announcements – dec. 4, 2006 wednesday - final review friday - no class!! final - monday, dec....

Announcements – Dec. 4, 2006

Wednesday - final review

Friday - No class!!

Final - Monday, Dec. 11th, 8am

Honors Projects - due this friday

BBCDec. 8, 2004, Buenos AiresUS rejects climate policy attacksThe US has been defending its decision not to take part in the Kyoto Protocol, just two months before the international agreement to cut greenhouse gases comes into force. Senior negotiator Watson was asked “What has gone wrong with the American way of life to make it produce twice the emissions of European economies with similar living standards”. "Nothing went wrong in the US," Watson said. "We are blessed with economic growth which implies more energy use, which typically implies more emissions.

Environmental Policy

Lecture Objectives:

1. Compare the environmental issues in the 1960’s & 1970’s with those in the 1980’s-today.

2. What can we learn from our environmental history, and how can we best fight environmental problems in the future?

3. Why are both international and individual efforts necessary to combat environmental problems?

Environmental Policy

Brief Review 1960’s and 70’s

Environment, pollution come to attention of public, government

Enactment of major laws regulating pollution

Begin crackdown on most point sources of pollution

Major Environmental LawsNational Environmental Policy Act (1969)

Clean Air Act (1970)

Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (1972)

Endangered Species Act (1973)

Clean Water Act (1977)

Hazardous Waste Regulation (RCRA 1976)

Regulatory Agencies EPA - Primary agency with responsibility for

protecting environmental quality. Cabinet-level department.

Department of Interior (Natural Resources) National Park Service Bureau of Land Management US Fish and Wildlife Service

Regulatory Agencies Department of Agriculture

US Forest Service Department of Labor

Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA)

Problems in the 1980s

Exxon Valdez oil spill

Thinning ozone layer

Global warming

Acid Rain

Famines in Africa

Environmental Backlash — Wise Use

Argue regulations protecting environmentally sensitive areas on private property are unconstitutional “takings.”

Tend to frame complex environmental and economic issues in simple scapegoating terms.

Much of the funding from the wise-use movement from timber, oil and coal industries, real estate developers and ranchers

SEIZING PRIVATE PROPERTYJune 23, 2005

A narrowly divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments may take possession of people's homes and businesses against their will for private development.

US States Fight Back to ProtectRights of Property Owners 01 December 2006

Thirty-four of the 50 states have passed laws to limit the use of eminent domain by local governments.

Local governments in the United States have always had a constitutional right to seize private property, with fair payment. This right is called eminent domain. Eminent domain has traditionally been limited to the taking of land for public uses like roads, schools or bridges.

US States Fight Back to ProtectRights of Property Owners 01 December 2006

On June 23 2005, the Supreme Court gave local governments the right to take private property for the purpose of economic development. That means a homeowner or business owner could be forced to move not only for reasons of public use, but also for private use. Owners could have their property condemned if officials decide that another owner could make more money on that property.

Global Warming Dispute Divides U.S. Supreme Court Greg Stohr Nov. 29 (2006)

A divided U.S. Supreme Court wrestled with its first global warming case, a bid by states and environmentalists to force the Bush administration to regulate tailpipe emissions. Several justices, led by Antonin Scalia and John Roberts, questioned whether 12 states have the legal right to challenge an Environmental Protection Agency decision not to regulate those emissions.


Roberts, the chief justice, said the states were ``spinning out conjecture on conjecture'' to support the argument that they would benefit from EPA rules. Other justices suggested during the hour-long argument in Washington that the agency relied on impermissible factors in making its decision.


Justice John Paul Stevens criticized the EPA's reliance on three National Academy of Sciences reports for the notion that scientists are unsure whether so-called greenhouse gases are increasing the earth's temperature. ``In their selective quotations, they left out the parts that indicated there was far less uncertainty than the agency purported to find,'' Stevens said.

Problems in the 1990s to Today

Over fishing

Climate Change

Invasive Species

Biodiversity Loss

Deforestation

Persistent Organic Pollutants

World Population

Worst states for auto-deer crashesInsurance surveys find wrecks are up 6%Nov 14, 2006

Drivers smashing into deer on U.S. roads is an increasing, costly and dangerous problem, according to an insurance survey.

About 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions happen each year in he U.S.

1990s and today

Environmental Issues have become a major Presidential campaign topic Many people blame Ralph Nadar, Green Party

for Bush’s win in 2000

86 % of likely voters feel environmental issues are important when deciding how to vote

Bush vs. Kerry 2004: War, economy biggest issues but…

“In a tight race the environment could swing undecideds”

-Brad Knickerbocker, The Christian Science Monitor, March 25, 2004 edition

We proposed and passed a healthy forest bill which was essential to working with -- particularly in Western states -- to make sure that our forests were protected. What happens in those forests, because of lousy federal policy, is they grow to be -- they are not -- they're not harvested. They're not taken care of. And as a result, they're like tinderboxes. And over the last summers I've flown over there. And so, this is a reasonable policy to protect old stands of trees and at the same time make sure our forests aren't vulnerable to the forest fires that have destroyed acres after acres in the West. We've got a good, common-sense policy. - G.W Bush

Learning From the Past Most developed countries

have engaged in crisis management.

EPA focuses almost exclusively on past and present problems has ignored anticipated

problems yet to arise

New York TimesWASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2004

The head of the nation's Superfund program says that fundamental changes in the program may be necessary to continue cleanups as more contaminated sites demand attention and federal resources remain flat.

The program's annual cleanup budget = $450 million

355,000 hazardous waste sites require cleanup over the next three decades, at a cost of up to $250 billion.

The agency's budget for Superfund cleanups has not changed in the last few years. Since 1995, when Congress did not renew a special tax on polluters, the cleanup money has come entirely from taxpayers.

Defining the Future Will we move from clean

up and control to assessment, anticipation, and avoidance? Much depends on public

opinion

Environmental quality is largely a function of behavior of individuals. Extent of environmental

awareness important key

Tree sitter Julia "Butterfly" Hill

Defining the Future

Three aims for future environmental issues: Articulate role of technology Define roles of all participants Chart a course with strategic goals

Next 50 years, world will be: more crowded more connected more consuming

Should we make changes now?

Greening of Geopolitics

Environmental “Green” politics becoming more mainstream around world.

Ecological degradation in any nation is now understood almost inevitably to impinge on quality of life in others.

Most formidable obstacle may be entrenched economic and political interests of the world’s most advanced nations.

International Environmental Policy

Over 150 global environmental treaties negotiated since start of 20th century. At least 500 bilateral agreements in effect dealing

with cross-border environmental issues.

Successful Efforts 1961: Antarctic Treaty 1979: Convention on Long Range Trans-Boundary

Air Pollution 1987: Montreal Protocol 2004: Kyoyto Protocol?

International Environmental Policy

Remaining challenges to global environmental policy Competing Interests Unable to address whole issues No international legislature with

authority to pass laws International court at the Hague in the

Netherlands has no power to enforce decisions

Monday, 27 November 2006

Tuna quotas cut as stocks decline

The annual catch of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean is to be cut by one fifth in an attempt to conserve dwindling stocks.

The 42-nation International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) agreed the quota cut at a meeting.

Conservation groups criticized the scale of the cuts as "weak, scandalous and inadequate".



The annual catch of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean is to be cut by one fifth in an attempt to conserve dwindling stocks.

Scientific advice prepared for the ICCAT meeting concluded that catches in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean were about three times above sustainable levels.



"This is a collapse plan, not a recovery plan - and a mockery of the work of scientists."

WWF said EU governments had traded long-term conservation for short-term commercial interests.

24 November 2006

Ban on 'brutal' fishing blocked

United Nations negotiations on fisheries have ended without a global ban on trawling methods which destroy coral reefs and fish nurseries.

Conservation groups and some governments had argued for a ban on bottom-trawling, which drags heavy nets and crushing rollers on the sea floor.

Seafood faces collapse by 2048 November 2, 2006

Clambakes, crabcakes, swordfish steaks and even humble fish sticks could be little more than a fond memory in a few decades. If current trends of overfishing and pollution continue, the populations of just about all seafood face collapse by 2048, a team of ecologists and economists warns in a report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Individual Choice Individuals matter

Be an informed consumer and voter

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Limit use of household hazardous waste Proper disposal

Hybrid Electric Vehicles 45-70 mpg

SUV < 20 mpg

What can you do?Don’t transport exotic speciesLandscape with native speciesBuy products with minimal packagingAlter your dietUse local farmers’ marketsKnow the origin of products made with tropical hardwoodsBuy the most fuel-efficient vehicle for your needsDrive less -- Use public transportationBuy energy-efficient appliancesConserve energy: turn off lights, use compact fluorescent bulbs, adjust your thermostatConserve water: Fix leaks, turn off water, run appliances only when full

http://www.sierraclub.org/

Take Action!

Sierra Club

World Wildlife Fund

National Resources Defense Council

http://www.nrdc.org/

The Nature Conservancy

Greenpeace

http://nature.org/

http://www.wwf.org/

http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/

Take Action!

http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/earthdocs/Earth Doctors

Complete list of RSO http://www.iurso.uiuc.edu/

Champaign County Audubon Society www.web-makers.com/audubon

Prairie Rivers Network www.prairierivers.org

Red Bison

Students for Environmental Concerns

http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/secs/

http://www.isenonline.org/Illinois Student Environmental Network

http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/redbison/

Points to Know – Dec. 41. How did the environmental problems of the

1980’s -today differ from those in the 1960’s & 1970’s?

2. What was the backlash movement against environmentalism called? What is their main rationale?

3. So far, what has been the approach to environmentalism? What are the 3 aims for future environmental issues?

4. Why is international environmental policy important? What are the remaining challenges to global environmental policy?

5. Why is individual behavior and education crucial to the environmental health of Earth?

announcements – dec. 4, 2006 wednesday - final review friday - no class!! final - monday, dec....

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