Environmental policy

1
Environmental policy

• By Bernadette Diodati, Christina Leinmiller, and
  Alexandra Thomas

2
Environmental Policy Leaders

• Rachel Carson
• She has been called the founder of the
  environmentalist movement in the U.S.
• She wrote Silent Spring in 1962 which informed
  the public of chemical pollution, especially DDT,
  a chemical used by farmers.
• In her book, she used many example of people
  getting sick and animals dying due to the
  pesticides that were being used. As a result of
  Silent Spring the DDT was banned.

3
President Nixons Contributions

• President Nixon
• Created the EPA in 1970
• During his presidency he wanted to expand the
  spending on the environment, and stated during
  his State of Union speech that he wanted 10
  billion to clean up the nations waters
• Made 36 environmental proposals and started the
  first earth week April 1971

4
President Nixon

• Signed these acts, the Coastal Zone Management
  Act, the Ocean Dumping Act, the Marine Mammal
  Protection Act, the Federal Insecticide and the
  Toxic Substances Control Act, in order to help
  the environment and enact more policies to help
  ensure the protection, preservation and
  conservation of the environment.

5
President Clinton Contribution

• Bill Clinton
• He used executive orders to create 17 new
  national monuments, preserved 4.6 million
  acres, increased protection for wetlands and
  forests and finalized a rule that prevented roads
  from being built on more than 60 million acres of
  national forests.

6
Bill Clinton

• He expanded the environment spending by 50 to
  more than 3 billion in order to research and
  develop clean energy technologies. He also
  strengthened the Drinking Water Act, advanced
  cleanup of Superfund sites, and bolstered the
  EPA's ability to go after.

7
More Leaders

• Al Gore
• He tried to educate people on the climate changes
  and as vice president tried to limit the carbon
  dioxide emissions.
• He started the World Environmental Policy Act of
  1989.

8

• Bruce Babbitt
• He was the speaker for The Environment, Climate
  Change, and Land Policies, a conference that
  included things such as climate change impacts ,
  rising sea levels, and river basin flooding.
•  He is the president of the conservation league
  which wanted to bring wolves to Yellowstone and
  Idaho, introduce Elk into arid regions , convince
  green bureaucrats to carry out policy
  activities on public lands, close thousands of
  miles of roads, catalogue endangered species and
  fund for the Wildlands project.

9
Environmental Acts Laws

• Clean Water Act (1948)
• Was created in efforts to have clean,
  non-polluted water
• Under this act, discharging any pollutant from a
  point source into navigable waters , unless a
  permit is obtained, is unlawful
• Superfund Law
• Enacted to clean up toxic waste dumps
• Clean Air Act (1970)
• 10 million tons of sulfur dioxide is required to
  be reduced

10

• Endangered Species Act (1973)
• Forbids buying or selling an animal or plant that
  is regarded as in endangered
• As a result to this act, others have been
  implemented to further protect endangered
  species. An example of another act is Marine
  Mammal Protection Act prohibits, with certain
  exceptions, the take of marine mammals in U.S.
  waters and by U.S. citizens, and the importation
  of marine mammals and marine mammal products into
  the U.S..
• Water Quality Improvement Act (1965)
• Restore and keep water free from chemicals and
  other substances out of the nations waters.

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• Coastal Zone Management Act (1972)
• provides for management of the coastal resources,
  including the Great Lakes, and balances economic
  development with environmental conservation
• National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
• Federal agencies are required to be involved in
  environmental decision making.
• In order to meet the NEPA requirements, federal
  agencies prepare an Environmental Impact States,

12
Congressional Committees

• Subcommittee on Energy and Power
• They are a committee focused on national energy
  policy , fossil and renewable energy resources
  and synthetic fuels energy conservation, energy
  information, energy regulation and utilization,
  issues and regulation of nuclear facilities,
  interstate energy compacts, and nuclear energy
  and waste.

13
Congressional Committees

• National Conference of State Legislatures
• Governance
• Jeff Morris
• This committee is in charge of state and federal
  natural resources legislation, regulations and
  policies. They educate Congress and federal
  agencies on the concerns and issues
• They are also to serves as a forum for
  legislators and legislative staff and to inform
  and share information about options being
  considered in other states.

14
Congressional Committees

• Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
• Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and
  Environmental Health
• Max Baucus and John Barrasso
• This committee is focused on superfund law,
  Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
  which includes recycling, interstate waste, Toxic
  Substances Control Act (TSCA), Emergency Planning
  and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), Chemical
  Safety Board, Persistent Organic Pollutants
  (POPs), and Environmental Justice and Risk
  Assessment.

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Other Congressional Committees

• Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, and
  Regulated Agencies
• Subcommittee on Environment and Economy
• Subcommittee on International Development and
  Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and
  International Environmental Protection
• Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
• Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Established by President Nixon
• Sets national air quality standards, states must
  develop plans to attain them and if not the
  federal government will.
• Regarding toxic wastes the EPA is to clean up
  abandoned dump sites with money raised by a tax
  on the chemical and petroleum industries and from
  general revenues.

17
Goals of EPA

• The EPA had three main goals
• Eliminate all pollutants entering waterways by
  1985
• Cut auto emissions by 90 within 5 years
• Eliminate smog in all cities
• In order to reach these goals they had to extend
  their deadlines.
• Budget for 2010 10.5 billion

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Extension of Deadlines

• Offsets if a company wants to open a new plant
  in an area with polluted air, it can do so if the
  pollution it generates is offset by a reduction
  in pollution from another source in that area. To
  achieve that reduction, the new company may buy
  an existing company and close it down
• Bubble standard a bubble is the total amount of
  air pollution that can come from a given factory.

19
Extension

• Pollution allowances (or banks) if a company
  reduces its polluting emissions by more than the
  law requires, it can either use this excess to
  cover a future plant expansion or sell it to
  another company as an offset.

20
Interest Groups/Agencies

• Environmental Working Group (1993)
• David Baker
• Helping human from toxicity of the world
• Try to replace federal policies, including
  government subsidies that damage the environment
  and natural resources
• National Resources Defense Council (1970)
• Frances Beinecke
• Control global warming, restore the Worlds
  Oceans, defend endangered wildlife and preserve
  wild places, prevent pollution, ensure safe water

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• National Wildlife Federation (1996)
• Larry Schweiger
• To encourage protection of waters, wildlife,
  forest and field, to restore and rehabilitate
  wildlife environment, To seek more intensive
  education of the public in recognizing resource
  conservation to recognize and promote hunting and
  fishing as essential tools of wildlife
  management

22

• Earthworks
• Jennifer Krill
• Oil and Gas Accountability Project works with
  communities to protect their homes against
  impacts of oil and gas
• Other campaigns that Earthworks is promoting
  include the following No dirty gold, Recycle my
  cell phone, no dirty energy, and mining reform
  campaign

23

• Powder River Basin Resource Council
• Kevin Lind
• This group is currently only in Wyoming and is
  committed to the preservation and enrichment of
  Wyoming's agricultural heritage, conservation of
  Wyoming's unique land, minerals, water, and clean
  air resources.

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• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Steven Chu
• Established under President Carter in 1977
• Created to bring energy into homes and businesses
  and to research
• The DOE has eight program offices and then
  sub-offices that all specialize in the research
  of different areas of the environment and
  specialize in energy research
• Budget for 2010 26.4 Billion

25

• Sierra Club
• Founded by John Muir and the current president is
  Robert Mann
• A grassroot interest group that has been around
  since 1892, protecting our environment by
  limiting greenhouse emissions, going green on
  transportation, rebuilding America with high
  performance homes and buildings, and protecting
  wildlife.

26
Supreme Court Cases

• Massachusetts V. EPA
• Several states including Massachusetts petitioned
  the EPA asking them to regulate emissions of
  carbon dioxide from motor vehicles. Massachusetts
  argued that the EPA under the Clean Air Act was
  required to. The EPA denied their petition saying
  the Clean Air Act did not authorize the agency to
  regulate the greenhouse gases.

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Massachusetts V. EPA Cont.

• Questions answered during the case
• May the EPA decline to issue emission standards
  for motor vehicles based on policy considerations
  not enumerated in the Clean Air Act? No
• Does the Clean Air Act give the EPA authority to
  regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
  gases? Yes
• Massachusetts Won this case.

28
Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corporation

• An amendment to the Clean Air Act stated that in
  order to make modifications to a company, it
  would have to obtain permits. Duke Energy
  Corporation made twenty-nine improvements to
  their company without having permits which is a
  violation under the Clean Air Act and Prevention
  of Significant Deterioration (PSD).

29
Environmental Defense V. Duke

• Duke then pointed out that a PSD regulation
  explicitly defining "modification" for purposes
  of PSD as any change that increases the hourly
  rate of emissions from a facility. Duke's
  improvements increased the number of hours the
  plants remained open, and therefore also
  increased the total annual emissions from the
  plants. But since the improvements left the
  hourly rate of emissions unchanged, Duke argued
  that it did not have to obtain PSD permits.

30
Environmental Defense Won!

• Question
• Does the Clean Air Act require the EPA to
  interpret the term "modification" consistently in
  its Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD)
  provisions and New Source Performance Standards
  (NSPS) regulations? No

31
Chevron USA V. National Resource Defense Council,
Inc

• An amendment was added to the Clean Air Act
  requiring the nonattainment States to establish
  a permit program regulating new or modified
  major stationary sources of air pollution,
  pursuant to stringent conditions,

32

• Question
• Was EPAs decision to allow States to treat all
  pollution-emitting devices within the same
  industry grouping as though within a single
  bubble based on a reasonable construction of
  the statutory term stationary source? Yes
• Chevron was a landmark case (outcome of a legal
  case that establishes a precedent) that advocated
  giving agencies deference for their reasonable
  policy-making decisions.

33
Entrepreneurial Policy

• Created the environmental movement and Earth Day
  on April 22, 1970, to celebrate the beginning of
  this movement
• Congress decided to toughen up on laws such as
  the Clean Air Act.
• Passed the Water Quality Act. 2 years later
  passed laws to clean up the water. 3 years later
  adopted the Endangered Species Act
• Not all environmental policies are supported.
• Example Global Warming
• As with most kinds of entrepreneurial politics,
  global warming has resulted in a conflict among
  elites who after base their arguments on ideology
  as much as on facts.
• Influenced by the publics demands along with the
  support of the media. Eventually people will give
  in and realize things need to be changed .

34
Majoritarian Policy

• Mainly concerned with the Clean Air Act (1970)
• A provision that required states to develop
  land-use and transportation rules to help attain
  air quality standards moved this issue from
  entrepreneurial politics into majoritarian.
• When the public believes that they are not paying
  a high price and believes that it is gaining a
  large benefit, support for laws is high.

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Cont.

• Support is low when the majority of the public
  believes that they are paying a lot for a small
  benefit
• Example gasoline taxes go towards supporting
  non-cash benefits such as cleaner air and less
  congestion, but since people cannot see these
  changes they are skeptical of paying for the
  cause

36
Client Policy

• Farmers are typically very successful with client
  politics
• They have used client politics to protect the use
  of pesticides even though they political
  atmosphere favors the environment over
  pesticides, there is no convincing evidence that
  they cause cancer, which is the main argument
  against the use of them.
• Client politics benefit a small group even
  though many people pay

37
Interest Group Policy

• Interest group politics often lacks the moral
  fervor of entrepreneurial politics and rarely
  taps the deep streams of public opinion that are
  reflected in majoritarian politics.
• Interest groups are concerned with a specific
  topic and they want to get policies created that
  fix these problems
• Example Acid rain steel mills and electric
  power plants burn high-sulfur coal, and the fumes
  from this are released from the smokestacks and
  then they are loose in the air. When they are
  picked up by falling rain, it becomes acidic,
  which is harmful to the environment
• Public interest groups, since they are typically
  small, compete with one another for publicity and
  money

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VIDEO!!!

• http//www.whitehouse.gov/video/Green-Jobs-for-a-G
  reen-Future

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Works Cited

• "Board of Directors - Sierra Club." Sierra Club
  Home Page Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet.
  Web. 18 Feb. 2011. http//www.sierraclub.org/bod/.
   
• Environmental Defense V. Duke Energy
  Corporation Web. 18 Feb 2011.
  http//www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_8
  48
• Chu, Steven, and Rachel Van Dongen. "Why It
  Matters." Who Runs GOV. The Washington POst, 10
  Nov. 2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. lthttp//www.whorunsg
  ov.com/Institutions/energygt.
• "Congressional Budget Office - Climate Change."
  Congressional Budget Office - Home Page. Web. 18
  Feb. 2011. lthttp//www.cbo.gov/publications/collec
  tions/collections.cfm?collect9gt.
• "Environmental Policy of the United States."
  Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 18 Feb.
  2011. lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_
  policy_of_the_United_Statesgt.

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• Hoff, Joan. "Nixon Era Center Library." The Nixon
  Era Center from Mountain State University. Web.
  18 Feb. 2011. lthttp//www.nixonera.com/library/dom
  estic.aspgt.
• Howard, Brian Clark. "Green Presidents -
  Environmental Presidents - The Daily Green."
  Going Green, Fuel Efficiency, Organic Food, and
  Green Living - The Daily Green. Web. 18 Feb.
  2011. lthttp//www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-
  news/latest/greenest-presidents-460808gt.
• "Learn the Issues US EPA." US Environmental
  Protection Agency. Web. 17 Feb. 2011.
  lthttp//www.epa.gov/epahome/learn.htmwatergt.
• Massachusetts V. EPA Web. 18 Feb
  2011.http//www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006
  _05_848

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• "National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
  Compliance and Enforcement US EPA." US
  Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 18 Feb.
  2011. lthttp//www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/gt.
• "On a Mission from God Bruce Babbitt and the
  Environmental Movement." The Moral Liberal. Web.
  18 Feb. 2011. lthttp//www.themoralliberal.com/2010
  /07/24/11063gt.
• "Summary of CWA Laws Regulations US EPA."
  US Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 18 Feb.
  2011. lthttp//www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwa.htmlgt.
  
• "Washingtonpost.com Politics -- The
  Administration, Bruce Babbitt." Washington Post -
  Politics, National, World D.C. Area News and
  Headlines - Washingtonpost.com. Web. 18 Feb.
  2011. lthttp//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politi
  cs/govt/admin/babbitt.htmgt.
• http//www.eoearth.org/article/Rachel_Carson's_env
  ironmental_ethics