ENVS 101

Environmental science Environmental studies Interdisciplinary!

Population changes over time Hunter gatherers Agricultural revolution (~10,000 years ago) Industrial revolution (mid-1700s)

Limited Resources Garrett Hardin – “Tragedy of the Commons” (1968) Ecological footprints Renewable vs. nonrenewable resources

Ecological footprint

Environmental ethics Values Anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism Preservation vs. conservation Environmental justice Sustainability

Preservation Fundamental right of all organisms to exist Protect environment in a pristine, unaltered state John Muir Conservation Put natural resources to use Manage resources wisely Greatest good for greatest number of people for longest time Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold

Economics Subsistence vs. capitalism Supply and demand Cost-benefit analyses should Include ecosystem services and other externalities Is economic growth sustainable?

Environmental policies Problem solving Examples from the United States Federal vs. state level International policies depend on customs and conventions

Policy development in US Identify problem and its cause Identify a solution and organize Get access to policymakers Laws established by Congress and President Administrative agency establishes regulations and monitors compliance

US balance of power Legislative branch Executive branch Judicial branch Power of states?

United States examples Westward expansion and exploitation Preservation vs. conservation Responses to pollution problems

Early Phase in US (1) Driven by desire for westward expansion From 1780s until late 1800s Western lands are infinite and uninhabited?

Second phase in US: Preservation and Conservation Late 1800s until now Correct some problems caused by westward expansion Mitigation of exploitation

Preservation and conservation (2) First national park (1872) Forest reserve system (1891) First national wildlife refuge (1903) Soil conservation laws during Dust Bowl (1930s) Wilderness Act of 1964: “untrammeled by man”

Third phase in US: Response to pollution problems Silent Spring and burning of Cuyahoga River National Environmental Policy Act (1970) Creation of environmental agency Requirement of Environmental Impact Statements for federal projects Environmental Protection Agency established in 1970 – subsumed many agencies

Third phase or modern environmentalism Fight pollution and its effects Human health Environmental justice movement Many famous environmentalists Intervention in regulatory hearings, books, mass media campaigns, law suits and litigation

Enforcing a policy Command and control Economic incentives Tax breaks or subsidies Green taxes (polluter pays) Cap and trade (tradable pollution permits) Local incentives (tax breaks for water efficient appliances, waste disposal penalties, for instance)

International environmental policies System of conventions or treaties Pay attention to customs Powerful organizations UN, World Bank, European Union, World Trade Organization, Non- governmental organizations (Nature Conservancy, Greenpeace, for example)

Global environmentalism Famous photo of Earth from space Activities primarily through United Nations Links between poverty, oppression, exploitation of humans, exploitation of environment

Earth Rise