Chapter 7 topics:  Environmental policies  Major U.S. environmental laws  Approaches to environmental policy  The environmental policy process  Science and policy  International environmental policy

Environmental policy  Policy = a set of general plans and principles for addressing problems and guiding decision-making  Public policy = made by governments  Laws, regulations, orders, incentives, and practices  Intended to advance societal welfare  Environmental policy = pertains to human interactions with the environment  Regulates resource use or reduces pollution  To promote human welfare and/or protect resources

The ingredients and the players  Science, ethics, and economics help formulate policy  Government interacts with citizens, organizations, and the private sector

Fixing marketplace short-comings  Capitalist markets  Are driven by short-term profit  Do not consider long-term social impacts or environmental stability  Provide little incentive to minimize impacts  Environmental policy goals  Protect resources against the tragedy of the commons  Promote equity by eliminating free riders  Address external costs

Marketplace inequities  Tragedy of the commons = common resources become overused/degraded  Best prevented by use restrictions and management  Cooperative approach can work  Privatization can work  Free riders = people are tempted to cheat  Avoiding sacrifices made by others, they get a “free ride”  Actions mandated by public policies are more effective  All parties sacrifice equally

Marketplace inequities  External costs = harmful impacts of market transactions borne by people not party to transaction  Policies promote fairness regarding external costs  Polluter pays principal = polluters cover costs of impacts

Objections  Environmental policies are challenged, ignored, and rejected by citizens and policymakers because  Environmental policy involves government regulation – property owners and businesspeople think regulations are inconvenient and cause economic loss  Problems develop gradually, over the long term, but human behavior is geared toward short-term needs Businesses opt for short-term economic gain News media have short attention spans Politicians act out of short-term interest

Framework of U.S. policy  Legislative branch = creates statutory law  Executive branch = executes (carries out) laws  Agencies = implement and enforce laws  Regulations = rules/requirements to achieve objectives of broadly written statutory laws  Executive orders = legal instructions for agencies  Judicial branch = interprets laws  Precedents = guides for later cases  Lawsuits are filed for and against protection

State and local governments  States, counties, and municipalities also generate environmental policies, often experimenting with novel concepts  California, New York, and Massachusetts have strong environmental laws  Well-funded agencies  Citizens value protecting the environment  State laws cannot violate principles of the U.S. Constitution, federal laws take precedence

Balancing constitutional ideas  Environmental policy involves a sensitive balance between private rights and the public good  Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution  Prohibits denying “equal protection of its laws”  The constitutional basis for environmental justice  Fifth Amendment = the “takings” clause  Bans the literal taking of private property  Also bans regulatory taking, which deprives a property owner of economic uses of the property

1 st wave of environmental policy  From 1780s to the late 1800s, environmental policy promoted settlement and extraction of resources  People believed land was infinite and inexhaustible  Results:  Increased prosperity for citizens, railroad companies  Relieved crowding in Eastern cities  Displaced millions of Native Americans

Example laws from 1 st wave  General Land Ordinances of 1785 and 1787: surveying and readying federal land for sale  Homestead Act (1862): anyone could buy or settle on 160 acres of public land  General Mining Act (1878): people could mine on public land for $5/acre with no oversight  Timber Culture Act (1873): 160 acres to anyone promising to plant trees on 25% of that land

2 nd wave of environmental policy  From1880s to1960s, public perception and policy shifted, a conservation/preservation ethic emerged  Recognition that Western resources were not inexhaustible and needed legal protection  Yellowstone National Park opened in 1872  National Forests became possible in 1903  Soil conservation stresses after the 1930s Dust Bowl  The 1964 Wilderness Act preserved pristine land

3 rd wave of environmental policy  From 1960s to present increased awareness of environmental problems caused further shifts  People were better off economically but lived with dirtier air, dirtier water, more waste, toxic chemicals  Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) described the effects of pesticides  The Cuyahoga River caught fire in the 1960s

Support for the 3 rd wave  Several factors converged to allow major advances in environmental policy in the 1960s and 1970s  Wide evidence of environmental problems  People could visualize policies to deal with problems  The political climate was ripe  Supportive public and leaders who were willing to act  Congress strengthened and elaborated laws in the 1980s with amendments to the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts

Two turning points - NEPA  The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) formalized the modern era of environmental policy  Requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for federal action that might impact the environment  Government and businesses must evaluate a project’s environmental impacts using a cost-benefit approach  Provides incentives to decrease damage  Citizens are granted input into the policy process

Two turning points – U.S. EPA  President Nixon used an executive order to create the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  Conducts and evaluates research  Monitors environmental quality  Sets and enforces standards for pollution levels  Assists states in meeting standards and goals  Educates the public  The EPA is the leading agency for studying and developing solutions for environmental problems

Significant environmental laws

Current trends in policy  Many feel regulations are too strict  Federal environmental laws being weakened since1994  NC laws continue to be weakened  Other nations are increasing efforts  “4 th wave” focuses on sustainability, safe- guarding ecosystems while raising living standards United StatesInternational

Approaches to environmental policy  Tort lawsuits in court  Command-and-control  Economic policy tools

Tort lawsuits in court  Lawsuits are often used to address U.S. policy issues  In the absence of laws and regulations  To get laws and regulations enforced  Tort law = deals with one entity harming another  Nuisance law = individuals suffering from pollution would seek redress through lawsuits  Courts can make polluters stop using injunctions or fines  Courts often reluctant, seeking to balance costs  Tort law not a viable option to prevent pollution

Command-and-control  Command-and-control = a regulating agency sets rules or limits, establishes and enforces punishment for violators  It brings cleaner air, water, safer workplaces, etc.  May be well-intentioned, but not always well-informed  Interest groups—people seeking private gain—unduly influence politicians and work against public interests  Citizens may view policies as restrictions on freedom

Economic policy tools  Green taxes  A means to “internalize” external costs  Flexibility to achieve objective  Subsidies  “Giveaways” of public money or resources  Many existing ones promote unsustainable practices  Permit trading  Cap-and-trade market systems  Buying and selling the “right” to pollute

Green taxes  Tax environmentally harmful activities to internalize external costs and discourage undesirable activities  Businesses reimburse the public for damage they cause – the more the pollution, the higher the tax  Gives companies financial incentives to reduce pollution with the freedom to decide how to do so  Costs are passed on to consumers

Subsidies  Subsidy = a giveaway of cash or resources to encourage an activity, often as tax breaks  Still used to support activities we now know to be unsustainable  From 2002 to 2008, fossil fuel companies got $72 billion, renewable energy only $29 billion

Environmentally harmful subsidies  The General Mining Act of 1872  Mining companies get $500 million–$1 billion in minerals from U.S. public lands each year  No royalties are paid to taxpayers  Mining activities have polluted 40% of Western watersheds  The U.S. Forest Service builds roads for logging companies  Spends $35 million of taxpayer money/year  Companies sell the trees for profit

Permit trading markets  Permit trading = a government-created market in permits for an environmentally harmful activity  Cap-and-trade emissions trading system = the government sets levels (“caps”) and issues permits  Polluters can buy, sell, and trade these permits  Pollution is reduced overall  Companies have an incentive to reduce emissions  Sulfur dioxide emissions have decreased by 43%  Cuts were obtained more efficiently and at lower cost than command-and-control regulation

Market incentives at the local level  Municipalities charge residents for waste disposal, according to the amount of waste generated  Cities tax disposal of costly items (tires, motor oil)  Some cities give rebates for water-efficient appliances  Power utilities give discounts for efficient light bulbs and appliances  Well-planned market incentives can reduce environmental impact while minimizing costs to industry

Public-private partnerships  Public-private partnership = a for-profit entity does the work, a public entity acts as overseer  Public policy goals will be achieved in a timely, cost-effective manner, private entities try to maximize efficiency  But it can be challenging to design workable partnerships while serving both private and public interests

Making environmental policy

Influencing the process  Corporations and industries can not make direct campaign contributions so they establish Political Action Committees (PACs) to raise money for political campaigns and help candidates win  A 2010 Supreme Court decision allows corporations and unions to buy ads for or against candidates  The revolving door = movement of people between the government and the private sector

The role of science  Effective decisions are informed by scientific research  Sometimes policymakers ignore science  They let political ideology determine policy  Government scientists have had their work censored, suppressed, or edited and their jobs threatened  Unqualified people were put into power  When taxpayer-funded research is suppressed or distorted for political ends, everyone loses

International environmental policy  International environmental policy is supported by  Customary law = laws/customs held by most cultures  Conventional law = from conventions or treaties Montreal Protocol = addressed ozone-depleting chemicals Kyoto Protocol & Paris Conference = address greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels that cause climate change  International organizations influence nations through funding, peer pressure, and media attention

An uphill effort  Globalization interconnects our world  Societies and ecosystems changing at unprecedented rates  Trade and technology allow increased consumption  Consumptive nations exert very high pressures  Multinational corporations operate outside the reach of national laws with little incentive to conserve resources or act sustainably

International Organizations  United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)  Helps nations understand and solve environmental problems  World Bank  One of the largest funding sources for economic development  Dams, irrigation, infrastructure  Funds unsustainable, environmentally damaging projects

International Organizations  European Union (EU)  Seeks to promote Europe’s unity, economic and social progress  Can sign binding treaties and enact regulations  Can also issue advisory directives  Sees environmental regulations as barriers to trade  World Trade Organization (WTO)  Represents multinational corporations promoting free trade  Can impose penalties on nations that don’t comply  Interprets environmental laws as unfair barriers to trade

Take-aways  Environmental policy is a problem-solving tool that uses science, ethics, and economics  Conventional command-and-control approach uses legislation and regulations to make policy  Tort law is still influential  Market-based policies are being developed, but unsustainable and environmentally harmful projects are still promoted