Chap 10 Environmental Issues (2nd edition)
Note everything referred to below is based on Kingston’s ideas and the evidence that he provides.

Japan as a Global Leader …”Think globally, act locally”’ PM Nakasone

Based on the introduction which country has been kinder and gentler to the environment, the US or Japan? Explain.

Greenwashing

Is Japan truly a world leader in energy and CO2 issues?

What kind of Energy is Japan most dependent on and what has been the recent trend relative to coal?

Japan’s Green Revolution

The main argument here is that the DPJ will do what the LDP failed to do, the current results are not so sanguine as I mentioned in class. Below is a quote from a recent article from Japan Focus

“On December 10, 2010, near the close of the COP 16 meeting in Cancun,2 Mexico, the international press reported that 20 national leaders, including those of the UK and Mexico, were lined up to call Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto.3 They sought to persuade Kan and his government not to abandon the 2008 to 2012 Kyoto Protocol approach to securing carbon reductions via explicit and compulsory targets.”
Andrew DeWit, 2011.

http://www.japanfocus.org/-Andrew-DeWit/3479

A possible poster could use this paper as a jumping off point to find out what Japan’s Environmental policy really is.

Nuclear Follies

Note the level of commitment and investment that Japan has put into this industry and why it feels compelled to.

Also the term “nuclear village” will be developed more in the following chapter, but basically this is the private sector and government groups that have an interest in maintaining and expanding nuclear power. Note how this group has recently been losing influence (more in the chapter 11).

Tokaimura & Whistleblowing

Although Tokaimura is referred to as the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl, one should change this term to say the most serious one caused by direct human error in handling a reactor.

Corner cutting and suppression of the truth is nothing new in this industry. Recall what I mentioned in class regarding “victory disease” during WWII.

What occurred at Takaimura? In some ways might the response to this accident be considered a dry run for what has been unfolding at the Fukashima reactors over the past couple of weeks? If so why?

What was the government reaction to whistle blowing?

Kashiwazaki, Deregulation, & Rokkasho

Might this seem like a dry run for current events? Explain.

How did the events described here effect Japan’s long term plans for developing “fast breeder” reactors?

The nuclear power industry in Japan could be another interesting area for a poster

Renewable Energy

According to Kingston what was the problem of the LDP approach to promoting renewable energy?

What has been the results in Japan versus a number of EU countries regarding renewables?

Has Japan lost its lead in solar?

Is Kingston calling for more or less government intervention?

Aside: A feed-in tariff (FiT, feed-in law, advanced renewable tariff or renewable energy payments is a policy mechanism designed to encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources and to help accelerate the move toward grid parity.

FiTs typically include three key provisions

· guaranteed grid access

· long-term contracts for the electricity produced

· purchase prices that are methodologically based on the cost of renewable energy generation and tend towards grid parity[dubious – discuss].

Under a feed-in tariff, eligible renewable electricity generators (which can include homeowners and businesses) are paid a premium price for any renewable electricity they produce. Typically regional or national electric grid utilities are obligated to take the electricity and pay them. http://www.feed-in-cooperation.org/wDefault_7/wDefault_7/download-files/research/best_practice_paper_2nd_edition_final.pdf

Minamata

At the time this was considered the greatest environmental disaster in the world, but of course that was 50 years ago. However, notice when the final settlement was arrived at.

Does this David and Goliath struggle seem to indicate something about the relationship of government to industry? (remember the iron triangle)

Whaling wars

I’ll leave it up to you to look this over and see exactly what is going on and why and how. This is quite a good synopsis of the situation. Remember our discussion in class about how Japanese think of themselves in relation to the rest of the natural world.

Whaling has always proven to be an area students like to research

Construction State

Read this over, and note how big the construction industry has been in Japan. A good measure is how much concrete is poured in Japan every year in comparison to the amount poured in the US.

Conclusions

Has air quality improved in Japan since the mid-1960s?

Up until Fukashima what has been the relationship between investment in renewable energy versus nuclear?