Chapter 13 Industrial Pollution and Environmental Regulation

The Majestic Hudson River In 1609 Henry Hudson, an English navigator sailing for a Dutch corporation, journeyed far up its course, seeking a new trade route to China It was not there, but he explored the river, which took his name Over time, the Hudson River acquired a rich history

Pollution Pollution: The presence of substances in the environment that inconvenience or endanger humans Much of it comes from natural sources Human activity adds more contaminants Industrial activity both harms human health and disturbs natural ecology

Table 13.1 - Percentages of Deaths and DALYs Attributable to Four Environmental Pollution Risks

The Biosphere It is the slender margin atop the earth’s surface that supports life The biosphere is home to multiple ecosystems Ecosystem: An animated, interactive realm of plants, animals, and microorganisms inhabiting an area of the nonliving environment

The Biosphere Ecosystems provide services that support human well-being Ecosystem services: The productivity of natural ecosystems in creating food and fiber and in regulating climate, water, soil, nutrients, and other forms of natural capital The causes of ecosystem strain center on accelerating economic activity

Industrial Activity and Sustainability Much interest today is focused on the notion of sustainable development Sustainable development: Nonpolluting economic growth that raises standards of living without depleting the net resources of the earth There is evidence that environmental quality in growing economies does not follow a path of long-term deterioration as in the old industrial revolution model. Environmental Kuznets curve

Industrial Activity and Sustainability Much interest today is focused on the notion of sustainable development Sustainable development: Nonpolluting economic growth that raises standards of living without depleting the net resources of the earth

Industrial Activity and Sustainability There is evidence that environmental quality in growing economies does not follow a path of long-term deterioration as in the old industrial revolution model Environmental Kuznets curve: An inverted U-shaped curve illustrating that as gross domestic product rises in emerging economies pollution goes through stages of rapid increase, leveling off, and decline

Figure 13.1 – The Environmental Kuznets Curve

Ideas Shape Attitudes Toward the Environment Dualism Progress Capitalism Utilitarianism

New Ideas Challenge the Old Naturalist Aldo Leopold – inspired others to rethink traditional ideas about the man-nature relationship Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess – Deep ecology Inspired anti-corporate government groups Philosopher Peter Singer – Speciesism

Environmental Regulation in the United States The dominant approach to industrial pollution control in the United States has been to pass laws that strictly regulate: Emissions Effluents Waste In the 1970s, Congress passed a remarkable string of new laws, creating a broad statutory base for regulating industry

Environmental Regulation in the United States The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) It is an executive branch regulatory agency Its mission is to protect human health and to preserve the natural environment

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air The Clean Air Act National air quality – Criteria pollutants Carbon monoxide (CO) Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) Sulfur dioxide (SO2) Ozone (O3) Particulate matter Lead (Pb)

Figure 13.2 – Declining Emissions of Criteria Pollutants: 1970–2008

Table 13.2 - Estimated National Emissions of Criteria Pollutants by Source: 2008 (in thousands of short tons)

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air Hazardous air pollutants: Chemical emissions that pose a health risk of serious illness such as cancer or birth defects with small inhalation exposures The clean air act requires the EPA to set emission standards for 187 air toxics at levels that prevent disease and requires industry to use the maximum achievable control technology to comply

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air Acid rain is caused primarily by releases of two criteria pollutants: Sulfur dioxide Nitrogen oxides Indoor air pollution Ozone-destroying chemicals Chlorofluorocarbons

Figure 13.3 – Emission Trends for Electric Power- Generating Plants in the Acid Rain Program

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air Greenhouse gases: Atmospheric gases that absorb energy radiated from the earth, preventing it from being released into space

Figure 13.4 - Atmospheric Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases: 1750–2010

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Water Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Clean Water Act) National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requires each industrial facility to get a permit specifying the volume of one or more substances it can pour into a water body Runoff is largely uncontrolled Agricultural Urban

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Land Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Firms must label, handle, store, treat, and discard hazardous waste under strict guidelines, keeping meticulous records Difficult to administer Difficult to comply

Figure 13.5 - RCRA Landfill Groundwater Monitoring Requirements

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Land Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 Better known as Superfund so-named after the large trust fund it set up to pay for cleanups Created to clean up abandoned toxic waste sites

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Land The number of sites is higher than predicted and the cleaning process more difficult and expensive than envisioned Cleanup work started at 1,030 sites, however, only 325 have been fully restored and deleted from the list

Figure 13.6 - Typical Rotary Kiln Incinerator at a Superfund Site

Concluding Observations Industrial processes damage the environment and cause serious local and global deterioration The response has been to adopt a series of fairly rigid and expensive regulatory programs In the U.S. it is now the largest and most expensive area of regulation Uneven progress has been made in the attack on air, water, and land pollution