no slide title · – the mosquito killer ... juliet carlisle and eric smith, “postmaterialism...

10/5/2016

1

History of the Environmental

Movement

• In 1700s, the predominant attitude toward

environment was utilitarian

– Nature was to be conquered & used

– Transcendentalists of 1830s got attention, but

they were not typical

– Thoreau, Emerson, etc.

– See Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind

Early History

Conservationist Movement

• First Conservationists sought to save

wilderness to benefit people

– Americans recognized that the West was fading

away rapidly

– Yellowstone (1872) was established to protect

resources for later generations

– Adirondack Forest Reserve (1885) in New York

• Pinchot was appointed to head a commission to

draw a plan for Yellowstone

– Pinchot wanted maximum sustainable harvests

• Muir was his assistant

– Muir wanted Yellowstone to preserve nature

Gifford Pinchot v. John Muir

Preservationist Movement

• Late 1800s movement to preserve

wilderness for its own sake

– John Muir led the effort to create

Yosemite (1890)

– He broke away from Gifford Pinchot

• By 1900, the two movements had

split

– See Gifford Pinchot, “The Birth of Conservation.” In Roderick Nash, ed., American Environmentalism,

chap 11; John Muir, “A Voice for Wilderness.” In Roderick Nash, ed., American Environmentalism, chap

15.

Teddy Roosevelt & John Muir

www.americaslibrary.gov/.../jazz/

jb_jazz_parkserv_1_m.jpg

• Forest Reserve Act of 1891: allowed president to

establish forest reserves from timber-covered

public-domain land

– To reduce destructive logging & claim land for the

people

– US Forest Service established in 1904 to manage it

• Mostly about claiming resources

– Timber, cattle ranges, mining

U.S. Forest Service Creation

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• Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Occupation

(Jan, 2016)

– Occupiers claimed that the Federal Gov’t had no right to

claim the land

– Wise-Use Movement

• Layzer, Environmental Case, chap 13, 3rd edition

U.S. Forest Service Creation

Ammon Bundy

• Congress established the Forest Service (1904)

– Dept. of Agriculture

– Motto: “Caring for the Land and Serving the People”

– “Land of Many Uses”; or Multiple-Use Management

• National Park Service (1916)– "...to promote and regulate the use of the...national

parks...which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the

natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to

provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by

such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment

of future generations."

Forest Service vs. Park Service

• Nature & wilderness have many

values--mostly economic

– Ranching, mining, timber, tourism

• Nature & wilderness have their

own intrinsic value

– Beauty, the sacred

Conflicting Values & Movements

• Antiquities Act (1906)

– Allowed President to bypass Congress & establish

national monuments

– T. Roosevelt established Devil’s Tower, Crater Lake,

Mesa Verde, & 13 others

– Obama used it more than any president

• Political purposes (Stonewall National Monument; Harriet

Tubman National Underground Railway Nat. Mon.; Cesar

Chavez Nat. Mon.)

• Environmental (Papahanaumokuakea (Papa-ha-now-moh-

koo-ah-kay-ah) Marine National Monument

Progressive Era (1890 - 1920)

• 1908 National Conservation Conference

– 44 governors + 500 others

– Most states created conservation commissions

– State park systems began

Parks & Preservation

• Meat Inspection Act (1906)

– Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

– Unproved claims could not be made

– Ingredient lists

• “Modern” concerns with Health & Safety

emerged around 1900

Early Food & Drug Laws

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• Air pollution was recognized early, but

politicized slowly

• First clean air laws Chicago & Cincinnati, 1881

– They declared industrial smoke a “public nuisance”

– 23 of 28 largest cities passed clean air laws by 1912

• Los Angeles passed first practical law in WW II

– Limited oil refinery operation hours & locations

– Backyard incinerators banned

– See Layzer, chap 2

Clean Air Why did Environmental Concerns

Emerge?

• Progressive Era saw growth of middle class

– Earlier generations focused on survival

– Middle class wanted good lives

• Political power for themselves

– Party primaries

– Voting rights for women

– Clean government

• Also:

• Health & safety

• Rights of children

• Environmental quality

Modern Environmental Movement

• Developed in 1960s

– But it had earlier roots dating back to 1890s

• The 1960s were a period of social change

– Free speech movement

– Civil rights

– Anti-war

– Women’s equality

• Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1963)

– Effects of DDT

– Used to kills mosquitos, lice that spread malaria,

typhus

– It kills hundreds to kinds of insects, pests

– DDT entered food chain & accumulated in animals

– DDT causes cancer & genetic damage

– Banned in 1973

– 8-year half-life, so it is now largely eliminated

– The Mosquito Killer The New Yorker, July 2, 2001

Environmental Movement Triggers

• Santa Barbara Oil Spill (1969)

– Union Oil Company (ARCO) Platform A

– 6 miles off Summerland

– Dumped approx. 1-3 million gallons of oil

– Oil slick covered 800 square miles

– Nightly TV coverage of dead fish, oil-covered

birds, seals, ...

– Robert Sollen, An Ocean of Oil: A Century of Political Struggle over Petroleum Off the California Coast

(1998)

Environmental Movement Triggers

Santa Barbara Oil Spill

January 29, 1969

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Union Oil Company Platform A, 1969

http://eces.org/articles/static/97608240078323.shtml

Why did Environmental Concerns

Emerge?

• 1950s and 1960s saw growth of middle

class

– Post WWII Middle class wanted good lives

• Political equality for Blacks, women, American

Indians

• Political reform

– Changes in presidential nominating system

– Limits on money in politics

– Openness in government

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Emerge?

• Postmaterialism

• Agenda Setting

Postmaterialism based on Maslow

• Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”

• Maslow’s critics say it doesn’t work– Abraham Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation (1954); Mahmoud Wahba & Lawrence Bridgewell . "Maslow

reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory." Organizational Behavior and Human Performance

15(1976): 212–240.

Postmaterialism Theory

• Scarcity hypothesis:

• Basic material needs must be satisfied first—food,

housing, security, etc.

• Only when material needs are secured do people

turn their attention to postmaterial values such as

esteem within a community, spiritual needs, etc.

• Postmaterialism theory was developed by Ronald Inglehart• Inglehart, Ronald. 1971. “The Silent Revolution in Europe: Intergenerational Change in Post-Industrial Societies.” American

Political Science Review, 65:991-1017; Inglehart, Ronald. 1977. The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles

among Western Publics. Princeton: Princeton University Press; Inglehart, Ronald. 1979. “Value Priorities and Social Change,”

in Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 305-42; Inglehart,

Ronald. 1987. “Value Change in Industrial Societies,” American Political Science Review 81: 1289-1303; Inglehart, Ronald.

1990. Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society. Princeton: Princeton University Press; R. Inglehart, 1992. “Democratization

in Advanced Industrial Societies.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago; Abramson, Paul R., and Ronald Inglehart. 1995. Value Change in Global Perspective. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Postmaterialism Theory

• Socialization hypothesis

• People develop values and assign priorities to their

values during their formative years—from

childhood into early adulthood

• Because of the changing nature of society’s

socioeconomic conditions across the 20th century,

people from different generations emphasize

different values.

• Criticism of the theory: Darren Davis, “Individual Level Examination of Postmaterialism in the U. S.: Political

Tolerance, Racial Attitudes, Environmentalism, and Participatory Norms.” Political Research Quarterly, 53 (Sep.,

2000): 455-475; Juliet Carlisle and Eric Smith, “Postmaterialism vs. Egalitarianism as Predictors of Energy-related

Attitudes.” Environmental Politics, 14: 527-40, 2005.

Result: Generation Gap

• People who grew up in early 1900s were

socialized during times of poverty and war.

– Result: they focus on material values

– Things that were in relatively short supply

(scarcity hypothesis)

• People who grew up after World War II,

times of relative prosperity & peace, focus on

postmaterial values.

– They emphasize freedom, self-expression,

environmental & aesthetic values


Emerge?

• Surging economies during:

– Progressive Era (1890-1920)

• Beginnings of industrialization

– 1960-1975

• Post-war boom

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Environmental v. Material Concerns

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1615/Environment.aspx

Agenda Setting

• Public Agenda: The issues about which the

public thinks. What is important

• Media Agenda: What the news media write

about

• Political Agenda: The issues that dominate

the attention of Congress & political elites

– Usually 3-5 big issues at one time

Rogers, E; Dearing, J (1988). "Agenda-setting research: Where has it been, where is it going?". Communication Yearbook 11: 555–594

Kingdon’s Three Streams

1. Problem stream: Focusing events and

indicators draw attention

2. Policy stream: the accumulation of

knowledge among specialists in a given

policy area, and the generation of policy

proposals

3. Political stream: the political context at

any time

John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2nd edition, (New York: HarperCollins, 1995); Thomas A. Birkland, After Disaster:

Agenda Setting, Public Policy, and Focusing Events, (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1997); Juliet Carlisle et al., The Politics of

Energy Crises (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016)

.

The Problem Stream



– Focusing events:

• Hurricanes, police shootings, terrorist attacks,

sexual assaults in Stanford, burning rivers

– Indicators:

• Unemployment, inflation, wars, air pollution




.

Problems

1. Problems

Smog; Superstorm Sandy (2012); Fires

on the Cuyahoga (1969 +12 more)

Agenda Setting & Media

• Naïve idea: People know what matters to

them. The news media report on issues of

intrinsic importance. Politicians respond.

• "The mass media may not be successful in

telling us what to think, but they are stunningly

successful in telling us what to think about.”

– Bernard Cohen

Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, “The Agenda-setting Function of Mass Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 36 (1972): 176-187; Maxwell

McCombs, Setting the Agenda : the Mass Media and Public Opinion (2012).

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Agenda Setting & Media

• When the news media cover an issue, people begin to think about it and think it is important

• Politicians respond to news media coverage & public opinion

– Congressional hearings; bills introduced; bills going to the floor; executive orders from the President

• News media coverage of issues drives public opinion & politicians’ efforts to change policy

Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones in, Agendas and Instability in American Politics

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993); B. Jones & F. Baumgartner, The Politics of

Attention; Robert Repetto, Setting the Agenda : the Mass Media and Public Opinion

Why Did the Cuyahoga Become a

Problem?• Time ran a story on it in 1969

The Cuyahoga Back Story

• Time ran a story on it in 1969

– Sparks from a train started the fire

– Story said the river “oozes rather than flows”

• But …

– The river regularly burned so local papers gave the fire little attention

• However …

– National environmental groups picked up the story

– It helped pass the Clean Water Act

http://time.com/3921976/cuyahoga-fire/;

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-

conspiracy/wp/2014/06/22/the-fable-of-the-burning-river-45-years-

later/?utm_term=.5571abff6a0a

• The president has a major role in agenda-setting

– When he focuses on a problem, the news media

covers it

– When the President & news media cover a problem,

Congress responds

• Congress does not always do what the president

wants

– But they address the issues he raises because the

public starts asking about those issues

President’s Agenda Setting Influence

John Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives,

and Pulbic Policy; Frank Baumgartner

& Bryan Jones, Agendas & Instability in

American Politics; G. Edwards et al.,

“Who Influences Whom.” American

Political Science Rev. 93 (1999): 327-

44; A. Taylor, “Domestic Agenda

Setting.” Legislative Studies Quarterly

23 (1998); J. Peake et al., “The Agenda

Setting Effect of Major Presidential TV

Addresses.” Political Communication

25 (2008): 113-37.

Why address

global warming

in 2010?

history.howstuffworks.com/.../barack-obama5.htm

www.stolaf.edu/people/forrest/The%20future%20...

Why address income

inequality now?

http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/barack-obama5.htm

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/forrest/The future of health care reform.html

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Mark Trumbull,

“Is income inequality as bad as Obama says? In many

ways, yes. CSMonitor.com

Even the Right

responds

Agenda Setting

• When the news media cover an issue, people begin to think about it and think it is important

http://www.gallup.com/poll/184193/racism-edges-again-important-problem.aspx;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/12/26/a-year-of-reckoning-police-

fatally-shoot-nearly-1000/; http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/







proposals


any time




.

The Policy Stream


knowledge among specialists in a given policy

area, and the generation of policy proposals

– Policies are potential solutions to problems

• What can be done about air pollution, terrorism, etc.?

• Think tanks, universities, advocacy groups design

policies

• Politicians turn to them for solutions

– There may be no solutions

• e.g., Air pollution in the 1890s

John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2nd edition, (New York: HarperCollins, 1995).

Learning about Policies

2. Policy options:

Congressional hearings on

chemical leaks in

Charleston, WV; foreign aid

to eastern Congo; and Flint,

MI water

Policy Effectiveness

2. Policy options:

Solutions: Ozone hole

(easy); drought (middling);

climate change (difficult)

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Policy Effectiveness

3. Policy Options: Wishful thinking?

– When Congress passed the Clean Air Act (1970),

the technology to make auto emissions clean did

not exist

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Mil

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ear,

Carb

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CO

Air Pollution Emissions, 1980-2012

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Volatile Organic PM10

PM2.5 Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Decline of Air Pollution

Source:

http://www.epa.gov

/airtrends/aqtrends.

html







proposals


any time




.


3. Political stream: the political context at any

time

– Public mood

– Interest group activity

– News media attention

– Electoral majorities

• White House; House; Senate; State governments

– Is Washington ready to address an issue?

John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2nd edition, (New York: HarperCollins, 1995).


3. Political stream: Is Washington ready?


3. Political stream: Is Washington ready?

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3. Political will to solve:

Solutions: Ozone hole

(easy); drought (middling);

climate change (difficult)

no slide title · – the mosquito killer ... juliet carlisle and eric smith, “postmaterialism...

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