BY:PA M E LA B A R C E L O NA

R H E A P R A B H UKA N A K PA R M A R

JA S M I NE O NGZH I H A O L I

S U KH D E E P S I N G H

Environmental Policy

AIM: TO UNDERSTAND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN THE

AMERICAN CONTEXT

OPENER: DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS DOING

ENOUGH TO PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT? IF YES, EXPLAIN. IF NOT, WHAT MORE

SHOULD THEY DO?

American Context

Truth or Myth

All paper should be recycled. >>You can actually do some damage if you throw just everything into the

recycling bin. Enter the pizza box, used paper plates, and napkins. As the old adage goes, water and oil don’t mix. And as the such, recycling such items (whole recycling process includes heat to break down paper with water) would cause 700 million dollars in contamination each year.

Organic food is always better for the environment.

>>An organic banana from Chile that had to travel 5,000 miles to reach your table in NY is not better than a conventional banana grown at a farm 5 miles from your home.

Clean coal is a reality, or at least a possibility.>>There are no commercial ‘clean coal’ plants operating currently in the US.

It is as ridiculous as the oxymoron: “controlled chaos.”

Myth of Truth

City dwellers produce on average, less carbon dioxide from fossil fuels then do suburban or rural residents.

>>Individuals living in the suburbs or rural areas use their vehicles or outdoor equipments more.

It’s hotter than it’s ever been.>>As of August 2010, it was the hottest year the world has

witnessed since record keeping began 130 years ago.>>The temperature increases 0-2 degrees Celsius or 0-36 degrees

Fahrenheit per decade since 1980.

America Europe1. Environmental Policy making in

the US is more adversarial>>In this country there have been

many bitter and lasting conflicts over the Clean Air Act (1963)

Why? – Government and business leaders frequently clashed and denounced each other for being unreasonable or insensitive.

As a result, it took 13 years (1997-1990) to agree on a Congressional revision of the Clean Air Act

1. In England (for example) rules are designed to reduce air pollution were written by the government and business leaders cooperatively .

2. Rules are neither rigid nor nationally uniform: they are flexible and allow plenty of exceptions to deal with local variations in business needs.

How does the Environmental Policy Differ Among Nations?

America Europe2. Rules are rigid and uniform.>>EX. Minimum auto emission standards

are uniform across the nation, regardless of local conditions

Leads to clashes between government and businesses.

3. What is done in terms of environmental policy is heavily dependent on states. (Though there are uniform national air quality standards, how those standards are achieved is left up to individual states/federal courts.

>>This reinforces adversarial politics since cities and states fight over what standards to apply where.

3. Compliance with the rules depends mostly on voluntary action, not formal enforcement.

>>Lawsuits are rare>>Government and business official

rarely battle each other.4. Centralized, parliament form of

government, which unlike federalist government of America, gives loss leverage to opponent of a policy.

How does the Environmental Policy Differ Among Nations?

Different Types of Politics Involved in Environmental Policies

1. Entrepreneurial politics: many people hope to benefit from rules that impose costs on fees firms.

2. Majoritarian politics: many people hope to benefit but many will also have to pay the cost. (policies intended to reduce air pollution caused by automobiles…will affect anyone who owns a car).

3. Interest group politics: regions hurt by acid rain(mainly in NE) argue with regions that produce a lot of acid rain (Midwest) about who should pay.

4. Client politics: When farmers manage to minimize federal controls over the use of pesticides.>>Farmers are keenly aware of the economic benefits of pesticides and are well organized to defend them.

SURVEYhttp://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.ph

p/GFN/page/calculators/Questions:1. How many Earths did you take up?2. Why might this be a problem?3. What are some ways to lower your impact

on the Earth?

AIM: HOW HAS THE GOVERNMENT TAKEN ACTION TO CONTROL ACID RAIN AND POLLUTION FROM AUTOMOBILES?

OPENER: DO YOU THINK REGULATION OF AIR POLLUTION IS POSSIBLE? IF NOT, WHAT ARE THE

COMPLICATIONS?

Acid Rain and Pollution From Automobiles

Acid Rain

Acid rain: acid snow, rain or dust particles that precipitateOne source of acid precipitation is burning fuel, like coal,

that contain a lot of sulfur. It is known that steel mills and electric power plants that

burn high-sulfur coal are concentrated in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. Winds carry sulfurous fumes eastward.

However, there is controversy surrounding how lakes and rivers in eastern United States have become acidic. Some acidity is a result of naturally occurring acids in soils and rainfall and some is the result of acid rain from industrial smokestacks. Because there is no way to determine how much is main-made or natural, this proves to be a driving factor for future conflicts between interest groups.

Conflict Between Interest Groups

Residents of Canada and New England complained of the loss of forests and the acidification of lakes and blamed it on the Midwestern smokestacks. The Midwestern business, labor unions and politicians denied the claim and argued that even if they are at fault, they should not be forced to pay for the cleanup.

1977- There was an attempt to solve the problem by issuing two alternatives. 1- require power plants to burn low-sulfur coal, but it would cost money

because low-sulfur coal is mined mostly in the West (hundreds of miles away from the Midwestern industries).

2- require power plants to install scrubbers-devices that remove sulfurous fumes from gas before it comes out of smokestacks. -->>expensive, didn’t always work, but allowed for continuation of their practice.

Congress voted for the requirement of scrubbers, but problems still persisted

Stalemate

There was a political stalemate in Congress for 13 years.

President Bush the Elder proposed a 2 step regulation. 1. 111 power plants were required to reduce their

emission of sulfur with whatever method they chose. 2. With a deadline in 2000, there was a sharper

emission reduction requirement, probably requiring the use of scrubbers.

This compromise became part of the Clean Air Act of 1990

Results

Interest groups have progressively become more involved and have made changing existing laws more difficult (ex. Industries, public interest groups, and labor unions)

Political momentum usually remains with “policy entrepreneurs”. Environmentalism is seen as good politics, meaning members of Congress don’t want to be caught voting on the “wrong” side of an environmental bill.

Majoritarian Politics: Pollution from Automobiles

Air pollutions is a major problem in many cities;

>> cause of smog.

Solutions to Air Pollution

Click icon to add pictureThe Clean Air Act of 1970 proposes to decrease major pollutants from automobiles (Hydrocarbons, Carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxides) by 90% by 1975 and 1976.

The Act led to uses of catalytic converters that transform the pollutants into harmless gases

With increasing automobiles, the act also suggested the regulation of transportation.

But was met with opposition; people would disconnect the converters or complain about the higher cost.

Modifications to Act

Provisions were added to the 1970 law that required states to develop land use and transportation restrictions such as bans on parking, mandatory uses of buses and even gas rationing >>Was met with great opposition>>Deadlines postponed>> Effort to limit where people can drive abandoned

Clean Air Act of 1977: Amended the goals of CAA of 1970 and extended the deadline for another six years

Clean Air Act of 1990: Requires a reduction of 10 million tons of sulfur dioxide by 1996. Big sources of sulfur dioxide, such as huge factories, must acquire government allowances that set emission limits. Deadlines extended again for twenty years for cities with worse smog situations eg. Los Angeles.

Majoritarian Politics When People Believe the Costs Are

LOW HIGH

•Much more popular and widely supported

•Low cost yet gives significant benefits

•For example, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which requires an Environmental impact statement (EIS) be written before any federal agency undertake an activity that will greatly impact the quality of the human environment was popular because of its virtually non-existent cost and can be used to challenge or delay federal funded projects such as the Alaska pipeline, Florida canal, and nuclear powerplants

• Widely opposed

• High cost with usually non-cash benefits that might come much later

• Eg. Gasoline taxes or rising gasoline prices would make everyone pay but everyone would benefit also, but the payment comes first and the benefits would arrive much later ( cleaner air, less traffic etc.)

Articleshttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/science/earth/03air.html

1. Why did Obama choose to reject the proposed rule? What was the response that followed? What does this say about the importance of environmental policies to politicians?2. While weighing the pros and cons of the proposed rule, what is your personal stance on Obama’s decision to reject it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/science/earth/02emit.html

1. What is the general outline of the new rules? How will it cut back emissions?2. What are the advantages of the new regulations? Why might some be against the new regulations?

AIM: WHAT WERE THE EVENTS THAT ORGANIZED THE ENVIRONMENTAL

MOVEMENT AND ITS INTERNAL CONFLICTS?

OPENER: BASED ON YOUR PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE AND EVEN YOUR OWN OPINIONS, DO YOU THINK GLOBAL

WARMING IS A MYTH OR AN OCCURRING PHENOMENON?

Global Warming

Beginning Awareness

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, after an offshore well spewed close to 100,00 barrels of oil onto the beaches of Santa Barbara.

Consequently, in 1970 Nixon created the Environmental Protection Act:

- most significant effect was to set up procedural requirements for all federal government agencies to prepare environmental assessments and environmental impact statements

- Congress strengthened Clean Air Act and passed the Water Quality Improvement Act

1972: Congress passed more laws to clean up water.

1973: Congress adopted the Endangered Species Act.

Global Warming Theory

Global warming: gases produced by people when they burn fossil fuels (wood, oil, coal) get trapped in the atmosphere and cause the Earth’s temperature to rise floods on coastal areas because of melting polar ice caps, wilder weather, spread of tropical diseases to North America.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2274347514 - video on polar bear’s melting habitat

Most scientists agree that the Earth is getting warmer BUT…

ACTIVISTS SKEPTICSEarth is getting warmer Earth is getting cooler

Fossil fuel gases warmer earth

Earth’s temperature changes from natural causes like the sun’s

heatSea will rise b/c of melting ice caps

Ice caps are not melting

Computer models prove that earth will get

warmer in the future

These models can’t even explain temperature changes that have

occurred in the pastWarmer earth will be bad for humankind

Warmer earth will make it easier to grow crops

and feed peopleWe should act now,

despite scientific doubtsWe should learn more before doing anything

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/09/why-the-global-warming-crowd-oversells-its-message.html

Political Action

In 1997 the UN signed the Kyoto Protocol, which pledged to lower greenhouse gases emissions by 7% below 1990 levels.

- So, by the end of last year (2012), there should have been a 30% reduction below the levels that would have occurred

Because of large cuts from the American economy, firms are worried about the effects of the protocol.

President Bush opposed the treaty and in 2002, he proposed alternative policies.

Activists vs. Conservatives

Environmental activists raise money by using scary statements that show the harm global warming will cause

Conservatives raise money by using scary statements that show the economic downfall America will face as a result of greenhouse gas reduction

* Media plays a role in blowing out of proportion the issue of global warming: statistics are sometimes biased and TV ads promoting a better environment are lucrative

Homework

Read: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

Research: Pro and cons of the Kyoto Protocol

AIM: WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO MAKE AN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY?

OPENER: WHAT ARE SOME POLICIES THAT THE GOVERNMENT

SHOULD ENACT TO COMBAT TODAY’S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ?

Environmental Uncertainties

Making Environmental Policies

To establish a specific environmental policy, we must first deduce:

1. What is the problem? 2. What are the goals that should be

achieved?3. How can the goals proposed be achieved?

Uncertainties

• Problems cannot be easily identified• Science cannot measure how severe global warming is• Some pesticides that causes cancer in animals may not affect

people • There are some skeptics (Individuals believe that Global

Warming is a myth and therefore should be treated as such)EX. Nonpoint Pollution >> generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition,

drainage, seepage or hydrologic modification. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.

>> As it comes from a variety of sources, it is hard to determine a single underlying cause.

Priorities

When bigger, more important problems arise, the previous and less important (environmental policies) are neglected.

EX: When toxic chemicals were found at the Love Canal and Virginia Beach, put other, less dramatic, but often more important problems on the back burner.

Why is this an issue?>> Often the “less important matters” are crises though small,

are yet to be thoroughly investigated. As a result, when they are tossed aside, they take with them information that is yet to be discovered. In missing out on this information, we deprive ourselves of possibly important realizations.

>> Small things add up.

Environmental Policy- A Tricky Business

Solution: Government officials should keep policies aimed at real risks- they do exist!- and not be diverted by popular concerns over unreal ones. In a free society however, this is not easy.

•Unrealistic goals>> Everyone wants a healthy environment, but people don’t distinguish between realistic and unrealistic threats or between reasonable and unreasonable costs. As a result, people applaud dramatic governmental steps without asking whether they would actually benefit anyone.

EX: The government has mandated that all asbestos must be removed from public school buildings. Thought intense exposure to asbestos can cause health problems, removing all the asbestos from old school buildings helps almost no one and may hurt the asbestos removers.

< cancer scare>

Unsuccessful Successful

Command & Control• Command and Control was used

to improve the air and water quality using pollution standards and rules.

• The government wanted to ‘command’ or set emission levels to reduce pollution and ‘control’ this by regulating pollution policies

• It was too costly to enforce so incentives were devised to replace various regulations during the Carter Administration.

Incentives• Offset: when a company wants to open

a new plant, it must offset or counteract its pollution by reducing the pollution of another source, like a different company.

• Bubble standard: the total amount of air pollution that can come from a given factory.

• Pollution allowance or banks: If a company reduces the pollution it emits by more than the law requires, these companies can then use the excess to cover future plant expansions or sell it to another company as an offset.

How do we solve our environmental goals?

1. When a company reduces its polluting emissions by more than the law requires and uses the excess amounts for future plant expansions, it is called,

a. An offsetb. Command-and-control strategyc. Bubble standardd. Pollution allowance

2. Offsets, bubble standards, and pollution allowances are:e. Pollution control devices that reduce air contamination.f. EPA incentives for companies to reduce pollution.g. Rules made by the EPA under command-and-control strategy to

improve air and water quality.h. Standards made to control the hazardous nuclear waste

3. The EPA was instructed by Congress to eliminate pollutants _______ by 1985.i. In the airj. From automobilesk. From factoriesl. Entering our water

4. The EPA was given the responsibility to make certain laws that govern:

a. Airb. Waterc. Pesticides d. All of the above

5. Entrepreneurial politics is a term that refers to:e. An unorganized public benefits at the expense of a well-organized

group.f. An organized public benefits at its own expense.g. An organized group benefits at the expense of an unorganized

public.h. An organized group benefits at the expense of a well-organized

public.

6. A provision of the Clean Air Act of 1970 mandated cities where smog was a problem to impose rules the restrict the public’s use of cars. Why did this provision fail?

i. The EPA used command-and-controlj. The provision was unconstitutional.k. Public opposition was too great.l. Legislators wanted to strengthen the Act since there were no

immediate results.

7. Which is incorrect about the Kyoto Protocol of 1997?a. 5% of greenhouse gases would be reduced worldwide.b. President Clinton never pushed strongly for its ratification.c. President Bush completely disregarded it.d. None of the above.

8. The EPA began to change from a Command-and-Control strategy to regulating businesses during the which administration?

a. Nixonb. Fordc. Carterd. Clinton

9. What is true about US Environmental Policies?a. Rules are not uniformb. Business leaders and the government cooperatively work together to reduce air pollution.c. Government and business leaders frequently clash and denounce each other for being unreasonable or insensitive.d. Lawsuits are rare

10. Which type of politics involved in environmental policies deal with people hoping to benefit the environment but may have the pay the cost.a. Entrepreneurialb. Majoritarianc. Interest groupd. Client