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Environmental Policy: Decision Making And Problem Solving

Environmental Policy: An Overview

&

U.S. Environmental Policy

AP Environmental Science

Mr. Grant

Lesson 10

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Objectives:

• Define the term environmental impact statement (EIS).

• Describe environmental policy and assess its societal context.

• Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

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Define the term environmental impact statement (EIS).

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - A report of the results from detailed studies that assess the potential effects on the environment that would likely result from development projects or other actions undertaken by the government or business.

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Describe environmental policy and assess its societal context.

Policy is a tool for decision making and problem solving that makes use of information from science and values from ethics and economics.

Policy = a formal set of general plans and principles to address problems and guide decision making

Public policy = made by governments

- Laws, regulations, orders, incentives, and practices

- Intended to advance societal welfare

Environmental policy = pertains to human interactions with the environment

- Regulates resource use or reduces pollution

- To promote human welfare and/or protect resources

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Describe environmental policy and assess its societal context.

• Science, ethics, and economics help formulate policy

• Science = provides information and analysis• Ethics and economics = clarify how society can

address problems• Government interacts with citizens, organizations,

and the private sector

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Describe environmental policy and assess its societal context.

Environmental policy aims to protect natural resources and environmental amenities from degradation or depletion and to promote equitable treatment of people. It addresses the tragedy of the commons, free riders, and external costs.

Tragedy of the commons = commonly held resources will become overused and degraded

- Best prevented by oversight and regulations

Free riders = reducing pollution tempts people to cheat

- Private voluntary efforts are less effective than efforts mandated by public policies

External costs = harmful impacts of market transactions are borne by people not involved in the transaction

- Polluter pays principal = polluters cover costs of impacts

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Describe environmental policy and assess its societal context.

Many factors hinder environmental policy• Why are environmental laws challenged, ignored, and

rejected by citizens and policymakers?• Environmental policy involves government regulations

- Property owners and businesspeople think regulations are inconvenient and cause economic loss

• Problems develop gradually and over the long term- Human behavior is geared toward short-term needs- Businesses opt for short-term economic gain- News media have short attention spans - Politicians act out of short-term interest

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

The legislative, executive, and judicial branches, together with administrative agencies, all play roles in U.S. environmental policy.

- Legislative branch = Congress creates statutory law

- Executive branch = enacts or vetoes legislation

- Judicial branch = interprets laws

- Administrative agencies = the “fourth branch”• Laws are implemented and executed by agencies

• A source of policy through regulations

• Monitor and enforce compliance

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

State and local governments also implement environmental policy.

- States, counties, and municipalities also generate environmental policies

- California, New York, and Massachusetts have strong environmental laws

- State laws cannot violate principles of the U.S. Constitution

California state and local agencies help regulate the impact of the International Wastewater Treatment Plant

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

The concept of regulatory taking arises from the Fifth Amendment.

- Fifth Amendment = takings clause • Bans the literal taking of private property

• Also bans regulatory taking, which deprives a property owner of economic uses of the property

• In 1992 the Supreme Court ruled that a state law intending to prevent serious public harm violated the takings clause

• Lucas, a land developer, was allowed to build homes on beachfront property

- Although a state agency had prohibited construction on the property

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

U.S. environmental policy came in three waves. The first promoted frontier expansion and resource extraction. The second aimed to mitigate impacts of the first through conservation. The third targeted pollution and gave us many of today’s major environmental laws.- From 1780s to the late 1800s, promoted settlement and extraction

of resources

- People believed land was infinite and inexhaustible

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Typical laws of the 1780s–late 1800s

Homestead Act (1862) = anyone could buy or settle on 160 acres of public land

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Typical laws of the 1780s–late 1800s

General Mining Act (1878) = people could mine on public land for $5/acre with no government oversight

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Typical laws of the 1780s–late 1800s

Timber Culture Act (1873) = 160 acres to anyone promising to plant trees on 25% of that land

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

U.S. environmental policy came in three waves. The first promoted frontier expansion and resource extraction. The second aimed to mitigate impacts of the first through conservation. The third targeted pollution and gave us many of today’s major environmental laws.• Public perception and government policy shifted

- Mitigated problems caused by westward expansion

• Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park, opened in 1872

- Also, national wildlife refuges, parks, and forests

• Understood that the West’s resources were exhaustible

- They required legal protection

• Land management policies addressed soil conservation

• The 1964 Wilderness Act preserves pristine land

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

U.S. environmental policy came in three waves. The first promoted frontier expansion and resource extraction. The second aimed to mitigate impacts of the first through conservation. The third targeted pollution and gave us many of today’s major environmental laws.• Mid-to late-20th century people were better off economically

- But lived with dirtier air, dirtier water, and more waste and toxic chemicals

• Increased awareness of environmental problems shifted public priorities and policies

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) described the ecological and health effects of pesticides and chemicals

The Cuyahoga River was so polluted that it caught fire in the 1950s and 1960s

• Most Americans support environmental protection. Millions of people celebrate Earth Day each April

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

Some major U.S. laws include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act.• The National Environmental

Policy Act (1970) - Requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for any federal action that might significantly impact the environment

• Significant environmental laws were the result of the public demand for a cleaner environment and support of tougher environmental legislation

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Identify the institutions important to U.S. environmental policy and recognize major U.S. environmental laws.

Currently, a fourth wave of environmental policy, occurring internationally, may be building around sustainable development and addressing global climate change.• Other nations have increased attention to issues

- The 1992 Earth Summit

- The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development

• This fourth wave of policy focuses on sustainability

- Safeguarding ecosystems while raising living standards

Climate change dominates much discussion on environmental policy