BIO320 CHAPTER 20

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ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
A Study of Interrelationships
15th Edition
Environmental Policy and Decision Making
Chapter 20
©2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction
or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

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Outline
20.1 New Challenges for a New Century
20.2 The Development of Environmental Policy in the U.S.
20.3 Environmental Policy and Regulation
20.4 The Greening of Geopolitics
20.5 International Environmental Policy
20.6 It All Comes Back to You

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20.1 New Challenges for a New
Century (1 of 3)
This is an era of rapid change in the forces and conditions
that shape human life.
Population Growth: Tomorrow’s world will be shaped by
a larger global population.
The population has doubled in the last 50 years.
• Growing populations need more food, goods, services, and
space.
• Larger populations aggravate scarcity.
• Rising demand for land and natural resources exacerbates
conflict.
• Growing populations overfish, overharvest, and overgraze

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Population Increase Aggravates
Resource Scarcity

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20.1 New Challenges for a New
Century (2 of 3)
Globalization: Internationally, trade, investment,
information, and people flow across borders.
Relationships between governments are changing.
Communication Revolution: Technology has enhanced
people’s ability to receive information and influence
events that affect them. Civil society is demanding a
greater role in governmental decisions and seeks
solutions outside of government’s power.

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20.1 New Challenges for a New
Century (3 of 3)
Knowledge Economy: Knowledge has become the
economy’s most important and dynamic resource.
• The shift to a knowledge-driven economy has emphasized the
positive connections among efficiency, profits, and environmental
protection and helped launch a trend in profitable pollution
prevention.
• Many now understand pollution equates to inefficiency and
increased costs.

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Kinds of Policy Responses
It is important to recognize that economic, environmental,
and social goals are integrally linked and to develop
policies that reflect that interrelationship.
• Governments must use their power to convene and facilitate,
shifting from prescribing behavior to supporting responsibility.
• Businesses need to build the practice and skills of dialogue with
communities and citizens.

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Trend Is Not Destiny

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Learning from the Past
For the past quarter century, the basic pattern of
environmental protection in developed nations has been
to react to specific crises.
EPA has traditionally focused almost exclusively on past
and present problems, and ignored anticipated problems
yet to arise.

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Thinking About the Future (1 of 2)
The accelerating rate of
change is shrinking the
distance between present and
future.
Environmental effects of
changes in global economic
activity are being felt more
rapidly by both nations and
individuals.
By taking steps now, the
present generation can
minimize environmental and
financial debts of later
generations

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Thinking About the Future (2 of 2)
Most important remaining sources of pollution are diffuse
and widespread.
We are recognizing that controlling pollutants alone, no
matter how successful, will not achieve an
environmentally sustainable economy.

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Defining the Future
We are progressing from an environmental paradigm
based on cleanup and control to one including
assessment, anticipation, and avoidance.
In the long run, environmental quality is largely a function
of behavior of individuals.
The extent of environmental awareness and the strength
of environmental institutions will be critical factors driving
future environmental quality.

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Involved Public (1 of 2)
The next 50 years will see a world in which people are
more crowded, more connected, and more consuming
than ever before.
However, rates of increase in the growth of human
population suggest a transition toward a stable human
population.

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Options and Trade-offs for the New
Century

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Involved Public (2 of 2)
U.S. population is expected to grow by 23% between
2016 and 2050.
• This likely means 23% more cars, trucks, planes, airports, parking
lots, houses, landfills, waste treatment plants, chemicals, in short,
everything.
• We will likely need more farmland to feed everyone.
• What will happen to wilderness and wildlife?
• The future holds opportunity and excitement as we farm, build,
and transport in new ways.

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20.2 The Development of
Environmental Policy in the U.S.
Public policy is the general principle by which
government branches are guided in their management of
public affairs.
Government Branches
• Legislative (Congress): Declares and shapes national policy by
passing legislation.
• Executive (President): Directed to enforce the law.
• Judiciary (court system): Interprets law.

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Passage of a Law

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Legislative Action
When Congress considers certain conduct to be against
public policy and the public good, it passes legislation.
• Congress specifically regulates, controls, or prohibits activity in
conflict with public policy and attempts to encourage desirable
behavior.

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Environmental Responsibilities of Major
Agencies of the Executive Branch

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Role of Executive Branch
Once an environmental law is passed, it becomes the role
of the executive branch to put it into force.
During the 1970s, many important pieces of
environmental legislation were enacted in the United
States.
Energy and strong environmental policy became a
primary area of legislative focus during the Obama
administration.
The Trump administration is loosening many of the strong
environmental polices enacted by previous
administrations.

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The Role of Nongovernmental
Organizations
The ongoing challenge for U.S. environmental policy is to
build, maintain, and constantly renew public support for
effective environmental governance, at home and
worldwide.
• The U.S. needs a broadly shared vision of the common
environmental good, such as on Earth Day in 1970.
• Today’s environmental movement rallies the public to arms
against corporate polluters and government despoilers, rather
than articulating a positive vision.

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The Role of Lobbying in the Development
of Environmental Policy (1 of 2)
Lobbying is the practice that seeks to alter legislation or
administrative action on political issues.
Overall, about 3,500 organizations, most of which
represent businesses, have Washington DC offices.

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The Role of Lobbying in the Development
of Environmental Policy (2 of 2)
Groups that lobby on environmental issues include:
• Industries and trade associations.
• Not-for-profit public interest groups.
• Scientific and research organizations.

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20.3 Environmental Policy and
Regulation
The Significance of Administrative Law:
U.S. environmental law is governed by administrative law.
This area of law defines how government organizations
develop and implement regulatory programs they are
legislatively authorized to create.
• It also applies to groups affected by agency actions— i.e., state
programs

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National Environmental Policy
Act—Landmark Legislation
In 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
was enacted.
It is designed to institutionalize a concern for the quality of
the environment within the federal government.
• NEPA has two purposes:
• Advise the president on the state of the nation’s environment.
• Create an advisory council called the Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ). The CEQ outlines NEPA compliance guidelines.

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Role of the Environmental
Protection Agency
Until 1970, most federal agencies acted within their
delegated authority without considering the environmental
impacts of their actions.
In 1970, the EPA was established by Congress to
implement statutes.
Administrative functions empower EPA, the states, and
private citizens to take responsibility for enforcing the
various authorized programs.

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Enforcement Options of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Enforcement,
Washington, D.C.

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Command and Control Philosophy
(1 of 3)
To date, much environmental law has reflected the
perception that environmental problems are localized in
time, space, and media (air, water, and soil).
Environmental regulation has focused on specific
phenomena, and “command and control” solutions.
• In this approach, highly specific legislation and regulation
implemented by centralized authorities and are used to achieve
narrowly defined ends.

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Command and Control Philosophy
(2 of 3)
Large scale and complicated ecological policy problems
such as reversing the decline of salmon, or the role of
wild fire on public lands share several qualities:
• Complexity – innumerable options and trade-offs
• Polarization – clashes between competing values
• Winners and losers – for each policy choice, some will clearly
benefit, some will be harmed, and the consequences for the
others is uncertain.
• Delayed consequences – no immediate “fix” and the benefits, if
any, will often not be evident for decades.

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Command and Control Philosophy
(3 of 3)
National vs. regional conflict – national (or international) priorities
often differ substantially from those at the local or regional level.
Ambiguous role for science – science is often not pivotal in
evaluating policy options, but science often ends up serving
inappropriately as a surrogate for debates over values and
preferences

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Effect of the Command-and-Control
Approach

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20.4 The Greening of Geopolitics
Environmental or “green” politics have moved into
mainstream political arenas.
A sense of urgency and common cause about the
environment is leading to cooperation in some areas.
Ecological degradation in any nation is now understood
almost inevitably to impinge on quality of life in others.

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International Aspects of
Environmental Problems (1 of 3)
Energy consumption in China is having a major impact on
world energy prices and efforts to control atmospheric
carbon dioxide.
• China’s energy consumption increased by about 68 percent
between 2005 and 2015.
• In 2015, China consumed about 23 percent of the world’s energy
and remains the largest energy consumer in the world.

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International Aspects of
Environmental Problems (2 of 3)
In 2015, coal accounted for about 66 percent of China’s
primary energy production.
• Coal is expected to remain China’s main energy source for the
foreseeable future.
One of the biggest concerns regarding energy
consumption in China focuses on carbon emissions and
the threat of increasing global warming.
• China is putting a large number of new coal-fired power plants on
line every year.
• China’s carbon emissions are expected to increase but they have
pledged to stabilize their emissions by 2030.

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Growth of Energy Consumption in
China

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International Aspects of
Environmental Problems (3 of 3)
Some developing countries may resist environmental
action because they see a chance to improve their
bargaining leverage with foreign aid donors and
international bankers.
Where before poor nations never had a strategic
advantage, they now may have an ecological edge.
Ecologically, there could be more parity than there ever
was economically or militarily.

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National Security Issues
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has developed
an Office of Scientific and Environmental Affairs.
U.S. Department of Defense has created an Office of
Environmental Security.
The most formidable obstacles may be entrenched
economic and political interests of the world’s most
advanced nations.
Environmental effects such as drought can touch off
political conflict.

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The Role of the United Nations
Most global organizations have not been able to achieve
significant progress in reversing global environmental
degradation.
• Some fail because they are controlled by a disparate membership
with competing interests who are unable to come to consensus on
complex issues.
• Others cannot address whole issues on their own.

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International Coordination (1 of 3)
Over 160 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 Transboundary Air Pollution
• 1987: Montreal Protocol

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International Coordination (2 of 3)
The objective of the Montreal Protocol was to phase out
the manufacture and use of chemicals depleting the
Earth’s protective ozone layer.
• 160 countries are now parties, representing 95% of the Earth’s
population.
• Developing countries ended production of CFCs in 1999, and
phase-out is scheduled for 2010.
• By the late 1990s, the concentration of some CFCs in the atmosphere
had started to decline, and predictions are that the ozone layer could
recover by the middle of this century.

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International Coordination (3 of 3)
Among the many reasons for these achievements, three
merit attention:
1. Global agreement on the nature and seriousness of the threat.
2. A cooperative approach, especially between developed and
developing countries.
3. Policy based on expert and impartial advice.

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Barriers to the Implementation
of International Agreements
There is no international legislature with authority to pass
laws, nor are there international agencies with power to
regulate resources on a global scale.
An international court at the Hague in the Netherlands
has no power to enforce decisions.
However, a network is growing of multilateral
environmental organizations that have developed a
greater sense of their roles and a greater incentive to
work together.

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Earth Summit on Environment
and Development
In June 1992, representatives from 178 countries, including
115 heads of state, met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Earth
Summit.
• It was the largest gathering of world leaders ever held.
Major issues:
• The developed countries of the North have grown accustomed to
lifestyles that are consuming a disproportionate share of natural
resources and generating the bulk of global pollution.
• Many of the developing countries of the South are consuming
irreplaceable global resources to provide for their growing populations.
The Earth Summit was intended to promote better integration
of nations’ environmental goals with their economic
aspirations.

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Environmental Policy and the
European Union (1 of 2)
“The environment knows no frontiers” was a slogan
during the 1970s, when the EU began drafting its first
environmental legislation.
Early laws focused on testing and labeling dangerous
chemicals, testing drinking water, and controlling air
pollutants from power plants and automobiles.
Many of the directives were linked to Europe’s desire to
improve living and working conditions for citizens.

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Environmental Policy and the
European Union (2 of 2)
The 1992 Maastricht Treaty formally established the
concept of sustainable development in European Union
law.
In 1997, the Amsterdam Treaty made sustainable
development one of the overriding objectives of the EU.

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New International Instruments (1 of 3)
Important lessons have been learned through the crafting
of international environmental agreements:
• Scientific community plays a crucial role:
• Confirming links between human activities and global environmental
problems.
• Showing what could happen to human health and the global
environment in the absence of action.

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New International Instruments (2 of 3)
Additional lessons:
• Use incentives, not punitive actions.
• Every interested party must have an opportunity to participate as
full partners.
• Government action needs to be consistent and predictable;
provide sufficient lead times; favor government-led incentives
over direct industry subsidies; and use flexible, market-based
solutions where appropriate.
• Agreements mark the beginning of a process, not the end.

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New International Instruments (3 of 3)
Behind one example of new policy solutions is the
concept of green consumerism, or the rational
consumption of scarce resources for the benefit of the
environment and future generations.
• Ecolabels have been introduced in a number of countries to help
consumers choose products with a proven environmental edge.
• This is determined by the product’s choice of raw materials, production
process, product life cycle, and associated disposal problems.

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Ecolabels

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20.6 It All Comes Back to You
No policies, incentives, or
amount of information can
substitute for individual
responsibility when it comes to
ensuring for future generations
a quality of life that comes from
a quality environment.
Individuals must get involved in
turning choices into action and
be held accountable for their
actions.

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Summary
The worldwide effects of the Trump administration on the
environment are still to be determined.
In the U.S., each of the three branches of government
impacts environmental policy.
The late 1980s and 1990s was a new international
concern about the environment in both the developed and
developing nations of the world.
Environmentalism is seen as a growing factor in
international relations.
International treaties have been successful, but ultimately,
it is up to the individual to act in an environmentally
responsible manner.