PSCI 3201 Environmental Policy 092007

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PSCI 3201 Environmental Policy09/20/07

• A. Clean Air Act, contd
• 1. structure of air pollution
• policy
• 2. implementation
• Competing perspectives on
• the environment
• Introducing the ethical
• perspective

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CLEAN AIR ACT of 1970B. The command and control
framework

• Set quality standards (NAAQS)
• Create emissions standards
• Establish penalties
• Monitor and enforce
• Implementation What happened?

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CLEAN AIR ACT of 1970B. The command and control
framework

• 5. Implementation What happened?
• ambitious goals versus reality
• and deadlines

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Clean Air Act Implementation

• 1. Goals and targets Reflected
  get-tough-on-industry view. What happened?
• gt a powerful reaction by industry
• 2. Agents Federal power over states
• gt will and capacity issues

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Is there an alternative approach?

• OPTIONS
• dispersion
• siting
• end-of-the-pipe solutions
• reduce pollution produced
• fundamental behavioral change

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Competing Perspectiveson the Environment
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• Problem identification a process of recognizing
  a problem as something that should be altered,
  and government is the appropriate agent of
  change.
• What is an environmental problem?

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• Environmental policy disputes are, at heart,
  contests over values. To the casual observer,
  these conflicts may appear to revolve around
  arcane technical issues, but almost all of them
  involve a fundamental disagreement over how human
  beings ought to interact with the natural world.
• 
  Layzer, pp. 1-2

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Over what are we competing?What kinds of values?
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Over what are we competing?What kinds of values?

• We approach the world through diverse
  perspectives a spectrum of lenses through which
  we recognize problems needing policy solutions.

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Diverse Perspectives on the Environment

• Your perspective or orientation Through what
  lens are you viewing the world? (e.g., ethics,
  economics, science)
• Source of the problem Different perspectives
  lead one to different explanations as to how we
  got to where we are and why we have the
  identified problem.
• Proposed solutions What is viewed as an
  appropriate and effective solution depends on
  your understanding of the problem which, in turn,
  depends on your perspective.

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• Diverse Perspectives on the Environment
• What is the environment problem, and how should
  we solve it?
• Perspective Source of Problem Proposed
  Solution_____________
• Ethical Exploitative world view
  anthropocentrism Change ethics and related
  behavior through
• Problem education and symbolic appeals
• Commons Human nature failure of individual
  Change incentives through governmental
• Problem incentives to protect the environment
  regulation and the threat of punishment
• because it is shared in common
  rather mutual coercion
• than individually owned
• Economics Failure of the economic system to
  Change economic incentives by making it
• Problem adequately address negative more
  expensive to pollute
• externalities expensive to pollute
• Science Failure of society and policy makers to
  Change scientists access to policy making and
• Problem use appropriate scientific information in
  change procedures requiring consideration of