THE ENVIRONMENTAL
POLICY PARADOX – Outline
by
Zachary A. Smith
CHAPTER 1: ECOSYSTEM INTERDEPENDENCE
Chapter Outline
I. Ecosystems
A. Definition
(Interdependency)
B. Levels
1. Individual
2. Populations
3. Communities
4. Whole
C. Examples of
Ecosystems and How They Function
1. Spaceship Earth
2. Fresh water body
II. Commoner’s Four Laws
of Ecology
A. Everything is Connected to Everything Else
1. Balance may be disrupted by foreign element
(a) drought
(b) waste
B. Everything Must Go
Somewhere
1. Commoner’s example: mercury in a dry cell battery
2. Spaceship Earth
C. Nature Knows Best
1. The “watch” analogy
2. The danger of interference
D. No Free Lunch
1. Costs of interference
III. The Steady State
A. Definition
B. Finite Nature of
Resources
IV. Common Pool
Resources
A. Garrett Hardin, “The
Tragedy of the Commons”
B. Role in
Environmental Policy Making
1. Farmers have no incentives to preserve ground water
resources.
2. Manufacturers have no incentives to limit air
pollution activities.
3. Ocean fish harvesters have no incentives to restrict
their activities.
CHAPTER 2: CHANGING CULTURAL AND SOCIAL BELIEFS: FROM
CONSERVATION TO ENVIRONMENTALISM
Chapter Outline
I. Dominant Social
Paradigm
A. Definition (values
and beliefs)
B. Rooted in Historical
Social Values
C. Components
II. Economics and
Growth
A. Supply and Demand
B. Influence on
Environmental Policy
C. Externalities
(costs)
D. Cost-Benefit
Analysis
E. Substitution
F. Value Free Economics
III. The Role of
Religion
A. Religion has played
a crucial role in developing our DSP
B. Religious theories
about the relationship of people to the natural world
C. Role of religion in
modern industrial societies vs. traditional societies
IV. Science and
Technology – Our Views of Nature
A. Technology Forcing
B. Manipulation:
Approach to Environmental Problems
C. Faith in Science
1. Manipulate nature
2. Has produced dramatic environmental change
3. Has become a new “religion”
V. History of the
Environmental Movement
A. Dominance
1. Environment is viewed as hostile
B. Early Awakening
1. No mass communication
2. Nature writers, artists, poets
C. Early
Conservationist
1. First environmentalists – conservationists, planners,
and preservationists
2. National Park Service established
D. Later
Conservationist
1. Roosevelt and Pinchot
2. Resource managers
3. Utilitarianism
4. Developing conflict based on differences of opinion
about conservation
D. The Reawakening
1. 1960s
2. Rachel Carson, Silent
Spring
3. Environmental “events”
4. Environment becomes a political issue
5. National Environmental Policy Act 1970
6. Earth Day
E. Complacency
1. Decline of public concern
2. Emphasis turns to litigation
F. The Little Reagan
Revolution
1. Deregulation
2. Reagan’s laissez-faire policies
3. Catalyst to spark renewed interest
(a) radical action
groups
(b) decentralization
(c) new
environmentalism
4. Change in character of environmental groups
G. Post-Reagan
Resurgence
VI. Interest Groups
A. David Truman, The Governmental Process
B. Robert Salisbury,
benefits
C. Relationship between
interest groups and social movements
D. Classifying
environmental groups by method
VII. Public Opinion and
the Environment
A. Shift in Public
Attitude Towards More Environmental Regulation
B. Reasons for Shift in
Attitude
1. Highly publicized problems
(a) acid rain
(b) Chernobyl
2. Perceived anti-environmentalist attitude of Reagan
Administration
(a) James Watt
(b) Ann Burford
3. No longer an upper-middle class concern
(a) Membership (social make-up) of groups
C. Impact of Public
Attitudes on Elections
CHAPTER 3: THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT
Chapter Outline
I. The Regulatory
Context
A. Regulatory Theory
1. Economic theory of regulation
2. Regulation as political incentive
3. Public interest in theory of regulation
II. Science and Risk
Analysis
A. Inherent Risk
B. Involuntary Risk
C. Acceptable Levels of
Pollution and Risk to Human Health
1. Delaney Clause of U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
D. Three Points to
Remember
1. Analysis is as political as it is scientific
2. Lack of data or methodology limits risk assessment
3. There are disagreements as to the harm or risk
associated with any given level of
pollution
or exposure to toxic substances
E. Four-nation Study of
the Regulation 2,4,5T
1. Reveals influence of politics on risk assessment and
resolution
2. Tied to uncertainty in risk analysis process
F. Decision Making
Environment
1. OSHA’s regulation of exposure to benzene
2. AFL-CIO v.
American Petroleum Institute
G. Risk Assessment and
Regulated Industry
1. Auto industry
H. Scientific
Community, Disagreement Caused by Existing Uncertainties
1. Studies re: health effects of exposure to toxic waste
dumps
I. Unanticipated
Consequences
1.
Reliance on Science and Technology to Solve Problems Inherent in Nature of DSP
IV. Cost-Benefit
Analysis
A. Used to Set
Priorities Among Policies
B. Problems with Using
Cost-Benefit Analysis
C. Not Necessarily
Anti-Environmental (Arizona wolf reintroduction example)
V. The Role of
Government
A. Degrees of
Involvement (see figure 3-1)
1. American government policy orientation
2. International government policy orientation
B. Utilization of
Market Forces
1. EPA’s bubble concept
C. Government
Intervention at State and Local Levels
D. National Regulation
Limited
1. Nuclear power industry
VI. Approaches to
Regulation
A. Free Market Option
B. “Standards and
Enforcement” or “Command and Control” System
1. Criticisms
2. Defenses
3. Use of taxes or effluent charges as incentives to
control pollution
C. Privatization of
Common Pool Resources
1. Private ownership of U.S. forests
D. Establishing Private
Right to Clean Environment
1. Nuisance doctrine
2. Citizen suit provision
VII. Fundamentals of
Environmental Law
A. U.S. Constitution
Article I, Section 8
1. Federal government regulates interstate commerce
(Commerce Clause)
B. Environmental Law
Concerned with Resource Allocation
C. Property Rights from
English Common Law
1. Absolute right of private property owners
2. Adversarial justice system
D. Three Basic
Mechanisms Created by Legislators
E. Role of the
Judiciary
CHAPTER 4: THE POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL SETTING
Chapter Outline
I. Formal Institutions
A. The Judicial System
1. Common law remedies
2. Federal law remedies
3. Standing
4. Disadvantages of judicial remedies
(a) takes time
(b) takes money
(c) may not be
appropriate in relation to goal
B. The Legislative
Branch
1. Three points to remember:
(a) decentralized
(b) motivated by
desire for re-election
(c) money is necessary
for re-election
C. The Executive Branch
1. Federal Agencies
II. Informal
Institutions
A. Interest Groups –
Support Networks
1. “Iron triangle” or “sub-government”
(a) “Military-industrial complex” example
B. Environmental
Interest Players
1. Consumers or citizens
2. Business or trade union groups
3. NPOs or NGOs
C. Implementation
1. Familiarity with organizational processes
2. Implementation a long-term process
D. Interest Groups in
the Policy-Making Process
1. Monetary resources very beneficial for achieving a
group’s policy goals
III. Institutional
Biases
A. Incrementalism
1. Summary
2. Practical and political reasons
3. Incremental nature of policy-making process
4. Stabilizes process
B. Decentralization
1. Multi-level decision making in government
2. Impacts effectiveness of group activity
C. Short-Term Bias
1. Cost factors
2. Constituent demands
3. Re-election goals
4. Human nature to discount the future
D. Ideological Bias
1. Growth and development
(a) land-use planning
(b) energy planning
2. Businesspeople
(a) favor expanding
market
(b) in the most
contact with elected officials
3. Increased energy use equals growth
E. Private Nature of
Public Policy Making
1. Unreported activity of legislatures
F. Crisis and Reforms
1. Incremental nature of decision making suspended
(a) Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson
(b) Three Mile Island
(c) Love Canal
2. Environmental problems are chronic
3. Reform possibilities
IV. The Political
Setting
A. Pluralism
1. Defined
2. Arthur Bentley, The Process of
Government
3. David Truman, The Governmental
Process
4. Critics of pluralist theory
(a) Jack Walker and Theodore Lowi
B. Group Types
1. Private-economic interest groups
2. Public non-economic interest groups
3. Private vs. public (comparison)
C. Interest Groups and
the Policy Cycle
1. Agenda-setting
2. Policy-making
3. Policy implementation
(a) the Roadless
Area Review and Evaluation (RARE) example
4. Importance of all three
5. Characteristics of interest groups
(a) size
(b) organization
(c) assets
(d) attracting the
media’s attention
1. protests
2. underdog
fight
(e) attracting
policy makers’ attention
1. conventional
D. Group Resources and
Policy-Making
1. Public vs. private sector policy-making
V. The Regulators
A. National
Environmental Policy Act 1969 (NEPA)
1. Enactment
2. Congressional intent
3. Purpose
4. Procedural guidelines to implement NEPA
(a) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
(b) EIS requirements
5. Council on Environmental Quality
6. Enforcement
(a) Supreme Court Decisions – 3 questions
(1) Is an EIS necessary
(2) What EIS should contain
(3) When it should be prepared
(b) Interpreting “major”
(c) “Significant environmental impact”
7. When is an EIS required – 2-step process
(a) Prepare environmental assessment (EA)
(b) “Finding of no significant impact”
(FONSI)
B. Writing the EIS
1. Whole project must be considered
2. Content of an EIS
3. Procedural vs. substantive enforcement
C. Environmental
Administration
1. Federal, state, local
(a) level of
involvement
(b) role of
government at each level
(c) development and
implementation
(d) regulation or
decision making
2. Level preference of interest group
(a) agricultural
interests prefer state level (e.g., Hawaii)
(b) mining interests
prefer state level (e.g., West Virginia)
(c) manufacturing
interests prefer national level (e.g., refrigerator mfgs.)
(d) automobile
industry prefers national level
D. Environmental
Protection Agency
1. Reorganization and consolidation of environmental
administration
2. Nixon in 1970
3. Basic organization
(a) downside of this
organization (multi-media management)
4. Enforcement responsibility
5. Public criticism re: enforcement
(a) slow development
of effluent standards
(b) Superfund
6. Politics of enforcement
(a) bipartisan
support
7. Administrations
(a) William Ruckelshaus
(b) Reagan era
(c) Anne Burford’s tenure/Rita Lavalle
(d) Lee Thomas
(e) William K. Reilly
(f) Carol Browner
8. EPA relations with interest groups
E. Department of
Interior
1. Establishment
2. Responsibilities
3. Enjoys historic existence: interest group support
system
4. Administrators
(a) James Watt
(b) William Clark
(c) Donald Hodel
(d) Bruce Babbitt
(e) Gale Norton
F. Bureau of Land
Management
1. Establishment
2. Unwanted lands
3. Criticisms (“Bureau of Livestock & Mining”)
4. Federal Land Policy and Land Management Act (FLPMA)
5. Non-traditional vs. traditional values of professionals
6. Non-traditional interests
G. National Park
Service
1. Establishment
2. Purpose
3. Conflict
4. Public support
5. Primary constituencies
6. Fluctuation in management
7. “Disneyland” mentality (e.g., Yosemite)
H. Forest Service
1. Establishment
2. Constituent groups
(a) resource-using
(b) recreational
3. Management principles
4. Most influential groups
I. U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service
1. Establishment
2. Purpose
J. Department of Energy
1. Establishment
2. Purpose and goals
3. Extensive pollution by Departments of Energy and
Defense
CHAPTER 5: AIR POLLUTION
Chapter Outline
I. Sources
A. Components
1.
Carbon Monoxide
2.
Sulfur Oxides
3.
Nitrogen Oxides
4.
Particulates
B. Three Primary
Sources
1. Area
2. Mobile
3. Point
C. Ground-level ozone
(“smog”)
II. Health Effects
A. Difficult to
establish direct links
B. EPA Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS)
C. Difficult to
regulate, inexact scientific evidence
D. Damage to crops
E. Lack of present
incentives/need for crisis
F. Ford Motor Co. example
G. Problems in
developing effective policy
III. Motor Vehicles
A. Statistics of
Automobile Production
B. Hidden Costs
1. Destruction of rubber on cars and equipment
2. Corrosion of stone and iron on buildings and statues
3. Political instability
4. Reduced crop yields
5. Reduced timber production
6. Increased health costs
7. Gas consumption
8. External costs
C. Role of Auto
Companies in Policy Making
1. Lee Iacocca
2. Edmund Muskie
D. Compliance
IV. Air Pollution: Law,
Regulations, and Enforcement
A. Clean Air Act
B. Historic background
of federal participation in pollution control
C. Deference to states
for enforcement
1. Why this is a problem
2.
Feds became more involved after 1977 amendments
D. 1970 Act – Uniform
National Standards
1. Primary standards
2. Secondary standards
3. Hazardous air pollutants
4. Deadlines for compliance
5. New source performance standards
6. Classifying emission sources
(a) major or minor
sources
(b) attainment areas
or non-attainment areas
(c) new or existing
sources
E. 1977 Act –
Established Regions
1. Class I
2. Class II
3. Class III
4. More on compliance and enforcement mechanisms
5. State Implementation Plans (SIPs)
F. 1990 Clean Air Act
Amendments
V. Regulatory
Innovations
A. Emission-trading
Schemes
1. Netting
2. Offsets
3. Bubbles
4. Banking
B. Goal of Emissions
Trading
1. Offset ratio
C. Problems in
Administration
1. Careful monitoring of plants
2. Emissions trading market
D. Environmentalist
Criticisms of Emissions Trading
E. Arguments in Favor
of Emissions Trading
VI. Regulatory Issues
A. EPA’s Information
Sources
B. Problems of
Enforcement
C. EPA’s Flexibility to
Enforce Clean Air Act
1. Discretion – two extremes
D. Major Issues
1. Cost/benefit
2. Common pool management problems
VII. Toxic Air
Pollution
A. Definitions
1. Toxic/hazardous
2. As defined by the Clean Air Act
B. Few Standards,
Little Enforcement
1. Asbestos
2. Lead
C. Groups with Few
Resources to Influence Policy
1. Children
2. Native American miners
(a) example of the
weaknesses of normative pluralism
D. 1990 Clean Air Act
Amendments
1. Emissions standards
2. Ample margins of safety
VIII. Acid Rain
A. How it is
Formed/Acid Deposition
B. How it is Measured
C. Reduction of
Emissions vs. Reduction of Acid Rain
D. Long Term Impact
1. Tall smokestacks
E. International Common
Pool Management Problem
1. Former Soviet Union
2. Eastern Europe
F. International
Cooperation to Address Acid Rain
G. Lack of Incentives
to Curtail Polluting Activities
1. National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP)
2. Title IV of the 1990 CAAA - phases
IX. Stratospheric Ozone
A. Its Importance
B. Causal Relationship
to CFCs
C. Impact of Studies by
Policy Makers
1. F. Sherwood Rowland
2. Hole in ozone layer
3. NASA studies
D. Montreal Protocol
1. Not yet a complete picture
E. International Common
Pool Resource Management
X. The Greenhouse
Effect (Global Warming)
A. What It Is
B. Components
C. Impact
1. Flooding seaports
2. Agriculture
3. Animals
D. Deforestation
E. Policy Thus Far
1. “Wait and see”
2. “More studies needed”
3. Incremental decision-making
F. Summer of 1988 –
Crisis Environment
G. Cost-benefit
analysis
H. Individual Action to
Reduce Air Pollution
CHAPTER 6: WATER
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
A. No Shortage of Water
B. Water Moves Through a Cycle
1. Rain or snow
2. Percolates
3. Evapotranspiration
C. Freshwater Sources
D. Groundwater Sources
E. Source and Use
1. Function of economy
2. Level of development
3. Type of water resources available
F. Uses in Developed
vs. Less-Developed Countries
1. Domestic purposes
2. Wastes
II. Pollution Sources
A. Point
B. Nonpoint
1. Continuing major problem
C. Municipal Waste
Water
1. Three levels of purity
(a) primary
treatment
(b) secondary
treatment
(c) tertiary
treatment
(1) most
expensive – Truckee, California example
D. Clean Water Act
Amendments of 1972
1. Treatment of all sewage at secondary level
III. Nonpoint Sources
of Pollution
A. Control
B. Agricultural Run-off
C. Urban Storm Water
IV. Groundwater
Pollution
A. Threats to
Groundwater Quality
B. Future Promises to
be Worse
1. Hazardous waste sites
2. Landfills
3. Can go undetected for years
4. Arizona – example
V. Health Effects of
Water Pollution
A. Numerous and
Frightening
B. Fraction of
Chemicals Tested
C. Bottled Water
D. Determination of
Exposure Levels is as Much an Art as a Science
VI. Water Law and
Regulation
A. Rivers and Harbor
Act and Federal Refuse Act, 1889
B. Federal Laws in
1912, 1924, 1948, 1956, 1961, and 1966
C. Fragmentation and
Decentralization
1. Important at state and local levels
D. Three Major Water
Pollutions Laws in U.S.
1. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
2. Clean Water Act
(a) National Pollution Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES)
(b) Bethlehem Steel – example
(c) difficulty in
enforcement
(d) municipal waste
water pollution
(1) initially
paid for by federal government
(2) now
paid for by local government
(3) no
funds for maintenance
(4) bill
for clean-up enormous
(5) eroding
tax base
(e) The CWA and Nonpoint Pollution Sources
(1) regulation of nonpoint
sources
(2) requirements
for storm water discharge
(f) The CWA and the Regulatory Environment
(1) Reagan vetoed reauthorization
in 1986
(2) Definitional conflicts –
“navigable waters”
(3) Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County
(SWANCC) v. U.S.
Army Corps of
Engineers, 2001
(4) language
of CWA continues to be ambiguous
3. Safe Drinking Water Act
(a) Regulates public water supply system
(b) 1996 amendments
(c) enforcement
problems
(1) citizen
suits
(2) injunctive
relief
(3) advantages
of citizen suits
(d) Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
4. Fragmentation of policy and implementation overlap
E. Criticisms of Water
Pollution Policy
1. Extent of impact of chemicals on humans
(a) Known contaminants not always regulated
(TCE)
(b) Questionable safety of bottled and
home-treated water
2. Role of state governments
(a) Unrealistic timetables
(b) Lack of resources
(c) Groundwater protection
(1) “wellhead
protection areas”
(2) “sole-source aquifer”
designation
(d) Actions of citizen groups
VII. The Paradox in
Water Pollution Policy
A. Simple conservation
measures would assure adequate supplies in most cases
B. Water conservation
1.
Water is inexpensive
2. Hidden costs
(a) agricultural
subsidies
3. Lack of metering
4. Technology
5. Agriculture conservation
6. Paradox
(a) Artificially low pricing
(b) Distribution
C. Surface Water and
Groundwater Use
1. Groundwater mining
2. Agricultural interests
D. Good Regulations,
Poor Enforcement
1. Lack of resources at all levels of government
2. TCE in Tucson – example
E. Risk Assessment
1. Trend among water managers
2. Risks vs. costs
F. Impact of Individual
1. Decrease consumption
2. Proper disposal of household wastes
3. Citizen suits
4. Contact environment agencies or groups
CHAPTER 7: ENERGY
Chapter Outline
I. History of Energy
A. Industrial
Revolution
1. Coal – first major modern environmental crisis
2. Hydropower
3. Growth of petroleum industry
B. Oil and War
1. WWI – overseas development of petroleum expanded
significantly
2. Over-production
3. WWII – oil was indispensable
4. Trans-continental pipelines
5. Military-industrial complex
6. Multinationals
C. Role of Personal
Consumption
1. Impact of auto on energy policy
2. Automobile stimulated growth
3. Importance of electricity
4. Mass communication and advertising
5. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), 1934
6. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
7. Natural gas
(a) distribution
problems
(b) intrastate vs.
interstate prices
D. Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Companies and the Oil Crises
1. Middle East the center of world oil production
2. OPEC formed in 1960
3. Role of Yom Kippur War in crude oil pricing
4. Arab oil embargo, 1973
(a) end of cheap,
abundant energy
(b) U.S. dependence on foreign oil obvious
5. Increased domestic production – stop-gap measure
6. Nixon administration
(a) “Project Independence”
(b) Watergate and the oil crisis
7. Ford administration
(a) Windfall profits tax bill
8. Carter administration
(a) National Energy Plan (NEP)
(b) Department of Energy
(c) “Second oil shock”
9. Reagan administration
(a) Free markets satisfy all energy needs
10. Bush administration
(a) U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia during
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
(b)
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
11. OPEC’s world market share of oil
E. Development of
Nuclear Power
1. Panacea for solving energy crisis
2. Atomic Energy Act of 1946
3. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
4. Uncertain future
(a) Price-Anderson Act of 1957
5. Private Ownership of Special Nuclear Fuels Act
6. Environmental concerns boost nuclear power
7. 1973 energy crisis an opportunity to promote nuclear
energy
8. Three Mile Island and decline of nuclear power
industry
F. Development of a
National Energy Policy
1. Presidential failure to develop a comprehensive energy
plan
2. Pattern was crisis management
3. Ford administration dissolved AEC and creates ERDA and
NRC
4. Carter’s NEP – “the moral equivalent of war”
(a) Conservation
(b) Criticism of Carter’s NEP
(c) Natural Gas Act
(d) PURPA
5. Reagan administration
(a) Prominence of free markets on energy
policy
(b) Reduced or eliminated spending on
alternative energy
6. George H.W. Bush administration
(a) CNEPA
7. Clinton administration
(a) Fuel efficiency
(b) Research funding for renewable energy
(c) Comprehensive National Energy Strategy
8. PURPA
9. George W. Bush administration
(a) Kyoto Protocol
(b) Lack of federal support for development
of alternative energy
(c) Nuclear energy
II. Nonrenewable Energy
Sources
A. Coal
1. Most harmful
2. Most abundant in U.S.
3. Other costs of coal
4. Lack of strip mining enforcement
5. Demand for coal
B. Oil
1. Environmental problems
(a) Auto emissions
(b) Groundwater pollution
(c) Oil spills
(d) Exxon Valdez – example
(e) Finite resource
C. Natural Gas
1. Cleanest burning fossil fuel
2. Transported as liquid natural gas
(a) Highly explosive
D. Geothermal Energy
1. Non-polluting
2. Perpetual source
3. Most U.S. sources found in the West
E. Nuclear Power
1. Environmental problems
(a) Nuclear meltdown
(b) Mining and storage of nuclear fuels
(c) Disposal of nuclear wastes
2. Consider entire nuclear fuel cycle
(a) Radiation
(b) Mishaps in transportation
(c) Potential security problems
3. “Yucca Mountain Solution”
III. Renewable Energy
A. Hydropower
1. Advantages
2. Disadvantages
3. Small-scale hydropower
4. Worldwide hydropower use
B. Solar Power
1. Passive
2. Active
3. Photovoltaic (PV) effect
(a) Communication industry
(b) Consumer products
4. Environmental impact
(a) Hazardous wastes
(b) Uses large amounts of land
C. Wind Power
1. Rapid growth in U.S.
2. International wind power
3. Obstacles
(a) Lack of an economical means to store
electricity
(b) Requires backup from utility company
(c) Suitable sites
(d) Financial cost
D. Biomass
1. Waste products vs. special crops
2. Sources
(a) Wood
(b) Crop residues
(c) Plants
(d) Corn to ethanol
3. Criticisms
4. Brazil biomass program
IV. Conservation and
Energy Efficiency: Some Suggestions for the Future
A. Three Strategies to
Meet Fossil Fuel Shortfalls
1. Remove subsidies
2. Barriers to conservation removed
3. Price of energy should reflect costs to society
B. Institutional
Barriers
C. Effect of Market
Forces on Conservation
1. Oil crises of 1973 and 1979
2. Conservation’s image of deprivation
3. Efficiency and economic success
D. Conservation in
Homes and Buildings
1. Retrofitting
2. Energy efficiency in new buildings
(a) Super insulation
3. “Smart buildings”
4. Windows
5. Other energy saving measures
(a) Planting trees
(b) Condensing furnaces
(C) Integrated heating and cooling equipment
(d) Lighting
6. Short term costs vs. long term savings
7. Cash bonuses vs. fires
8. Education
E. Conservation in
Transportation
1. Largest drain on oil reserves
2. Acceptance of mass transit
3. External costs of autos
4. Hidden subsidies of autos
5. Hidden costs of autos
6. Some solutions
F. Conservation in
Industry
1. Shift to more service industries
2. Cogeneration
3. Problems in less developed countries (LDCs)
G. Obstacles to
Conservation
1. Instability of oil prices
2. Lack of appropriate taxes
V. An Ecological
Conclusion
A. Illusion of Security
B. Overshooting the
Earth’s Carrying Capacity
C. Transition to
Renewable Energy
1. Slow and gradual vs. abrupt
CHAPTER 8: TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS WASTE
Chapter Outline
I. Solid Waste
A. What is Solid Waste?
1. Natural systems
(a) Disruption
2. Definition (not precise)
(a) Municipal waste
(b) Agricultural waste
(c) Mining waste
3. Fragmented laws on waste focus on either:
(a) Where it is discharged
(b) Where it comes from
(c) How it is disposed of
(d) The characteristics of the waste
B. Scope of the Problem
1. Per capita waste in U.S.
2. Most from mining and agriculture
3. Municipal waste (MSW) per year in U.S.
(a) Managerial
and political problems
(b) U.S. generation of MSW compared to other
developed countries
4. Lack of landfill space
5. Toxic leaks
(a) NYC’s Fresh Kills landfill – example
6. Improper disposal leads to disease
C. Disposal Methods
1. Dumping
(a) Open burning
(b) Ocean dumping
(c) Sanitary landfills
(d) Most landfills do not meet the ideal
2. Incineration
(a) Fastest growing method in U.S.
(b) Preferred method in Europe
(c) Electricity as a byproduct
3. Ocean dumping
(a) Discontinued in most coastal cities
(b) Wastewater sludge banned from ocean
dumping in 1989
D. Regulations
1. Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) of 1965
(a) Only advisory
(b) State and local governments responsible
for waste disposal
2. Resource Recovery Act of 1970
(a) Hands-off federal approach
(b) Provided financial assistance
3. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976
(a) Created regulations for the management of
MSW
(b) Requires state solid waste management
plans
(c) Provisions were not met by states
4. Failure of state laws to restrict interstate disposal
E. Solutions
1. Best long-term solutions are expensive
2. Crisis situation has produced action
(a) Recycling
(b) Incineration for energy
(c) Bottle bills
(d) Taxes
3. Recycling
(a) Major drawbacks
(b) Unfavorable tax structure
(c) U.S. rail freight rates
4. Bottle laws
(a) Benefits
(b) Opposition
5. LULU’s
(a) Location
(b) Technology exists for acceptable
landfills
(c) Cost means short-term solutions
(d) Crisis situation forcing long-term policy
6. Role of dominant social paradigm
(a) U.S. – throwaway society
(1) Packaging
(b) Changes are occurring
II. Hazardous Wastes
A. Toxic Pollution
Affects You
1. Many in U.S. live near toxic waste
2. Found throughout the earth’s environment
B. Nature of the
Problem
1. Numerous sources of toxic pollutants
2. Found in air, water, and soil
3. Uncertainty of production and disposal of waste
4. Radioactive wastes
5. Most hazardous waste generated not disposed of safely
6. Benefits of chemicals vs. costs in the future
7. Chemical quantity statistics
8. Problems of regulation
(a) Lack of knowledge
(b) Latency effect on humans
(c) Accumulation in plants and animals
(d) Small doses are potent
(e) Resist biological breakdown
C. Disposal Methods
1. Illegal disposal
2. Underground injection
(a) In theory, cheap and safe method
(b) Drinking water pollution
3. Ocean dumping
(a) More serious than oil spills
(b) Effects on the food chain
4. Incineration
(a) Most promising long-term solution
(b) High temperature destroys some pollutants
(c) Major obstacles are political
(d) Incineration at sea
(1) Environmental opposition
(2) Problems
5. Export to other countries
(a) High cost of
disposal in the U.S.
(b) Fewer environmental restrictions
(c) Backlash of importing countries’ citizens
(d) Willingness of LDCs
(e) Intent to Export filing with EPA
(f) Agreement between Mexico and U.S.
(g) Problems in Western Europe
6. Macrobiotic breakdown as a solution
(a) Promising for pesticides and solvents
(b) Costs less than other methods
D. Federal Regulations
1.
Toxic Substances Control Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide
Act; and the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act
(a) All regulate chemicals used commercially
(b) Manufacturers conduct safety tests
(c) Major problems
(1) Amount of substances to be
tested
(2) Costs
2. Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Occupational Health
and Safety Act (OSHA); Safe
Drinking Water Act
(a) Regulate toxins in the environment
(b) Risk assessments by federal government
3. RCRA and Superfund
(a) Most important laws
(b) RCRA
(1) Permits required by EPA
(2) Fines and criminal liability
(c) Superfund
(1) Joint fund for clean-up
(2) Liability for clean-up
(3) Inadequate funds for clean-up
(4) A question of success
(5) Not currently renewed by
Congress
(d) Both laws plagued by inadequate resources
(e) Example of legislation with no funds
E. Regulation Problems
1. Public objection to sites
2. Insurance and liability
3. Cost of disposal
4. Lack of incentives
5. Industry and state positions – greatest problem
(a) “Out of sight, out of mind”
(b) Lack of knowledge
(c) Lax state enforcement
6. Costs of cleaning sites
(a) High cost of disposal created two effects
(1) Booming hazardous waste
disposal business
(2) “Midnight dumping”
7. Easy to circumvent regulations
8. Organized crime
(a) Illegal disposal methods
(1) Abandoning drums
(2) Spilling liquids on highways
(3) Mixing toxics with fuel oil
(4) Burying tanker trucks
(5) Pouring liquids into mine
shafts, sewers, rivers and streams
9. Public opinion polls
10. LULU of a LULU
11. Where are hazardous waste
sites placed?
(a) Poor neighborhoods
(b) Race most discriminating factor
(1) Barry Commoner –
environmental racism
12. Two related problems of implementation
(a) Hazardous waste insurance
(b) Bankruptcy
(1) Supreme Court decision
13. Industry does not take regulations seriously
(a) EPA Criminal
Enforcement Division
F. The Policy Paradox
in Hazardous Waste Management
1. Why not more waste reduction at the source?
(a) two assumptions:
(1) inevitable
byproducts of industry
(2) focus
on disposal once generated
2. True costs are eventually paid
(a) by future
generations
(b) by the public
3. The longer we wait, the greater the costs
4. Paradox of Superfund’s liability provisions
5. Full enforcement of Superfund and RCRA impossible
(a) timetables and
deadlines difficult to meet
(b) lack of industry
compliance
6. Regulations, economics, politics, and risk assessment
(a) effects of the
Reagan administration
7. What you can do about toxic wastes
(a) have water
supplies tested
(b) have an
epidemiological study done
(c) citizen suits
CHAPTER 9: LAND MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Chapter Outline
I. Local Land-Use
Planning
A. Land-Use Planning is
Contrary to Our DSP
B. Lack of Planning in
Major U.S. Cities
1. Growth fueled by freeways and federally guaranteed
mortgages
2. Traffic problems
C. DSP and Formal
Incentives Influence Land-Use Decisions
II. Types of Land-Use
Planning
A. Planning Methods
1. Comprehensive plans
2. Zoning
3. Issuance of variance
B. Four Basic Types of
Planning – Guy Benveniste
1. Trivial
2. Utopian
3. Imperative
4. Intentional
C. Planning is
Inherently Political
D. Urban Planning
1. Four major types of urban designations
(a) residential
(b) commercial
(c) industrial
(d) special-use areas
2. Intent of urban land-use planning
(a) preserve quality
of life
3. Some mixed zoning is unavoidable
4. Zoning decisions made by:
(a) planning
commissions
(b) zoning boards
5. Re-election influences decisions
6. High stakes in zoning
7. Decisions made by politicians
8. The past does not bind us to the future
(a) impact of
organized citizens
(b) impact of
individuals on community
E. Smart Growth
1. Sprawling patterns of development with continue to be
a major issue
2. Urban sprawl has created a number of problems
3. “Smart Growth” defined
4. Connections between development and quality of life
5. Although viewed favorably, Smart Growth principles
rarely put into practice
6. Roles of local and state governments in implementing
Smart Growth planning
7. Smart Growth needs political support in order to curb
sprawl
F. Soil Erosion
1. Threat to agricultural productivity
(a) dependent on
quantity and quality of soil
2. Soil erosion – defined
(a) lacks “crisis”
quality
(b) difficult to
mobilize policy makers
(c) statistics on
topsoil loss per year
3. Agricultural production vs. perception of erosion
(a) increased use of
fertilizers
(b) farming marginal
cropland
4. Natural Resources Conservation Service
(a) provides
technical assistance
(b) no authority
5. Agricultural legislation
(a) 1985 farm bill
(b) 2006 Grassland Reserve Program (GRP)
6. Statistics on grass- and shrublands
in U.S.
G. Farmland Conversion
1. Worldwide problem: farmland vs. metropolitan areas
2. DSP affects land conversion
(a) primacy of
markets
(b) individual
enterprises
(c) efficiency mode
3. Metropolitan areas cannot be converted back to
farmland
(a) arguments of
some economists
(b) arguments by the
Ehrlichs
4. Williamson Act in California
(a) property tax
relief to farmers
(b) temporary
measure
5. A national policy to prevent farmland conversion
unlikely in near future
H. Desertification
1. Desertification – defined
(a) statistics on impact on
U.S.
(b) not a “crisis”
situation
2. Problems internationally
(a) LDCs
3. Lack of support from farmers
(a) threat to
livelihood
(b) investments
equal increased productivity
4. Threat to our ability to produce food
5. Benefits of organic farming
(a) reduce soil
erosion
(b) meet domestic
food needs
(c) reduce oil
imports
6. Paradox
(a) incentives for
policy makers
III. Federal Land
Management
A. Statistics on
Federal Lands
B. Major Federal Land
Management Agencies
1. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
2. U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
3. National Park Service (NPS)
4. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
C. Policies Reflect a
Pluralistic System
D. Multiple-Use
1. Variety of activities
2. Statutory basis for multiple-use
(a) USFS Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act of
1960
(b) BLM’s Classification and Multiple Use Act
of 1964
(c) Federal Land Manage and Policy Act, 1976
3. Goals provide for activities such as:
(a) forestry
(b) mining
(c) grazing
(d) hiking and
camping
(e) wilderness
preservation
4. Question of possibility or desirability
5. Criticisms
(a) management
discretion
(b) reflects
institutional bias
(c) emphasis on
economic uses
E. Recreation
1. Has increased significantly on federal lands
(a) Colorado Plateau – example
2. Conflict between recreation and preservation
3. Permits and fees
F. Fee Demonstration
Project
1. Authorized by Congress in 1996
2. Purpose was to assist federal land management agencies
in recovering some costs
3. Regulates use of popular federal recreation areas
4. Fees intended for maintenance projects and public
service enhancements
G. Commercial
Recreation Permits and Concessions
1. Commercial recreation permits
(a)
Issued to private companies, individuals or organizations that profit from
public lands
2. Concession permits
(a) provide
facilities and services to the public (e.g., lodging and food services)
3. Cost of administering permits often greater than
generated fees
(a) Grand Canyon example
H. Fire Management
1. Two controversial practices
(a) prescribed burns
(b) prescribed
natural fires (“let it burn”)
2. National Fire Plan, 2000
(a) reduction of
hazardous fuels within national forests
3. Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA), 2003
4. Criticism of prescribed burns
5. Possible threats to public safety and private property
I. Roadless Areas
1. Roadless Conservation Rule, 2001
(a) meant to protect
roadless areas of national forests
(b) protection of
many species
2. Opposition to Rule by George W. Bush administration
(a) changes to
Roadless Rule
3. Changes to petitions
4. Criticism from environmental groups
IV. Wilderness
A. History
1. Creation of Yellowstone National Park, 1872
2. Wilderness Act in 1964
3. Designation of wilderness area
one of most controversial federal land-use issues in
second
half of the 20th century and on
(a) must
contain certain values to be considered wilderness
(b) “pure
wilderness”
(c) statistics
on wilderness areas in U.S.
4. Local governments and citizens
can designate areas as wild and protect them
5. Local government measures to
protect existing wilderness
(a) concurrency
laws
(b) development
impact fees
B.
Proposed Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas
1. Roadless Area Review and
Evaluation study (RARE) by USFS
(a) RARE-1
(1) criticisms by conservationists
(b) RARE-2 recommended
15.4 million acres wilderness
(1) 10.6
million acres for further study
(2) 36
million acres released for timber harvesting, etc.
2. BLM wilderness study area review
3. Wilderness Act of 1964 and mining
interests
(a) must
be “substantially unnoticeable”
4. Grazing rights
C.
National Park Service Management
1. Hands-off policy toward land
management
2. Criticisms
(a) ignoring
past human intervention
(b) parks
are not closed ecosystems
(1) encroachment
(c) threats
to parks
(1) dam construction
(2) sewage and chemical run-off
(3) oil and gas
(4) uranium mining
(5) power plant developments
3. Politics
(a) little
controversy
(b) directors
share Park Service philosophy
(c) William Mott
(1) for park acquisition
(2) endangered species protection
(3) not given free reign under Reagan
(4) proposed radical change in park management
(5) policy was not carried out
4. Wilderness disputes on a
state-by-state basis
5. Future conflicts
D.
Endangered Species
1. Global species loss
(a) estimated
extinction rates
2. Species preservation important
for future health and development of humankind
(a) drugs
(b) future
benefits
3. Upsets natural balance of world
ecosystems
4. Species endangered by:
(a) hunting
(b) habitat
destruction
5. Ocean fish and mammals – example
6. CITES
7. Arguments for ecosystem
preservation
8. U.S. Endangered Species Act of
1973
(a) National Marine
Fishery Service identifies endangered marine species
(b) U.S. FWS identifies
other animal and plant species
(c) Numbers of
endangered and threatened species
(d) Major features of
the Endangered Species Act
(e) Controversies
(1) the snail darter case
(f) Need for law to be
updated
9. National Wildlife Refuge System
(a) Controversy
(b) No clear guidelines
for the system
(c) Compatible use
doctrine
(d) Air and water
quality issues
(e) National Wildlife
Refuge System Improvement Act (NWRSIA), 1997
E.
Ecosystem Management
1. Ecosystem management should look
at all species, not just one
2. No one accepted definition of
ecosystem management, just common principles
(a) humans
are an integral part of the ecosystem
(b) humans
depend, and create stress, on ecosystems
3. Sustainable ecosystems
(a) Pacific Northwest
ecosystem management plan
(b) Columbia River Basin
4. Problems in implementation
5. Some suggest replacing current
land management guidelines with ecosystem
management
CHAPTER
10: INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Chapter Outline
I. Population and Food
Production
A. Carrying Capacity
1. Definition
2. Explosion/disappearance sequence
3. Humans have overshot historical carrying capacity
(a) intensified
agriculture
(b) concentrated
housing
(c) mechanized labor
B. U.N. population
predictions
C. Fertility Rates
D. Population
Sustaining Capacity
E. Decline of World
Food Production
F. What is the World’s
Carrying Capacity?
G. What Do These
Figures Mean?
1. Julian Simon
2. Paul and Anne Ehrlich
3. Depends on what numbers are examined
H. Few Scholars are
Optimistic
1. Environmental stresses are leading us to starvation
I. “Demographic
Transition” by Frank Notestein
1. Three stages:
(a) high birth and
death rates
(b) low death rates
and high birth rates
(c) low death rates
and low birth rates
2. Industrial world have transitioned from second to
third stage
3. LDCs remain at second stage
4. Leaders of LDCs may not notice the “trap”
5. DSP of LDCs contributes to trap
6. LDCs are reluctant to take advice
7. Assistance emphasized non-renewable over sustainable
development
8. Assistance in food transfers
J. Steady State After the Crash
1. Humanity will survive the population explosion
K. Paradox
1. Recognition of the problem with few solutions
L. What Can You Do?
1. Eat non-processed or low-processed foods
2. Become a vegetarian
3. Eat more chicken or fish
II. Desertification and
Food Production
A. Affects All
Continents
1. Greatest impacts on Africa
B. Involves Many
Problems
1. Social
2. Cultural
3. Political
4. Ecological
C. No Simple Solutions
1. Not viewed as a “crisis”
2. Activities are necessary to live
III. Global Pollution
A. The Ozone Layer
1. Increase in global CFC production
2. Effects of ozone depletion
(a) skin cancer
(b) upset ocean food
chains
(c) decreased crop
yields
3. Necessitates international cooperation
(a) already occurred
(b) Montreal Protocol
B. The Greenhouse
1. Atmospheric conditions altered by humans
2. Carbon dioxide levels of 550 ppm
3. Effects of global warming
(a) world coastal
flooding
(b) erratic food
production
(c) loss of species
and genetic diversity
4. International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
5. Kyoto Protocol
6. Cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
C. Deforestation
1. Related to greenhouse effect
2. Deforestation much greater than reforestation
3. Most occurs in LDCs
4. Prospects for ending not encouraging
5. Termites equal methane gas
6. Failure of protective management of forests
D. Ocean Pollution
1. Requires international
cooperation
2. Forms of pollution
3. Conflicting interests of nations
IV. Less Developed
Countries: North vs. South
A. LDCs play a vital
role in global environmental management
B. Environmental
Problems of LDCs
1. Deforestation – example
C. Colonization
1. Europeans exploited resources
2. Exploitation continues today
D. Model of Development
for LDCs Detrimental to Ecosystem
1. World Bank projects
(a) emphasize
technology over sustainability
2. Short-term gains, long-term costs
V. International
Conflict
A. LDCs’ Futures Will
Determine Our Future
B. Global Security and
World Peace
1. Stockholm Conference, 1972
(a) disagreement
between LDCs and developed nations
(b) U.S. prescribing a medicine that it has
failed to take itself
2. Recognition of need for environmental protection
3. LDCs will not have future access to resources
C. Lifestyle Changes
for the Developed World
1. Auto travel
2. Beef consumption
3. Pets
D. Increased Pressure
on Politicians
1. Conflict and exploitation of poor by rich
E. Real Security
1. Funds from military to sustainable development
F. Paradox
1. Crisis situation
G. Solutions Require
Money and Organization
1. Money is there
2. Incentives and institutional framework is not
CHAPTER 11: INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Chapter Outline
I. International
Environmentalism
II. Alternative
Political Systems
A. Types of Economies
1. “mixed” economy
2. collective ownership system
3. capitalist system
B. Market-Based
Economies
1. Capitalist nations
(a) profit motive
(b) private control
of production
(c) criticisms
(1) corporate
power over people
(2) corporate
power over politicians and public policy
(3) big
bureaucracy
C. Collective Ownership
Systems
1. State controls how and what is produced
2. Production not limited by social institutions
3. Freedom of worker replaced by orders of state
D. Eastern Europe and
the Former Soviet Union
1. Since Stalin, high priority on industrializing nations
2. Many environmental laws, lack of enforcement
3. Eastern European reforms, 1989-90
4. Pollution a serious problem in former communist states
5. “Black triangle”
6. Incentives over environmentalism
E. China
1. Harmony with nature vs. economics
2. Until 1979, no pollution control policy
3. New attitudes about the environment
(a) Forestry Act and Law on Environmental
Protection
4. Obstacles to solving pollution
(a) large country
(b) lack of
compliance
(c) primary goal –
increase productivity
(d) land-use policies
(e) erosion problems
5. Positive approach to cleaning up the environment
6. Criticisms
(a) creating an
illusion of environmental protection
(b) lack of adequate
support or enforcement, technology
III. International
Environmental Management
A. United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972
1. Problems have worsened since 1972
B. Common Pool
Resources
1. Air
(a) lack of
incentives to limit pollution
2. Ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect
C. Creation of an IGO
1. Created during crisis
2. Participants decide on procedures and rules
3. Participants agree on compliance and enforcement
4. Depends on mutual consent of all parties
5. Decisions are made through consensus
(a) this requires
sacrifice
6. Free-rider problem
7. Enforcement
(a) violators must
be identified
(1) sovereignty
and access questions
(b) mean of
enforcement
(1) negative
or positive sanctions
(2) equity
issues
8. Will crisis be dealt with in time?
IV. Economic
Globalization and the Second Industrial Revolution
A. Maintaining
Biodiversity
B. Economic
Globalization
1. New technologies
2. “Robber baron” corporations
3. Natural resource exploitation
C. Environmental
Dangers from Corporations
1. Threatening environmental stability
D. Environmental
Protection at a Number of Levels
V. International
Regulatory Efforts
A. Controlling Oceanic
Pollution
1. Concern as early as the mid-1920s
(a) focused on
zone-based restrictions
2. London Dumping Convention, 1972
3. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS), 1994
(a) binding on all
countries, not just signatories
B. Atmospheric
Conventions
1. Montreal Protocol, 1987
2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), 1992
(a) Kyoto Protocol, 1997
C. Hazardous Waste
Control at the International Level
1. Shipping of hazardous wastes across international
boundaries
2. Basel Convention, 1989
D. Protection of
Endangered and Threatened Species
1.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), 1972
VI. Trends in the
International Regulatory Process
A. Resulted of
International Accords and Conventions Best Described as Restrained Optimism
B. Mixed results
C. Success of the
Montreal Protocol
D. Need for Incentives