Ch. 3: Addressing Environmental Problems, Part II

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Ch. 3 Addressing Environmental Problems, Part
II

• By Jack Goldberg 7

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1

• Briefly outline the history of the conservation
  and environmental movements in the United States.

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18th and 19th Centuries

• Many Americans during this time had a frontier
  attitude to conquer and exploit nature, areas of
  the Midwest the size of Europe were completely
  deforested by the 1860s
• 1891 the General Revision Act passed giving
  president authority to establish forest reserves
  on public land.

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Early 20th Century

• President Theodore Roosevelt used General
  Revision Act to keep 17.4 million hectares of
  forest away from loggers, but would later be 6.5
  million hectares of 21 designated national
  forests.
• Yellowstone in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming became
  the 1st national park followed by Yosemite and
  Sequoia in California.

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Late 20th Century

• Environmentalists from the Sierra Club and
  National Wildlife Federation began voicing their
  concerns about the environment
• 1970 was a big year marking the 1st national
  Earth Day, and the formation of the Environmental
  Protection Agency (EPA) which signed National
  Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law that
  year.

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2

• Describe the environmental contributions of the
  following people John James Audubon, Henry David
  Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, Theodore
  Roosevelt, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, Franklin
  Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and
  Gaylord Nelson.

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19th Century Naturalists

• John James Audubon Aroused American interest in
  nature with his paintings
• Henry David Thoreau Wrote Walden Pond about
  living in harmony with nature
• George Perkins Marsh Wrote Man and Nature about
  how humans are agents of environmental change

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20th Century Conservationists

• Theodore Roosevelt Used General Revision Act of
  1891to create 24 million hectares of national
  forests
• Gifford Pinchot 1st head of U.S. Forest Service
• Franklin Roosevelt Created Civilian
  Conservation Corps and Soil Conservation Service
• Aldo Leopold Wrote Game Management and A Sand
  County Almanac about the need to conserve
  wilderness areas

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Other Great Environmentalists

• John Muir - Helped Establish Yosemite and Sequoia
  National Parks and founded the Sierra Club
• Rachel Carson - Wrote Silent Spring about the
  dangers of pesticide use
• Gaylord Nelson - Former Wisconsin Senator
  organized the 1st Earth Day

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3

• Explain why the National Environmental Policy Act
  is the cornerstone of the U.S. environmental law.

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The National Environmental Policy Act

• The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was
  signed into law shortly after the Earth Day
  movement in 1970.
• It requires that the federal government consider
  the environmental impact of any construction
  project funded by the federal government.

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Why the NEPA is Great

• NEPA provides the basis for developing detailed
  environmental impact statements (EISs) to
  accompany every federal recommendation or
  proposal for legislation.
• Established the Council on Environmental Quality
  to monitor the required EISs and report directly
  to the president.

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More Reasons to Love the NEPA

• NEPA oversees federal highway construction, flood
  and erosion controls, military projects, public
  works, and federal agencies oversee nearly 1/3 of
  the land in the United States
• This act has influenced environmental legislation
  in many states and other countries.

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4

• Relate why environmental impact statements
  provide such powerful protection of the
  environment.

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Environmental Impact Statements

• Help federal officials make informed decisions
• EIS must include nature of proposal and why its
  needed, short-term and long-term and any adverse
  environmental effects, and alternatives to the
  course of action to lessen adverse effects.

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More Information About EIS

• Courts decreed the documents had to be thoroughly
  analyzed the environmental consequences of the
  anticipated projects on the soil, water, and
  organisms.
• EISs must be available to the public.

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Negative Views of EIS

• Some environmentalists say environmental impact
  statements are incomplete or ignored.
• Others claim theyre too involved, take too long
  to prepare, and are targets of lawsuits.

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5

• Sketch a simple diagram showing how economics is
  related to the environment.

(Economics and Environment both love the green!)
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Marginal Cost of Pollution
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Marginal Cost of Pollution Abatement
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Cost-Benefit Diagram
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• Distinguish among the following terms marginal
  cost of pollution, marginal cost of pollution
  abatement, optimum amount of pollution.

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Marginal Cost of Pollution

• The cost, in environmental damage, of a unit of
  pollution that is emitted into the environment
• As the total amount of pollution increases, the
  harm done by each additional unit also increases
  making an upward sloping curve.

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Marginal Cost of Pollution Abatement

• The cost to dispose of a unit of pollution in a
  nonpolluting way.
• Cost increases as the level of pollution
  decreases causing a downward sloping curve.

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Optimum Amount of Pollution

• The amount of pollution that is economically most
  desirable.
• Determined by plotting the curves of marginal
  cost of pollution and marginal cost of pollution
  abatement and finding the point of intersection.

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7

• Describe various approaches to pollution control,
  including command and control legislation,
  waste-discharge permit policies, emission
  reduction credits, and taxation.

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Emission Charge (Taxation)

• A government policy that controls pollution by
  charging the polluter for each unit of emissions,
  that is, by establishing a tax on pollution.
• A popular market-oriented strategy for
  controlling pollution, especially in Europe.

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Waste-Discharge Permit Policy

• A government policy that controls pollution by
  issuing permits allowing the holder to pollute a
  given amount.
• Holders are not allowed to produce more emissions
  than are sanctioned by their permits.

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Emission Reduction Credits (ERC)

• A waste-charge permit that can be bought and sold
  by companies producing emissions.
• Companies have a financial incentive to reduce
  emissions because they can recover some or all of
  their cost of pollution abatement by the sale of
  the ERCs that they no longer need.

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Emission Reduction Credits (ERC)
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Command and Control Legislation

• Pollution control laws that work by setting
  pollution settings.
• One example of command and control legislation is
  the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990.

President Bush Sr. signing the amendment
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8

• Explain some of the complexities of the highly
  contentious jobs versus the environment issue in
  the Pacific Northwest.

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The Northwestern Conflict

• Conflict Fate of thousands of jobs v.s. fate of
  old-growth forest and the organisms living in the
  forests.
• To raise the stakes, the northern spotted owl
  lives in the Northwestern forest which is listed
  as a threatened species under the Endangered
  Species Act.

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Economic Side

• Thousands of jobs will be lost if the northern
  spotted owl habitat were to be set aside.
• Rural Pacific Northwest did not have a
  diversified economy and the timber industry,
  which was already declining, was their main
  source of revenue.

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Environmental Side

• The old-growth forest is unlike the other forests
  in that it has never been logged because the
  trees dont readily grow back, a natural
  ecosystem unharmed by humans.
• Old-growth forests are a natural treasure to be
  protected and cherished.

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9

• Define environmental ethics and discuss
  distinguishing features of the Western and deep
  ecology worldviews.

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Environmental Ethics

• A field of applied ethics that considers the
  moral basis of environmental responsibility and
  how far the responsibility extends.
• Environmental ethics tries to determine how
  humans should relate to nature.

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The Western Worldview

• This worldview stresses human dominance over
  nature.
• Unrestricted use of natural resources, increased
  economic growth for an expanding human
  population, unlimited consumption of goods and
  services to provide material comforts are factors
  that make up this worldview.

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The Deep Ecology Worldview

• Based on the works of Norwegian philosopher Arne
  Naess.
• This worldview stresses spirituality with nature
  and advocates reducing human population growth
  and replacing technology with simple material
  needs.

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Essay Question

• Describe the details pertaining to the
  establishment of the worlds first national
  parks, including names, locations, and the manner
  in which they were established.

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Essay Answer

• Yellowstone National Park was the worlds first
  national park it was established in 1872 by
  Congress. Yellowstone is located in Idaho,
  Montana, and Wyoming, and includes the canyons
  and falls of the Yellowstone River. Shortly
  after, in 1890, due largely to the efforts of Mr.
  John Muir, Yosemite and the Sequoia National
  Parks were established. They are both located in
  California. In 1906, Congress passed the
  Antiquities Act, which authorized the President
  to put aside sites that had scientific, historic
  or prehistoric significance. By 1916, the US had
  13 National Parks and 20 National Monuments.
  Today, there are 54 National Parks and 72
  National Monuments.

I Hate AP Environment
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Works Cited

• Raven, Peter and Linda Berg. Environment third
  edition. Orlando, Fl Harcourt, 2001