1. Chapter 2 Environmental Laws, Economics and Ethics

2. Overview of Chapter 2 Brief US Environmental History
US Environmental Legislation
Economics and the Environment
Environmental Problems in Central and Eastern Europe
Environmental Ethics, Values and Worldviews

3. Environmental History of the US
1600
1700
1800
1900
Dominated by Frontier Attitude
Establishment of Jamestown, VA
1600s - early 1800s = Frontier Attitude
Natural Resources (land, timber soil, water) seemed inexhaustible
Widespread Environmental Destruction

5. Environmental History of US
1750
1800
1850
1900
John James Audobon ( )
Henry David Thoreau ( )
George Perkins Marsh ( )
19th century- US Naturalists voiced concerns about natural resources
Audubon- painting increased interest in environment
Thoreau- naturalist author on simplifying life
Marsh- wrote Man and Nature, humans as agents

7. Environmental History of US
1875
1900
1850
1875 American Forestry Assoc. Formed
1890 Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks Established
1891 General Revision Act
General Revision Act
Gave President Authority to establish forest reserves
Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, Roosevelt put 17.4 million hectares into reserve
Roosevelt reserved additional 6.5 million hectares before signing bill preventing further forest reservation

9. Environmental History of US
Utilitarian Conservationist
Theodore Roosevelt
Value natural resources for their usefulness
Biocentric Preservationist
John Muir (founded Sierra Club)
Fought for National Parks
Protect nature because all life deserves respect

10. Environmental History of US
1925
1950
1900
1935 Creation of Soil Conservation Service
1906 Antiquities Act
1916 National Park Service Created
Antiquities Act
Allows president to set aside sites of scientific or historical importance (monuments)
American Dust Bowl (1930s droughts)
Basis for Soil Conservation Service
Created by Franklin Roosevelt

11. Environmental History of US
1900
1925
1950
1975
Aldo Leopold ( )
Wallace Stegner ( )
Rachel Carson ( )
20th Century Naturalists
Leopold- Author (A Sand Country Almanac)
Game management, ethical responsibility
Carson- Author (Silent Spring)
Heightened awareness of DDT and pesticides
Paul Ehrlich- The Population Bomb

13. US Environmental Legislation
Environmental Protection Agency
Est. 1970
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Cornerstone of Environmental Law
Requires Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for any proposed federal action
Ex: highway or dam construction
EIS must answer many questions (next slide)
Revolutionized environmental protection in US

14. Environmental Impact Statements

15. US Environmental Legislation
Numerous laws passed since 1970
They address:
Clean water
Clean air
Energy conservation
Hazardous waste
Pesticides
Federal regulation of pollution

18. Effects of Environmental Legislation (According to EPA’s Draft Report on the Environment 2003)
Since 1980,
6 air pollutants have dropped by 67%
Since 1990
wet sulfate levels decreased 20-30%
In 2002
94% of US had healthy drinking water (up from 79% in 1993)
As of 2002
846 of 1498 Superfund Sites are cleaned up
Fewer streams violate water standards

19. Economics and the Environment
Economics- study of how people use limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants
Analytical tools include models

20. Precepts to study Economics
Economics is utilitarian
Goods and services have value that can be converted to currency
Rational Actor Model
Assumes all individuals spend limited resources to maximize individual utilities
Ideal economy
Resources are allocated efficiently

21. Optimum Level of Pollution
Cost to society of having less pollution is offset by benefits to society of activity creating pollution
Must identify
Marginal Cost of Pollution- Cost of small additional amount of pollution
Marginal Cost of Abatement- Cost of reducing small amount of pollution

22. Economic Optimum Level of Pollution

23. Private vs Social Cost of Pollution

24. Strategies for Pollution Control
Command and Control Solutions
Government agency requires limitations to emissions or pollutants
Discourages development of low-cost alternatives
Economists dislike this
Environmental Taxes/ Tradable Permits
If taxes are set at correct level private marginal cost of pollution = social cost of pollution
Economists like this

25. Effect of Tax on Optimum Pollution

26. Critiques of Environmental Economics
Difficult to assess true costs of environmental pollution and abatement
Impacts of pollution on people and nature is uncertain
Ecosystem services have no known value
Utilitarian economics may not be appropriate
Dynamic changes and time are not considered
Based only on monetary value – what is monetary value of clean earth?

27. National Income Accounts
Estimates of National Economic Performance and used in Politics
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Net Domestic Product (NDP)
Environment may be overexploited to yield a higher GDP in developing countries
EPI (Environmental Performance Index)
Assesses a country’s commitment to environmental and resource management

29. Case Study- Environmental Problems in Eastern Europe
Fall of Communist governments revealed large environmental destruction
Soil and water poisoned
Unidentified leaks in dumping sites
Industry with air pollutants causing acid rain
Children with chronic asthma, bronchitis, and heart problems

30. Case Study- Environmental Problems in Eastern Europe
Meeting industrial quotas took precedence over environmental concerns
Switch from communism to market economies- need to improve environment
Will take decades to clean up polluting economics of communism
Success varies by country- 2012
Romania- EPI = 88th
Czech Republic- EPI = 18th

31. Environmental Ethics
Field of ethics that considers the moral basis of environmental responsibility
Western Worldview
Human superiority and dominance over nature
Deep Ecology Worldview
All species have an equal worth to humans
Most people’s ethics fall somewhere in between