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Chapt15lecture 1227038488268183-8
- 1. Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Chapter 15 Lecture Outline
- 2. You must be the change you wish to see in the world. –Mahatma Gandhi 04/16/18 15-2
- 3. Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions: • What is environmental policy, and how is it formed? • Why are public policies sometimes unfair or irrational? • Why do some people want to modify or do away with the NEPA? • What are some of the most important U.S. environmental laws, and what do they do? • What are adaptive management and ecosystem management? How do they work? • Why are international environmental laws and conventions sometimes ineffective? • What is citizen science, and what opportunities does it offer? • What can individuals do to contribute to environmental protection? • How can we work together for these same ends? • What is sustainability, and why is it important? 04/16/18 15-3
- 4. 15.1 Environmental Policy and Law • A policy is a rule or decision about how to act or deal with problems. • Environmental policy is both the official rules and regulations concerning the environment that are adopted, implemented, and enforced by government agencies, as well as the general public opinion about environmental issues. 04/16/18 15-4
- 5. How is policy created? 04/16/18 15-5
- 6. National policies play a critical role in environmental protection • The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the cornerstone of U.S. environmental policy. • NEPA does three important things: 1. It authorizes the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the oversight board for general environmental conditions: 2. It directs federal agencies to take environmental consequences into account in decision making; and 3. It requires an environmental impact statement (EIS) be published for every major federal project likely to have an important impact on environmental quality. 04/16/18 15-6
- 7. Laws affirm public policy • Environmental law includes official rules, decisions, and actions concerning environmental quality, natural resources, and ecological sustainability. • Federal laws (statutes) are enacted by Congress and must be signed by the president. They originate as legislative proposals called bills, which are usually drafted by the congressional staff, often in consultation with representatives of various interest groups 04/16/18 15-7
- 9. The executive branch enforces administrative law • The executive branch oversees more than 100 federal agencies. Also, thousands of state and local boards and commissions have environmental oversight. • The EPA is the primary agency with responsibility for protecting environmental quality in the United States. 04/16/18 15-9
- 10. How can we manage complex systems? • Managing ecosystems is a complicated and controversial affair. • A classic example of the difficulty brought about by clashing human and natural interconnections can be seen in the Florida Everglades. • In 2000, the state of Florida and the Army Corps agreed to begin a restoration project that would remove many levees and canals, build new reservoirs to store water, dechannelize rivers, and construct 14,000 ha of new filtration wetlands. 04/16/18 15-10
- 11. 15.2 International Treaties and Conventions 04/16/18 15-11
- 12. 15.3 What Can Individuals Do? It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely mysterious and awesome space. 04/16/18 15-12
- 13. What Can You Do? Reducing Your Impact • Purchase Less – Ask yourself whether you really need more stuff. Avoid buying things you don’t need or won’t use. – Use items as long as possible (and don’t replace them just because a new product becomes available). – Use the library instead of purchasing books you read. • Reduce Excess Packaging – Carry reusable bags when shopping and refuse bags for small purchases. – Buy items in bulk or with minimal packaging; avoid single-serving foods. – Choose packaging that can be recycled or reused. • Avoid Disposable Items • Conserve Energy – Walk, bicycle, or use public transportation. – Turn off (or avoid turning on) lights, water, heat, and air conditioning when possible. – Put up clotheslines or racks to avoid using a clothes dryer. – Carpool and combine trips to reduce car mileage. • Save Water – Use water-saving devices and fewer flushes with toilets and don’t leave water running. 04/16/18 15-13 Based on material by Karen Oberhauser, Bell Museum Imprint, University of Minnesota, 1992. Used by permission.
- 14. Environmental education is an important tool • In 1990 the United State Congress recognized the importance of environmental education by passing the National Environmental Education Act. The act established two broad goals: 1. To improve understanding among the general public of the natural and built environment and the relationships between humans and their environment, including global aspects of environmental problems, 2. To encourage postsecondary students to pursue careers related to the environment. 04/16/18 15-14
- 15. Environmental careers range from engineering to education • The World Wildlife Fund estimates, for example, that 750,000 new jobs will be created over the next decade in the renewable energy field alone. • Scientists are needed to understand the natural world and the effects of human activity on the environment. • Lawyers and other specialists are needed to develop government and industry policy, laws, and regulations to protect the environment. • Engineers are needed to develop technologies and products to clean up pollution and to prevent its production in the first place. 04/16/18 15-15
- 16. 15.4 How Can We Work Together? 04/16/18 15-16
- 17. National organizations are influential but sometimes complacent • Among the oldest, largest, and most influential environmental groups in the United States are: – the National Wildlife Federation, – the World Wildlife Fund, – the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, – the Izaak Walton League, – Friends of the Earth, – Greenpeace, – Ducks – Unlimited, – the Natural Resources Defense Council, and – The Wilderness Society. 04/16/18 15-17
- 18. 15.5 Sustainability Is a Global Challenge • As developing countries become more affluent, they are adopting many of the wasteful and destructive lifestyle patterns of the West. 04/16/18 15-18
- 19. Practice Quiz 1. What is a policy? How are policies formed? 2. Describe three important provisions of NEPA. 3. List four important U.S. environmental laws (besides NEPA), and briefly describe what each does. 4. Why are international environmental conventions and treaties often ineffective? What can make them more successful? 5. Why is the World Trade Organization controversial? 6. List two broad goals of environmental education identified by the National Environmental Education Act. 7. What is citizen science, and what are some of its benefits? Describe one such important project. 8. List five things each of us could do to help preserve our common environment. 9. Describe some things schools and students have done to promote sustainable living. 10. Define sustainability and describe some of its principal tenets. 04/16/18 15-19
Editor's Notes
- On a personal, informal level, you might have a policy always to get your homework in on time. On a national, formal level, we have policies such as the Clean Air Act, a set of rules, agreed upon by a majority of the U.S. Congress, restricting air pollutants and setting fines for those who exceed legal limits. There are international policies as well: the 1987 Montreal Protocol set agreed-upon limits to the production of ozone-depleting chemicals (chapter 9), and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is an international agreement to restrict trade in endangered species (chapter 5). National policies are established through negotiation and compromise in a democratic society. Sometimes this wrangling can take decades. Theoretically, it allows all voices to be heard, and the resulting policy serves the interest of the majority.
- How do policy issues and options make their way onto the stage of public debate? Problems are identified and acted upon in a policy cycle that acts to continually define and improve the public agenda (fig. 15.2). The first stage in this process is problem identification. Sometimes the government identifies issues for groups that have no voice or don’t recognize problems themselves. In other cases, the public identifies a problem, such as loss of biodiversity or health effects of exposure to toxic waste, and demands redress by the government. In either case, proponents describe the issue—either privately or publicly—and characterize the risks and benefits of their preferred course of action. Seizing the initiative in issue identification often allows a group to define terms, set the agenda, organize stakeholders, choose tactics, aggregate related issues, and legitimate (or delegitimate) issues and actors. It can be a great advantage to set the format or choose the location of a debate. Next, stakeholders develop proposals for preferred policy options, often in the form of legislative proposals or administrative rules. Proponents build support for their position through media campaigns, public education, and personal lobbying of decision makers. By following the legislative or administrative process through its many steps, interest groups ensure that their proposals finally get enacted into law or established as a rule or regulation. The next step is implementation. Ideally, government agencies faithfully carry out policy directives as they organize bureaucracies, provide services, and enforce rules and regulations, but often it takes continued monitoring to make sure the system works as it should. Evaluating the results of policy decisions is as important as establishing them in the first place. Measuring impacts on target and nontarget populations shows us whether the intended goals, principles, and course of action are being attained. Finally, suggested changes or adjustments are considered that will make the policy fairer or more effective. There are different routes by which this cycle is carried out. Special economic interest groups, such as industry associations, labor unions, or wealthy and powerful individuals, don’t need (or often want) much public attention or support for their policy initiatives. They generally carry out the steps of issue identification, agenda setting, and proposal development privately because they can influence legislative or administrative processes directly through their contacts with decision makers. Public interest groups, on the other hand, often lack direct access to corridors of power and need to rally broad general support to legitimate their proposals.
- Signed into law by President Nixon in 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the cornerstone of U.S. environmental policy and a model for many other countries. Conservationists see this act as a powerful tool for environmental protection, but commercial interests blame it for gridlock and consider it an impediment to business. NEPA doesn’t forbid environmentally destructive activities if they comply otherwise with relevant laws, but it demands that agencies admit publicly what they plan to do. Once embarrassing information is revealed, however, few agencies will bulldoze ahead, ignoring public opinion. And an EIS can provide valuable information about government actions to public interest groups that wouldn’t otherwise have access to these resources.
- In the United States a wide variety of environmental laws are promulgated at both the local and national levels. Because every country has different legislative and legal processes, this chapter will focus primarily on the U.S. system in the interest of simplicity and space. Environmental law can be established or modified in each of the three branches of government: legislative, judicial, and executive—statutory, case, and administrative law, respectively. Understanding how these systems work is an important step in becoming an environmentally literate person. Citizens can be involved in this process either by writing or calling their elected representatives, or by appearing at public hearings (fig. 15.6). A personal letter or statement is always more persuasive than simply signing a petition. Some politicians treat all the copies of a similar form letter or email as a single statement, because they all contain the same information. Still, a petition with a million signatures will probably catch the attention of a legislator— especially if they are all potential voters. Being involved in local election campaigns can greatly increase your access to legislators. Writing letters or making telephone calls also are highly effective ways to get your message across. All legislators now have email addresses, but letters and phone calls are usually taken more seriously.
- They usually have power to set rules, adjudicate disputes, and investigate misconduct. Agency rule-making and standard-setting can be an important way for environmentally concerned citizens and public interest groups to have an impact on environmental policy. Rule- making is often a complex, highly technical process that is difficult for citizen groups to understand and monitor. The proceedings are usually less dramatic and colorful than criminal trials, and yet can be very important for environmental protection. The Bush administration has made profound changes in U.S. environmental policy through rule-making that avoids open debate or public scrutiny. Created in 1970 at the same time as NEPA, the EPA has more than 18,000 employees and ten regional offices. Often in conflict with Congress, other agencies of the executive branch, and environmental groups, the EPA has to balance many competing interests and conflicting opinions. Greatly influenced by politics, the agency changes dramatically, depending on which party is in power and what attitudes toward the environment prevail at any given time. The Departments of the Interior and Agriculture are to natural resources what the EPA is to pollution. Interior is home to the National Park Service, which is responsible for more than 376 national parks, monuments, historic sites, and recreational areas. It also houses the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which administers some 140 million ha (350 million acres) of land, mostly in the western United States. In addition, Interior is home to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which operates more than 500 national wildlife refuges and administers endangered species protection. The Department of Agriculture is home to the U.S. Forest Service, which manages about 175 national forests and grasslands, totaling some 78 million ha (193 million acres). With 39,000 employees, the Forest Service is nearly twice as large as the EPA (fig. 15.8). The Department of Labor houses the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which oversees workplace safety. Research that forms the basis for OSHA standards is carried out by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
- Over the past century, the Everglades ecosystem has been transformed from an immense subtropical wetland into a highly managed, multiple-use system as the result of one of the world’s largest public works projects. This huge hydraulic system stretches from just south of Orlando through the many springs and lakes that feed the Kissimmee River, through Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades National Park at the southern tip of Florida. In 1947, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas aptly named this the “river of grass” to describe the broad, slowly moving sheet of water that trickles through the vast wetlands of South Florida. Management policies have lurched from one approach to another as environmental surprises and human intervention have transformed the area. Natural crises include floods, droughts, fires, and storms. Human effects, including agricultural pollution, invasive species, and the increasing water demands of rapidly growing coastal cities, further complicate the picture.
- As recognition of the interconnections in our global environment has advanced, the willingness of nations to enter into protective international treaties and conventions has grown (table 15.3). The earliest of these conventions had no nations as participants; they were negotiated entirely by panels of experts. Not only the number of parties taking part in these negotiations has grown, but the rate at which parties are signing on and the speed at which agreements take force also have increased rapidly (fig. 15.11). The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), for example, was not enforced until 14 years after ratification, but the Convention on Biological Diversity was enforceable after just one year and had 160 signatories only four years after introduction.
- Collective action multiplies individual power (fig. 15.16). You get encouragement and useful information from meeting regularly with others who share your interests. It’s easy to get discouraged by the slow pace of change; having a support group helps maintain your enthusiasm. You should realize, however, that there is a broad spectrum of environmental and social action groups. Some will suit your particular interests, preferences, or beliefs more than others. In this section, we will look at some environmental organizations as well as options for getting involved.
- Can the lives of the world’s poor be improved without destroying our shared environment? A possible solution to this dilemma is sustainable development, a term popularized by Our Common Future, the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development.