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

4. 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
Audobon- painting increased interest in environment
Thoreau- naturalist author on simplifying life
Marsh- wrote Man and Nature

5. Environmental History of US
1875 American Forestry Assoc. Formed
1850
1875
1900
1891 General Revision Act
1890 Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks Established
General Revision Act (1891)
Gave President Authority to establish forest reserves
Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt put 17.4 million hectares into reserve
Theodore Roosevelt reserved additional 6.5 million hectares by designating 21 new national forests before signing bill preventing further forest reservation put forth by angry congressmen!

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

7. Establishing and Protecting National Parks
Congress established the first national park in 1872…YELLOWSTONE
A group of explorers reported on it’s geysers, and the beautiful canyon and falls of Yellowstone River
John Muir’s naturalist writings helped establish support for Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks in California
By 1916, congress voted to establish the National Park Service to allow for better management of our National Parks

8. 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

9. Environmental History of US
1900
1925
1950
1975
Aldo Leopold ( )
Wallace Stegner ( )
Rachel Carson ( )
20th Century Naturalists
Leopold- Author (A Sand County Almanac)
Stegner- Author (“Wilderness Essay”) see p. 27!
Rachel Carson- Author (Silent Spring )
Heightened awareness of DDT and pesticides

10. Environmental History of US
1900
1925
1950
1975
Aldo Leopold ( )
Wallace Stegner ( )
Rachel Carson ( )
Paul Ehrlich wrote “The Population Bomb” in 1968 describing the unavoidable environmental damage necessary for Earth to support such a huge population…raising public awareness of population issues!

12. US Environmental Legislation (since 1970)
First Earth Day in 1970…millions gather in U.S. in response to growing environmental disasters!
Awakened U.S. population to issues of population growth, overuse of resources, pollution, and overall degradation of Earth’s resources!
Est. 20 million people demonstrated by planting trees, cleaning roadsides & riverbanks, marching in parades, etc.
Since the first Earth Day, MANY environmental laws have been passed and much has been done to clean our air, water, and land!

14. US Environmental Legislation (since 1970)
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

15. Environmental Impact Statements

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

19. Benefits of U.S. Environmental Legislation
Since 1970:
23 national parks have been established
Soil erosion has been reduced by up to 60% from farmland that has been removed from production
Many endangered species are better off now than in 1970
Some have been removed from the endangered species list, such as the California gray whale, bald eagle, American alligator
The fate of other species has gotten worse (ivory-billed woodpecker (extinct?), Kemp’s sea turtle)

20. Effects of Environmental Legislation (According to EPA’s Draft Report on the Environment 2003)
Since 1970,
6 air pollutants have dropped by 25%
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

21. Drawbacks to Environmental Legislation:
Industry has found loopholes in many laws
The cost for cleanup far exceeds our willingness and/or ability to pay for it, and industry often finds it cheaper to sue the EPA and fight cleanup
Not all environmental trends are positive! Some urban areas like Los Angeles and Houston have seen air quality deteriorate substantially as more cars are put into service!

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

23. 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

24. Economists view of Environmental Problems
To an economist, environmental problems arise simply due to inefficiency or externalities
Externality = the effect that occurs when the producer of a good or service (the company) does NOT have to pay for all the costs associated with it’s production.
Examples: Do you or Poland Spring Water pay for the air pollution associated with the production of the bottle used for your bottle of water? (NO!)
Do those who drive pay those who do NOT drive for the toxic air emissions EVERYONE must breathe in as a result? (NO!)

25. Economists view of Environmental Problems
Economists attempt to address externalities by relying upon the idea that we can identify the “optimal amount of pollution”, which is the level of pollution for any process where the cost of having less pollution is offset by the benefits to society of the activity creating the pollution.

26. Optimum Level of Pollution
Economists attempt to address externalities by relying upon the idea that we can identify the “optimal amount of pollution”, which is the level of pollution for any process where the cost of having less pollution is offset by the benefits to society of the activity creating the pollution.
To determine the Optimum Level of Pollution, we must identify:
Marginal Cost of Pollution- Cost of small additional amount of pollution
Marginal Cost of Abatement- Cost of reducing small amount of pollution

27. Economic Optimum Level of Pollution

28. Private vs Social Cost of Pollution

29. Strategies for Pollution Control
To deal with the fact that pollution levels are often much higher than what is optimal as a society, several strategies have been developed from an economic standpoint to help lower pollution.
Command and Control Solutions
Government agency requires limitations to emissions or pollutants, which are often challenged by industry!
Sometimes discourages development of low-cost alternatives, may result in job losses, economic “hardships” for certain industries, etc., so economists dislike this

30. Strategies for Pollution Control
Incentive-based approaches
Environmental Taxes/ Tradable Permits
If taxes are set at correct level private marginal cost of pollution = social cost of pollution
Economists like this better
Example of incentive-based approach: Cap & Trade of Carbon Emissions
Govt. sets “allowable” level of carbon dioxide emissions, those companies who are under can sell the right to pollute up to the allowable level to another company that is over.
Benefits of Cap & Trade: eventually may encourage companies to stop paying for pollution and develop better alternatives
Drawbacks of Cap & Trade: sometimes allows for status-quo…cap is not set strictly enough to force alternatives, “global corporations” are essentially trading with themselves through all of their subsidiaries!

31. Effect of Tax on Optimum Pollution

32. 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?

33. National Income Accounts
National income accounts represent the total income of a nation for a given year, so they are really estimates of national economic performance and are often used in policy decision-making by governments
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

35. 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

36. 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
Romania- EPI = 90th
Czech Republic- EPI = 4th

37. 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