中国生态文明建设(中英对照)连载之三十八 官员环保考核制度 本书由北京语言大学出版社出版,2014(教学课件光盘版) 作者 蒋高明 4.3.1 官员环保考核制度 4.3.1 Assessment system for officials in terms of environmental protection 如果有人问,在中国最难做的官是什么官?在我看来,是环保官员。 If asked, “What kind of official has the toughest job in China?” I should say: environmental protection officials. 在基层调研,县环保局局长们经常向我抱怨,县环保局长最难当:环境出了问题,老百姓的庄稼、牲畜、鱼甚至身体健康受害,他们会找环保局;而地方政府为了财政收入,对污染企业又常常睁一只眼闭一只眼,环保局长想管好又管不好。地方环保官员是县里一把手任命的,业务上归口环保部,但人事上又得听地方政府的。 When doing grass-roots researches, I often hear complaints from chiefs of the the Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPB) in various counties to the effect that they are in the toughest official position. On the one hand, when something comes up or when the crops, livestock, fish and even people’s physical health are harmed, the local people will go to the EPB; and on the other hand, local governments often turn a blind eye to those polluting enterprises for the sake of revenue, thus putting the local environment protection chiefs in a predicament. To make the matter even more embarrassing, the local environmental protection officials are appointed by the top leaders of the county, but their work is subordinated to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. 难当的不只是地方的环保局长,就连环保部门的最高领导,有的也因环保事件丢了“乌纱帽”。 2005 年 11 月 13 日,吉林石化公司双苯厂发生爆炸,造成 5 人死亡、 1 人失踪,近 70 人受伤。约 100 吨苯类物质流入松花江,沿江数百万居民的饮水受到影响,影响还波及邻国俄罗斯。国家环保总局局长解振华被就地免职。这一严重事态表明,中国环境保护的压力越来越大了,中国对环境污染事件的处理也越来越严了。环保部门再也不是橡皮图章了。 Even the top leaders in the environmental protection departments may be dismissed from office because of some environmental accidents. On November 13, 2005, an explosion occurred in abi-benzene plant of Jilin Petrochemical Branch Company, causing 5 deaths and 1 missing and nearly 70 people injured. About 100 tons of benzene flowed into the Songhua River, and the drinking water of millions of the local residents was polluted. The accident even affected neighboring Russia. Xie Zhenhua, the Director of the Environmental Protection Administration was removed from office. This serious accident indicates that China’s environmental protection pressure is intensified, and China’s punishment for environment accident is increasingly stern. The environmental protection department is no longer a rubber stamp. 前面谈过的各项环境保护制度,关键在于执行。而决定执行效果的关键,是官员,尤其是地方官员。路线一旦确定,贯彻者与执行者的选择最为重要。对于官员考核,过去单纯以 GDP 论英雄,于是,多数官员就会盲目追求 GDP ,就会对污染企业睁一只眼闭一只眼。环境保护是千秋大业,很多时候在短时间内见不到明显效益,如果官员主要考虑政绩,那就会忽略环境。相反,如果对官员进行考核时,要求必须保护好生态环境,否则 GDP 再高也不能升迁,那官员们肯定会认真对待环境保护这项事业了。 Implementation is crucial to the environmental protection system, and the officials, especially the local officials, are the key to effective implementation. Once the plan is made, selecting people to carry it out is of the highest significance. Many officials used to be tolerant of polluting enterprises, because the assessment system of their performance only took GDP as the norm. Environmental protection is a long-term cause, and its effectiveness cannot be observed in a short time. Therefore, if officials only care for their political achievements, they are sure to ignore environment protection. On the contrary, if their performance in the environmental protection work is incorporated into officials’ assessment, they’ll be much more vigilant about the environment. 松花江苯泄漏事件后,国家环保总局在全国开展了环境隐患大排查。全国环保部门对总投资超过 1 万亿的 7555 个化工石化建设项目,开展了环境风险排查 。由于中央政府的重视,一时间各级政府、企业与民众,都一下子加大了对环保的重视。环境污染现象暂时得到了抑制,直到出现了“红豆水”事件,环保问责制再次显示威力。 After the benzene spill on the Songhua River, the State Environmental Protection Administration launched a nationwide investigation of environmental hazards. Environmental protection departments across the country inspected 7,555 chemical and petrochemical projects invested with more than 1 trillion Yuan in total. Thanks to the concern shown by the central authorities, the governments at all levels, enterprises and the public became acutely aware of environmental protection. Environmental pollution was temporarily restrained until the “red bean water” accident, when the environment accountability system displayed its power again. 河北沧县张官屯乡小朱庄村,地下水变红已经超过 10 年。自 1996 年以来, 800 人的小朱庄已经有 24 人死于癌症,现在还有 6 名癌症患者;农民养鸡也出现大量死亡。 2013 年 1 月,一位周姓养殖户养殖的肉鸡先后死亡 700 只,疑似与周围化工厂水污染有关。 4 月 4 日,面对农民的质疑,河北沧县环保局党组书记、环保局局长邓连军,竟然用“水煮红小豆”来解释,引来专家、网民炮轰。事发第二天,该“红豆局长”被就地免职。 In Xiaozhuzhuang village in Zhangguantun of Cangxian County, Hebei Province, the groundwater turned red for over a decade. Since 1996, 24 people in this village of altogether 800 have died of cancer (there are still 6 cancer patients alive today); and chickens also died in large numbers. In January 2013, 700 chickens owned by a farmer surnamed Zhou died, and the deaths were suspected to be related to water pollution by chemical plants around. On April 4, facing skeptical farmers, Deng Lianjun, Party secretary and Director of Hebei Cangxian County Environmental Protection Bureau, explained the accident as “red bean boiling-water”, triggering strong protests from experts and netizens. The following day, the “red bean director” was dismissed. 传统的中国官员选拔任用,突出“民主推荐、科学考察、党委集体讨论决定、纪律监督”等环节,要依据相关的任用条件和职责要求,全面考察备选人的德、能、勤、绩、廉各方面,其中尤其注重考核实际工作成绩,也就是政绩。但以往的官员政绩考核,却较少考虑到环保标准。 Traditional selection and appointment of Chinese official highlights “democratic recommendation, scientific investigation, party group discussion, discipline supervision” and other procedures the candidate should be assessed in terms of morality, ability, diligence, achievements, and integrity, based on conditions and responsibilities related to the requirements of the post; and performance assessment, namely assessment of achievements in one’s official career, is of special importance. But environmental protection was excluded from performance assessment before. 现在,将环保标准纳入政绩考核的呼声越来越高,今后这样脑子里没有环保意识的官员,可能随时面临着被罢免。环保业绩会与政府官员任免密切挂钩,政府将被戴上环境的“紧箍咒”,而老百姓则能够看到蓝天、白云、青山、绿水。在官员、企业、民众的共同努力下,中国才能实现美丽中国的梦想。 Now, the voice for including environmental standards into performance evaluation has become stronger. Officials without environmental awareness may be removed at any time. Performance in environmental protection will be closely linked with the appointment and removal of government officials. The government will wear an environmental “iron grip”, and the people will be able to see the blue sky, white clouds, green mountains, and clean water. Only through joint efforts of officials, enterprises and the public can we build a beautiful China. 通过环境风险排查,全国3618个项目采取了防范和减缓环境风险的措施,49个项目进行了搬迁。 Through environmental risk investigation, 3,618 projects took precautionary measures to mitigate environmental risks, and 49 projects were relocated.
朱棣文卸任美国能源部长,重返斯坦福大学,被聘为椅子教授—— William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Humanities and Sciences 。 朱棣文1987-2008年在斯坦福当教授。即使贵为诺贝尔奖得主,又是前往白宫任高官,斯坦福也照样不客气地让他卸下了教授一职,只给了他一个 荣休教授(Emeritus Faculty) 的头衔。 N年前,当基辛格担任尼克松总统总统安全事务顾问时,曾恳求哈佛保留他的教授席位。哈佛的回答是如果你不在规定的no pay leave期限内回来,对不起,你就不是哈佛的教授了。 “鱼与熊掌,不可兼得。”你当你的大官,我当我的教授,哈佛、斯坦福不稀罕权贵。
刘瑜:中国是民众素质低还是官员素质低? 很多人可能都意识到,一些具有中国特色的词汇很难译成英文,比如“突击手”、“不折腾”、“精神文明”、“班子建设”……要是谁能译出“血染的风采”,那我简直想给他送一面锦旗。在此类词汇里,有一个就是“素质”。 “中国人素质低,所以中国不应当……”,这句 话如此广为传播,以至于“素质”这个词前面少了“中国人”,后面少了“低”,“素质”这个词都显得缺胳膊少腿。但素质翻译成什么呢?译成“quality”似乎最合适,但仔细一想,如果把前面那句话译成“The quality of the Chinese people is low, so China should not...",显然不合适,因为这句英文再译回中文,就成了“中国人的质量很低,所以中国不应当……”。这是赤裸裸的种族主义,肯定不是说这话的中国人的本意。 一个词很难译成其它语言,肯定有很多原因。可能的原因之一,就是这个词所指向的现象本身其实含糊不清。比如“素质”,什么叫素质呢?直觉的解释是“文化水平”。但是最新人口普查显示,中国文盲率现在只有4.08%,远低于世界平均水平。另一项2009年研究显示,中国18.3%的25-34岁人口拥有大专以上文化程度,高于捷克(15.5%)、土耳其(13.6%)、巴西(10%)等诸多民主国家。可见中国人的文化水平怎么也不算低。 如果“素质”指的不是文化水平。它还可能指什么?要不就是合作精神。据说中国人“一盘散沙”,这被视为中国人素质低的证明。社会科学里有个词叫“社会资本”,说的是人与人水平往来的粘性和密度。据一些学者论证,社会资本对于民主运转的意义,相当于机油对于机动车的意义。一盘散沙的社会,就是没有机油的机动车,开起来肯定稀里哗啦。 且不说后来有不少学者对“社会资本”的政治后果进行质疑,就算“社会资本”多多益善,又有不少研究者指出,其实中国的传统并不是一盘散沙。传统乡土社会有着细密的社会交往网络和自治传统。村里需要修个路通个渠,各家各户常常商量着集资解决;张三和李四闹个矛盾,族长或者乡绅往往根据村规给摆平……我在纽约的唐人街,看到已经离开故土上百年的中国社区,每到佳节还聚到一起舞个狮子敲敲锣鼓。所以很难说中国人基因里缺少凝聚力。 反倒是“全能国家”一登场,宗族、社团、庙会这些个“封建糟粕”被强拆,人们日趋原子化,政治成了唯一的粘合剂。至今强大的政治体制还抑制着社会资本的积累。“散沙们”想结合起来组织个农会,太敏感。工会,政府不是已经组织了吗?非政府组织?可以,但先得通过48道手续……所以中国社会散沙化不是强权的原因,而是其结果。如果我一边把你的腿铐住,一边说,看,你现在跑不起来吧,这证明了你没有跑步的能力,哦不,跑步的“素质”。这连“自我实现的预期”都算不上,这就是“自我证实的命令”。 素质要不就是指规则意识?中国人不爱排队,乱闯红灯……这些现象说明中国人素质差,所以中国民众需要“素质高”的精英群体给管束起来。成龙大哥所言“中国人是需要管的”,大约是这个意思。这些坏习惯我倒是深有感触,尤其是不爱排队这一项,有时我简直希望每个商场柜台前都能配备一名交警。 但我也去过港台,也见过人口同样密集的港台市民自觉排队。既然他们也是中国人,说明规则意识这种“素质”也不是一遇到中国人就发生排异反应。更重要的是,就算中国民众的规则意识不足,实在看不出这如何就能推导出集权体制的优越性。集权体制的隐含前提是,“素质低”的民众需要“素质高”的官员去教化管束,但是放眼官员的素质,不免叫人胆战心惊。今天打开一张报纸,我们看到在一个官员因为贪污几百万锒铛入狱;明天打开一张报纸,又看到另一个官员因为贪污几千万而锒铛入狱;今天点击一个网站,看到政府强拆逼得某人上访;明天再点击一个网站,看到政府拆迁又逼得另一个人自焚。当然此类官员也许不具有代表性,但此类故事层出不穷却是事实。这倒提醒了我们如何理解民众缺乏规则意识:如果“上面”经常在工程招标中玩内部交易、在土地纠纷中不尊重法律、公款吃喝屡禁不止……又怎么能指望“下面”毕恭毕敬尊重规则?一个随地大小便的人,如何教化别人不要随地吐痰? 所以就算中国人的“素质”有问题,它更多地是源于制度,虽然也恶化制度。我当然不相信制度的变革可以一夜之间改变文化,但是制度的变革至少可以打开一个公共生活的空间,而公民素养的培养首先需要一个公共空间,就象学会跑步需要首先解开脚镣。那些说“中国人素质低,所以中国不应该……”的人,也许可以考虑把这话改成“中国人素质低,所以中国更应该……”。 来源:凤凰博客2011-10-31
寻正 在我向密西根州立大学教授卢-伯斯顿博士发信请求翻译其致方舟子公开信之后,卢-伯斯顿教授来信允许我翻译并在自己博客上传播,卢-伯斯顿教授还主动把我添加进入相关事件的讨论组,这个讨论组中有密西根大学各级官员。最近的来信中,方舟子试图私下道歉,道歉缺乏诚意,避重就轻,让卢-伯斯顿教授严词拒绝。 详情请参阅华裔科学家刘实的专文报道 。 对于方舟子的狡辩与密西根州立大学此前对方舟子在校期间的抄袭案件的处理不满,我向密西根州立大学发出了公开信,谴责相关官员与密西根州立大学缺乏道德责任感,要求方舟子诚实道歉。下面是英文原文。 Thank Dr. Root-Bertstein for including me in this forum and taking a stand for academic integrity. Let me remind Dr. Fang that public forum for such an important issue had been your position not long ago. When you launched an open attack on Dr. Shi Yi-gong. Dr. Shi attempted contact you to discuss matters privately. You had not only refused Dr. Shi but also insulted Dr. Shi publicly for attempting the private dialogue. In my opinion, a public apology with the level of sincerity demonstrated by Dr. Root-Berstein is the least Dr. Fang should do to resolve this issue on his part. I have made my fair contribution to the discovery of Dr. Fang's plagiarism and bad science writing on Dr. Ge's list. I do not underestimate Dr. Fang's animosity and personal feelings. I am enemy to any plagiarizers and labeling me as an enemy helps no cause when you plagiarize and are caught. Dr. Fang has to realize that even if I was his friend, I would still expose his and his wife's plagiarism. Friendship and animosity does not matter when integrity is at jeopardy. I noticed that MSU officials are included in this list. Just before Dr. Root-Berstein wrote his open letter, I was contemplating an article to criticize the hypocrisy of American educational institutions and individuals. MSU stood a typical example of handling academic integrity in such a fashion. Dr. Fang's plagiarism was committed as an MSU graduate student. Yet MSU evaded responsibility to take a moral stand against such a behavior based on technicality. Worse yet, not only MSU failed to stand for academic integrity, it stood by the plagiarizer! The officer in charge of the matter was offended by challenge from informers. He actually side with Dr. Fang by writing equivocal letters to Dr. Fang so that Dr. Fang could spin MSU's position out of proportion. MSU may argue that indeed Dr. Fang's plagiarism was not related to his dissertation, but it was academic. A classical case in mind, Blair Hornstine. She fight her high school to be the sole valedictorian. Her school wanted to change its rules to name valedictorian when only she could receive such an honor by the old rules. She has disability. The school thought she did not deserve the honor because of all the accommodations she got for her disability. She fight back and won. She was accepted by Harvard University. This case made national headlines and then she was surprised. Some journalists, in an effort to find more about her, found that she plagiarized when she wrote for the school newspaper. Blair readily and sincerely accepted the consequence and apologized. Her supporters believed that those articles were not for any academic exercises and not counted for grades in any possible way, therefore, Harvard should give her a second chance. Harvard quickly rescinded her admission. Harvard clearly set an example of what to be defined as academic. I would like to mention that the total amount of plagiarism in Blair's several articles (if I remember right, it should be six) were less than any of many Dr. Fang's plagiarized works, including the one that was a simple copy of Dr. Root-Berstein's published work. I'm hugely amused when I found and read again this article, "Copying a few words is also plagiarism", by Dr. Fang. No wonder I was a fan of Dr. Fang. He stand up for integrity, of others. Blair's acts were judged by criteria stipulated in this important essay. If any of you on this list are interested in this essay, I can volunteer to translated it for you, of course, if Dr. Fang also allows. Where MSU failed, Dr. Root-Berstein stood up. Dr. Root-Berstein is the moral pearl of MSU. I could still remember one of my professors. One day in class, he declared, one thing you cann't do, was plagiarizing, at least not when he was around. He threatened, if you do, then you are his personal enemy and he would see you expelled. Every university needs a couple of those hardline professors. Why? Because there are just too many easy-going ones. I came from China too. There are temptations for me as well. My classmates and professors have made damn sure that I know how to write and not to steal others' intellectual property. During orientation I was informed of writing assistance and there was discussion about academic integrity. I guess MSU failed Dr. Fang on his education in this regard to a certain degree. While touting himself as number one fraud-buster in China, Dr. Fang just could not get rid of his own fraud. I know he's been trying. GOD in his infinite wisdom had said this. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."(Proverbs 22:6) In my opinion, MSU owes Dr. Root-Berstein an apology and a recognition. There are situations where you have to take a moral position beyond procedural justice. When the office of integrity fails to take a moral position but insists on procedural justice and sides with plagiarizers, I have to be frank with everyone in this group. I think that office of MSU is a joke. Please do not take me wrong. I know how important procedure justice is and I'm not interested in a superficial education of it. I only want to reminded MSU officers to remember your primary duty. If you are officer of integrity, don't you think you should do something for it? I'm so much encouraged by Dr. Root-Berstein's open letter that I will demand MSU of an official position on Dr. Fang's plagiarism while he was a graduate student in MSU. You can shuffle responsibilities around, but I think the public deserve an answer. If needed, I can write to additional senior officers or your board or your crediting agencies or state legislators and so on, asking them to help MSU to figure out who should bear the responsibility for academic integrity. Someone has to know, right? I can see a potential argument coming. Dr. Fang had graduated. There is nothing MSU can do to discipline him. Well, there is a lot you can do as long as Dr. Fang still bears your title. Recently, Braunau Austria had declared to strip Adolf Hitler of any honorary citizenship he may have from this township. It's an odd order since the town was not sure if Hitler has an honorary title from them! Nonetheless, this town took a moral stand and sided with integrity. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not seeking MSU to do anything dramatic, even I believe that MSU could examine all the evidence of Dr. Fang's rampant plagiarism and take appropriate actions. It is simply too costly for MSU. Lastly I would like to offer suggestions to MSU. Lip services to integrity is dangerous. You need to really educate your student, during orientation, everyone of the syllabi, in school, out of school, of academic integrity. Additionally, you need to offer students from other culture writing assistance. Hone their skills to avoid unnecessary plagiarism. Dr. Fang was a good student until he arrived at MSU. At least of all the plagiarized works we identified, none of them appeared before that. MSU had ruined him. Before you claim superiority in science teaching and instruction, I would also like to point out that I have criticized Dr. Fang's work for lack of science and understanding in numerous instances, some in his own field. Now you understand why Dr. Fang does not like me. Like Dr. Ge, Dr. Fang and his supporters always denigrate me as someone with fraud he has busted and I attack him out of vengeance. When this happens, you ask him and his supporters for evidence and immediately you see why I take such a strong moral position against and become his enemy. I am simply enemy of plagiarizers. I had written thousand of articles. I never plagiarize--at least after I got my proper education at the University of Iowa. That professor, unfortunately, has always been around, in my mind if not always physically. See, MSU, treasure Dr. Root-Berstein, he is your quality assurance. Sincerely, Junlin Liao, Ph.D.
中英大学变革异同 早几年,英国朋友来访,谈起一些著名的系消失了。英国人说,英国大学为什么成立了许多学院,那是因为英国大学的旧体制,每个系只设一个教授,可是高水平的越来越多,为了增加教授职位,就把系改为学院了。他说,你们中国不也是这样吗,学院多了,教授也多了。我说: No , No , No ,我们中国教授是发的,有些不学无术的人到临退休发一个教授职称,反正当教授没有多少物质利益,当官才有。于是,许多知识分子想当官。因为想当官的多,没有多么系主任位置,所以系改学院,就可以设许多系主任了。他笑了,真是文化不同。我说殊途同归,在英国,教授受人尊敬,所以大家争当教授。在中国,做官受人尊敬,所以大家争做官。大家都笑了。
今天,Science上发表了一篇思辨性讨论文章,Irremediable Complexity?,是著名进化生物学家Doolittle等人对生物复杂性的深度思考。可能部分生物学研究人员(包括我本人)也有过类似看法,但都没有认真对待、没有深入思考。现在,也许我们真的应该认真反思:我们考虑很多生物学问题的出发点是否正确? 说了半天,那文章是讲什么的? Complex cellular machines may have evolved through a ratchet-like process called constructive neutral evolution 。如果我没有理解错的话,复杂形状的产生并不一定都有适应性意义。看似很精细很复杂的生物学过程,如内含子剪接、RNA编辑等,可能不是由于具备什么好处而受到自然选择进化来的。更可能的是,不好不坏的中性特征固化了。产生时没什么好处,但当此特征成为了复杂系统的一部分,它就必不可少了,再丢了它会出大问题。举个例子,内含子有没有用还有争议,但包括该文的作者在内的很多牛人认为没什么用。没用,能随便丢吗?内含子出现后,重复序列不断插入,越来越长,内含子剪接与外显子序列关系越来越紧密。在高等生物中,长内含子不能随便丢失,长内含子丢失会导致附近的外显子剪接出现故障(详见本人的拙作,Niu, 2008)。 如果还不清楚,就看这个比喻吧。官场上,一个官员上去时可能没什么本领,就是运气或者其他家庭什么原因,当官之后,慢慢地与其他官员组成了一个复杂的网络,甚至与普通百姓都形成了千丝万缕的联系。这时候,牵一发而动全身,他的地位就稳固了,并且成为社会稳定必不可少的核心力量。从这个理论看,精简机构、裁员,难得很! 产生时有用吗?没用。现在可以丢掉吗,不可以,丢了会出大问题。结果是系统越来越庞大,越来越复杂。这就是Irremediable Complexity一文的思想。 谈谈我本人对此文的看法。这种思想可以说是万金油式的理论,任何现象它几乎都可以解释。但是如果我们什么都用它解释,内含子有没有用?没用;真核生物细胞核出现有没有什么好处,能否使细胞获得什么优势?没有,撞运气产生的。生物学真的不要再研究了,我们可以回家休息了。 我提醒大家注意此文的目的是:生物复杂性的进化存在这种可能,当你用适应性实在解释不了了,可以用这种理论收尾。但当适应性进化还有一丝可能之前,请勿放弃,揭示适应性机理才会真正加深人类对自然界的理解。 同时,简单评价一下作者的一个小问题。文中引用了美国科学院院士Lynch关于基因组复杂性的一篇论文和一本书,这两篇文献的依据来自于Lynch与他人2003年在Science上发表的论文( The origins of genome complexity. Science 302:1401-1404)。但这篇文章的结论已经被PLoS Genetics今年发表的一篇论文否定了( Did Genetic Drift Drive Increases in Genome Complexity? PLoS Genetics 6:e1001080 )。由于与Science的竞争关系,Nature编辑部专门HIGHLIGHT了一下这一进展。网友也可以参见本人的博客《研究进化需要考虑进化关系》 http://www.sciencenet.cn/blog/user_content.aspx?id=367873 。作者目前还把Lynch的小种群理论作为可靠结果或可信理论引用,有些不应该。 Gray MW, Lukes J, Archibald JM, Keeling PJ, Doolittle WF (2010) Irremediable Complexity? Science 330:920-921 Niu DK (2008) Exon definition as a potential negative force against intron losses in evolution. Biol Direct 3:46