midterm 3329 environmental politics
clean water act 1972 (nixon) and 1977 (jimmy carter)
1972- set national water quality goals, established a national pollution discharge permit system and created federal grants to the states to improve municipal waste treatment plans. nixon said he was an environmentalist but once elected failed to do so. 1977- aided by national revelation of the extensive , buried, toxic waste dump discovered under NY canal, then created CERCLA (superfund)
regulatory policies
"authority over any environmental issues inherently is fragmented among a multitude of gov entities. Regulatory policies, or mandates, limit the discretion of individuals and agencies, or otherwise compel certain types of behavior. These policies are generally thought to be best applied when good behavior can be easily defined and bad behavior can be easily regulated and punished through fines or sanctions. An example of a fairly successful public regulatory policy is that of a highway speed limit. examples- Clean Air Act amendments in 1970 and 1977; the Clean Water Act in 1972 and amended in 1977; the Endangered Species Act in 1973; and the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976. all new federal regulatory programs since 1970 require states to implement them. conflict **** federal and state collaboration can be contentious.
WOTUS
-"Waters of the United States" -Waters such as navigable waters, intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, the use, degradation or destruction of which could affect interstate or foreign commerce
reagan impact
1983: Mass resignation of EPA officials 1983: Extended sovereign control 200 miles off US coast Dismissed acid rain proposals as burdensome to industry Western enviro ethic: pro-development, common-sense CA established CWA and OSHA, but over Reagan's objections lead to an unregulated environment which was heavily polluted. least hands on president, business focused which led to rejection of environmental concerns. didn't care about saving fuel,
permit market 1960 continued
-Pollution permits involve giving firms a legal right to pollute a certain amount e.g. 100 units of Carbon Dioxide per year. -If the firm produces less pollution it can sell its pollution permits to other firms. -However, if it produces more pollution it has to buy permits from other firms or the government. -This creates a market for pollution permits with the price set by demand and supply. -The aim of pollution permits is to provide market incentives for firms to reduce pollution and reduce the external costs associated with it. *** -For example, it is argued carbon dioxide emissions contribute towards global warming. Pollution permits can also be a way for the government to raise revenue, by selling firms these permits to allow pollution.
Environmental protection agency (epa) 1970
-the environmental protection agency was created by richard nixon in 1970, a federal administrative agency created by congress to coordinate the implementation and the enforcement of the federal environmental protection laws MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AIR QUALITY WATER QUALITY AND PROTECTION HAZARDOUS WASTE CHEMICAL REGULATION -Nixon created by executive order of the epa, the largest federal regulatory agency -was created to administer these new laws 1. national environmental policy act of 1969 2. council on environmental quality 3. clean air amendments 4. federal water pollution control act -was made after concerns about pollution and ineffiecency of laws made my welter. ex- stratospheric ozone, which helped provide motivation for the Montreal Protocol, which was agreed to in August 1987. clean air act, federal protection laws,
free rider problem
-the problem faced by interest groups when citizens can reap the benefits of interest group action without actually joining, participating in, or contributing money to such groups. -The free rider problem is common with public goods - goods with non-excludable benefits, e.g. if you reduce pollution, everyone in society will benefit. Once pollution is reduced everyone has to benefit.
first policy making process
1st- policy making is a process that involves a number of related decisions originating from different institutions and actors ranging across the whole domain of the federal government and private institutions. a course of action or inaction rather than a specific decision or action
redistributive policies
A policy requirement whereby the government reallocates the wealth from one group in society to another group. It involves the direct provision of benefits to citizens through social programs such as welfare. The short answer is to move funds collected from mostly one group to benefit another. promote equality ex- Progressive taxation, where tax rates increase as your income increases to help the poor, is another example of a redistributive policy, move money from one federal organization to environmental program. (don't know)
Rachel Carson/Silent Spring (1962)
An American marine biologist wrote in 1962 about her suspicion that the pesticide DDT, by entering the food chain and eventually concentrating in higher animals, caused reproductive dysfunctions. In 1973, DDT was banned in the U.S. except for use in extreme health emergencies.
reagan's impact on the environment 1981
BAD *Reagan dismissed proposals to halt acid rain finding them burdensome to industry.* *The Environmental Protection Agency to make a major budget commitment to reduce acid rain; Reagan rejected the proposal and deemed it as wasteful government spending.* *It was later discovered that the administration was releasing Superfund grants for cleaning up local toxic waste sites to enhance the election prospects of local officials aligned with the Republican Party. Reagan rarely thought about the environment in political terms, however, and did not fear that his popularity would be damaged by environmental issues.[52] In 1986, Reagan removed the solar panels that his predecessor Carter had installed on the roof of the White House's West Wing, citing a damaged roof.[54] "Reagan's political philosophy viewed the free market as the best arbiter of what was good for the country. Corporate self-interest, he felt, would steer the country in the right direction." this hurt the environment
Valuation of non-market goods
Most environmental goods and services, such as clean air and water, and healthy fish and wildlife populations, are not traded in markets. Their economic value -how much people would be willing to pay for them- is not revealed in market prices. The only option for assigning monetary values to them is to rely on non-market valuation methods. Without these value estimates, these resources may be implicitly undervalued and decisions regarding their use and stewardship may not accurately reflect their true value to society.
federalism
The appropriate use of decentralized environmental decisionmaking can have further benefits. In a federal system, state and local governments have the opportunity to introduce new and innovative regulatory measures. They can serve as laboratories in which to conduct experiments that can provide valuable lessons on the potential of new approaches to public policy. Under the Clean Air Act, for example, many state and local governments introduced a variety of emissions-trading systems that both demonstrated their effectiveness and exposed certain problems in their design. I doubt that the United States would have introduced the very successful national cap-and-trade program in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments to control sulfur emissions to reduce acid rain without the invaluable earlier experience with this policy approach at state and local levels.
Permit Market 1960s
The concept of using a permit market to control pollution levels was first developed by Canadian economist John Dales and American economist Thomas Crocker in the 1960s. Through this method, pollution permits are issued to firms in an industry where a reduction in emissions is desired. The permits give each firm the right to produce emissions according to the number of permits it holds. However, the total number of permits issued is limited to the amount of pollution that is allowed throughout the industry. This means that some firms will not be able to pollute as much as they would like, and they will be forced to either reduce emissions or purchase permits from another firm in the industry (see also emissions trading).
earth day
april 1970, nixon was president -big bang of the u.s environmental politics -launching the country on a sweeping social learning curve about ecological management never before experienced or attempted in any other nation almost all major environmental laws appeared after nixon did this political capital, republican.
Policy types - distributive, regulatory, constituent, redistributive
distributive-extend goods and services to members of an organization, as well as distributing the costs of the goods/services amongst the members of the organization. Examples include government policies that impact spending for welfare, public education, highways, and public safety, or a professional organization's benefits plan. example- superfund (15.2 billion) clean up hazardous waste sites -diesel fuel regulations- for school buses, 715 million to implement the regulations -federal storm water runoff- require the district of columbia to spend 1.9 billion to renovate its antiquated sewer system -farming subsidies
environmental protection act
don't know
department of energy 1977
during carter, energy crisis- when 'The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 1973, imposed an embargo on american imports of middle eastern petroleum. The economic shock of the embargo compelled federal gov to regulate domestic petroleum prices and supply, to set energy- efficiency standards for transportation and consumer products, and to create a national energy plan. - DOE which plunged carter to unpopular business of regulating national energy consumption, thus setting the stage for the bitterly advesearial environmetal politics of the 1980s
superfund
during carter, right before energy crisis powerfully aided by national revelation of the extensive, buried, toxic waste dump discovered under the suburban settlement at new yorks love canal, carter was able to collaborate with congress in the creation of superfund. which led to creation of opec.
council on environmental quality 1969
during nixon, created to advise the president on environmental matters, bec of this the clean water act was made, water polution control act
Stringfellow Acid Pits
is a toxic waste dump, and a Superfund site, located in Riverside County, California, United States, just north of the neighborhood of Glen Avon, California.
safe drinking water act 1974
made by nixon authorized the federal government for the first time to set standards protecting the quality of the nations drinking water
Endagered Species Act of 1973
made by nixon, broadened federal authority to protect all endangered and threatened species
concepts to understand and discuss
see below
Checks and Balances
the system of checks and balances disperses power and authority within the federal government among legislative, executive and judicial institutions and thereby sows tenacious institutional rivalries that are repeatedly encountered in discussions of specific environmental laws effective public policy requires that public officials collaborate by discovering strategies to transcend these institutional conflicts.
tragedy of the commons
the tendency of a shared, limited resource to become depleted because people act from self-interest for short-term gain If everyone tries to take advantage and use as much resource as possible, the total pool of resources will become depleted and no one can benefit further. ex-environmental pollution (all business want to be able to pollute)
policy making is a combination of phases
the various phases of policy making affect each other, an important reason why understanding a policy often requires considering the whole developmental pattern. ex- epa had probs when the 'Federal Water Pollution Control Act 1956 arose from congressional failure to define clearly in the law what was meant by a "navigable waterway", to which the legislation explicitely applied. congress tries to create loop holes, also many aspects of environmental policy may occur simultaneously.
Rebound Market 1992
the well-known phenomenon that improving energy efficiency may save less energy than expected due to a rebound of energy use it is the reduction in expected gains from new technologies that increase the efficiency of resource use, because of behavioral or other systemic responses. These responses usually tend to offset the beneficial effects of the new technology or other measures taken. ex- energy efficiency, labor, fuel efficiency. hist- harry saunders studied energy rebound effect and coined the term "Khazzoom-Brookes postulate"
constituent policies
this was intended for farmers two centuries ago and it is still used today for policy making. -checks and balances- disperses power and authority within the federal gov among legislative, executive, and judicial institutions -which causes repeated institutional rivalries to environmental law. -effective public policies requires that public officials collaborate by discovering strategies to transcend these institutional conflicts. Constituent policies create executive power entities, or deal with laws. Constituent policies also deal with Fiscal Policy in some circumstances. Constituent policies create agencies with executive power to work as an agent of the government. For instance, at some point, new departments or agencies were created to deal with taxes, and to administer the Social Security plan. Constituent policy is also concerned with laws, and with fiscal policy, and is responsible for development of new departments, distribution of funds internally, and creating rules for public servants. ex- EPA, department of labor, department of education
3rd policy making style
volatile mixture of politics and science that readily erupts into controversy among politicians, bureaucrats and scientists over their appropriate roles in the process as well as over the proper interpretation and use of scientific data.
2nd policy making process
whether of the legislative, white house, or bureaucratic type- can seldom act without restraint. their discretion is bounded and shaped by many constraints: the constitutional separation of powers, institutional rules and biases, statutory laws, shared understandings about the rules of the game for conflict resolutions. constraints given in policy setting which means the gov can resolve any issue in a predictable style.
