ENVR-1401.P02 Ch. 7 Quiz

Second phase - 1880s-1920

-Conservation ethic -National parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, public lands, Migratory Bird Act (1918) -General Revision Act (1891) Teddy Roosevelt and establishment of national forests, national parks, 1stwildlife refuge (1903), U.S. Forest Service,National Park Service (1916); Conservation and Preservation ethics

First phase - 1780s-1880

-Development ethic, westward expansion -General Land Ordinances (1780s), Homestead Act (1862), General Mining Act (1872), and other laws to move people westward, -Eradication of the bison -Displacement of the Native Americans

Third phase - 1960s-1980

-Pollution, chemical contamination, human health

Toxic Substances Control Act

A 1976 U.S. law that directs the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor thousands of industrial chemicals and gives the EPA authority to regulate and ban substances found to pose excessive risk

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

A 1994 treaty among Canada, Mexico, and the United States that reduced or eliminated barriers to trade (such as tariffs) among these nations. Side agreements were negotiated to minimize the degree to which protections for workers and the environment were undermined.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

A U.S. law enacted on January 1, 1970, that created an agency called the Council on Environmental Quality and required that an environmental impact statement be prepared for any major federal action.

Case Law

A body of law made up of cumulative decisions rendered by courts

External Costs (Externality)

A cost borne by someone not involved in an economic transaction. EX: Harm to Citizens from water pollution or air pollution discharged by nearby factories.

Vested Interest

A direct interest (from an individual or interest group) in some condition or policy change due to the prospect for personal or financial benefit, even if this counteracts the common good

Subsidy

A government grant of money or resources to a private entity, intended to support and promote an industry or activity

Green Taxes

A levy on environmentally harmful activities and products aimed at providing a market-based incentive to correct for market failure

Free Rider

A party that fails to invest in controlling pollution or carrying out other environmentally responsible activities and instead relies on the efforts of other parties to do so. EX: a factory that fails to control its emissions gets a "free ride" on the efforts of other factories that do not make the sacrifices necessary to reduce emissions

Emissions Trading System

A permit trading system for emissions in which a government issues marketable emissions permits to conduct environmentally harmful activities. Under a cap-and-trade system, the government determines an acceptable level of pollution and then issues permits to pollute. A company receives credit for amounts it does not emit and can then sell this credit other companies.

Cap-and-trade

A permit trading system in which government determines an acceptable level of pollution and then issues polluting parties permits to pollute. A company receives credit for amounts it does not emit and can then sell this credit to other companies. A type of emissions trading system.

Hydraulic Fracturing (Hydrofracking, Fracking)

A process to extract shale gas, in which a drill is sent deep underground and angered horizontally into a shale formation; water, sand, and chemicals are pumped in under great pressure, fracturing the rock; and gas migrates p through the drilling pipe as sand holds the fractures open. Boom driven by new technologies in fracturing and horizontal drilling; small explosions and high-pressure injection of water with chemicals and sand fracture the rock and release the oil or gas

CERCLA (Superfund Law)

A program administer by the Environmental Protection Agency in which experts identify sites polluted with hazardous chemicals, protect groundwater near these sites, and clean up the pollution. Established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980.

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

A report of results from detailed studies that assess the potential effects on the environment that would likely result from development projects or other actions undertaken by the government.

Policy

A rule or guideline that directs individual, organizational, or societal behavior

Interest Groups

A small group of people seeking private gain that may work against the larger public interest

Regulations

A specific rule issued by an administrative agency, based not he more broadly written statutory law passed by Congress and enacted by the president

Tort Law

A system of law addressing harm caused by one entity to another, which operates primarily through lawsuits

Command-and-control

A top-down approach to policy, in which a legislative body or a regulating agency sets rules, standards, or limits and threatens punishment for violations of those limits.

Conventions (Treaties)

A treaty or binding agreement among national government

Safe Drinking Water Act

After the Cuyahoga River was fouled with pollution, the EPA set up quality standards for tap water provided by the public water systems, and to work with states to protect drinking water sources from contamination.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

An administrative agency charged with conducting and evaluating research, monitoring environmental quality, setting standards, enforcing those standards, assisting the states in meeting standards and goals for environmental protection, and educating the public.

Earth Day

An event in 1970 that helped to galvanize public support for action to address pollution problems

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

An organization not affiliated with any national government, and frequently international in scope, that pursues a particular mission or advocates for a particular cause.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Congressional legislation (enacted in 1976 and amended in 1984) that specifies among other things, how to manage sanitary landfills to protect against environmental contamination

Soil and Water Conservation Act (1977)

Directs the Department of Agriculture to assess soil and water conditions across the country and to prepare national plans for conservation

Common Resources

Forests Clean Water Clean Air Fisheries Global Climate

Silent Spring

Important environmental book exposed the hazards of using the insecticide DDT written by Rachel Carson. Also made the public aware to ecological and health impacts of pesticides and industrial chemicals.

World Bank

Institution founded in 1944 that serves as one of the globe's largest sources of funding for economic development, including such major projects as dams, irrigation infrastructure, and other undertakings.

Conventional Law

International law that arise from conventions, or treaties, that nations agree to enter into.

Customary Law

International law that arises from long-standing practices, or customs, held in common by most cultures

Montreal Protocol

International treaty ratified in 1987 in which 180 (now 196) signatory nations agreed to restrict production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in order to halt stratospheric ozone depletion. This was a protocol of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The Montreal Protocol is widely considered the most successful effort to date in addressing a global environmental problem. Plan to combat the global ozone hole. The ozone layer in the stratosphere protects us from harmful UV radiation, and this ozone layer had been thinning and a hole had formed in it due to the use of certain chemicals. The Protocol is an international treaty under the United Nations to protect theozone layer and to phaseout ozone depleting chemicals. The ozone hole is closing as a result.

Judicial Branch

Laws are challenged and interpreted

Executive Branch through Federal Agencies

Laws are enforced and implemented

Shale Gas

Natural gas trapped deep underground in tiny bubbles dispersed throughout formations of shale, a type of sedimentary rock. Shale gas is often extracted by hydraulic fracturing.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, that represents multinational corporations and promotes free trade by reducing obstacles to international commerce and enforcing fairness among nations in trading practices.

United Nations (U.N.)

Organization found in 1945 to promote international peace and to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems

Clean Power Plan

Plan to reduce climate change causing emissions. Final rule set in August 2015 by the Obama administration. Sets national limits on carbon pollution from power plants, requires each state to develop their owncustomized plan on how to reach their target. Plan pending judicial review. The new administration has started the process of dismantling the plan.

Public Policy

Policy made by governments, including those at the local, state, federal, and international levels; it consists of legislation, regulations, orders, incentives, and practices intended to advance societal welfare.

European Union (EU)

Political and economic organization formed after World War II to promote Europe's economic and social progress. As of 2013, the EU consisted of 27 member nations.

Polluter-pays principle

Principle specifying that the party responsible for producing pollution should pay the costs of cleaning up the pollution or mitigating its impacts

5th Amendment

Private property cannot be taken by government unless these standards are met: (1) the property must be put to public use, (2) the taking of the property must be through due process, and (3) just compensation must be paid to the original owner.

Environmental Policy

Public policy that pertains to human interactions with the environment. It generally aims to regulate resource use or reduce pollution to promote human welfare and/or protect natural systems.

Clean Water Act

Regulates the discharge of wastes especially from industry, into rivers and streams. It aims to protect wildlife as well as human health, and it established a system for granting permits for the discharge of pollutants. This helped raised public concerns after the fires on Cuyahoga River.

Clean Air Act of 1970

Revision of prior U.S. legislation to control air pollution that set stricter standards for air quality, imposed limits on emissions from new stationary and mobile sources, provide new funds for pollution control research, and enabled citizens to sue parties violating the standards.

Commerce Clause

States that Congress has the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."

Regulatory Taking

The deprivation of a property's owner, by means of a law or regulation, of most or all economic uses of that property.

Lobbying

The expenditure of time or money in an attempt to influence an elected official.

Revolving Door

The movement of powerful officials between the private sector and government agencies

Legislation

The only branch of government that can make environmental laws. Statutory law.

Permit Trading

The practice of buying and selling government-issued marketable emissions permits to conduct environmentally harmful activities. Under a cap-and-trade system, the government determines an acceptable level of pollution and then issues permits to pollute. A company receives credit for amounts it does not emit and can then sell this credit to other companies.

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

The primary legislation, enacted in 1973, for protecting biodiversity in the United States. It forbids the government and private citizens from taking actions (such as developing land) that would destroy endangered species or their habitats, and it prohibits trade in products made from endangered species.

Tragedy of the Commons

The process by which publicly accessible resources open to unregulated use tend to become damaged and depleted through overuse. Coined by Garrett Hardin

Cuyahoga River Fire

The river is famous for having been so polluted that it "caught fire" in 1969. Help spurred the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Statutory Law

The written law established by enactments expressing the will of the legislature, as distinguished from the unwritten law or common law.

Clean Air Act of 1990

U.S. legislation that strengthened regulations pertaining to air quality standards, auto emissions, toxic air pollution, acid deposition, and depletion of the ozone layer, while also introducing market-based incentives to reduce pollution

Potential Problems with Fracking

groundwater contamination from fracking fluid; groundwater contamination from shale gas; air pollution (methane, benzene); water usage wastewater disposal -dumping, leaking from storage pits, groundwater contamination and earthquakes from injection wells truck traffic, noise, odors, exposure to toxic chemicals