies. Using a case study of media coverage related to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, water supply, this research documents that indeed, the media can influence public opinion and this can have policy and program implications. This research compared media coverage about various water customers (residential, commercial, institutional, industry) to public perceptions about who uses the most water and to actual use levels reported by the city. The results show that coverage in terms of numbers of articles, article content and language, as well as page placement, correlates with public perceptions about which customers use the most water, and that these perceptions do not well match actual use levels. A key point for this work is that although the information presented within the individual articles was largely accurate, it was the pool of coverage assessed as a whole that misrepresented water use levels. This report also provides key steps that environmental professionals can take to help improve overall coverage and help raise the potential for public perception to better match actual data.