Announcements – May 4, 2011

Final exam, Monday, May 9, 1:30pm

Environmental Policy

Lecture Objectives:

1. What is the history of environmental policy in the U.S.?

2. What role did Kepone play in environmental policy?

3. What does the Endangered Species Act do?

Development of Policy

Policy - general principles by which the branches of government guide management of public affairs

Congress passes legislation in form of acts and statutes to guide or regulate behavior

Development of Policy

Types of regulatory approaches: Prevention: ban production/activity, limit output,

technology requirement

Discourage: taxes on undesirable products, liability for products/services, public disclosure

Encourage: subsidies for alternatives, tradeable permits

http://thomas.loc.gov/

History of Environmental Policy

Prior to 1960’s, no set Environmental Policy in U.S.

Federal agencies, industries, businesses, and individuals did not have to consider the environmental impacts of their actions

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Cornerstone of U.S. Policy(Signed into law by Nixon in 1970)

1. Authorizes the Council on Environmental Quality(the oversight board for general environmental conditions)

2. Directs federal agencies to take environmentalinto account in decision making.

3. Requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) forevery major federal project that may impact environment.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969

Requires: federal agencies to consider environmental

consequences of actions produces publicly reviewable document on this analysis:

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Created Council on Environmental Quality

advises president, can issue regulations for federal agency compliance with NEPA

NEPANEPA’s strength: EIS requirement

Revolutionary “stop and think” strategy prevents tunnel vision by agencies

Emulated by 25 states and 80 countries

Major Environmental LawsNational Environmental Policy Act (1969)

Clean Air Act (1970)

Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (1972)

Endangered Species Act (1973)

Clean Water Act (1977)

Hazardous Waste Regulation (RCRA 1976)

Improvement in Air Quality

4/5 primary air pollutants decreased since 1970Nitrogen oxides per vehicle down, but overall emissions increased due to larger number of carsLead emissions way down after switch to unleaded gasoline

Regulatory AgenciesEnvironmental Protection Agency – Primary agency with responsibility for protecting environmental quality.

Cabinet-level department.

Department of Interior (Natural Resources) National Park Service Bureau of Land Management US Fish and Wildlife Service

Department of Agriculture US Forest Service

Department of Labor Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA)

The Environmental Protection Agency

Develop and enforce regulations

Offer financial assistanceresearch grants, environmental education,environmental programs

Perform environmental research

Sponsor voluntary partnerships and programs

Further environmental education

Early Environmental Law: Kepone

Illustrates many of reasons why environmental laws are necessary

workplace health, air and water quality, consumer exposure to hazardous chemicals

1958 - Allied Chemical plants produced pesticide known as Kepone

Company tested for toxicity – highly toxic to both rats and mice

caused cancer, liver damage, reproductive failure, inhibition of growth and muscle coordination

Kepone

Started commercial production in VA anyway

From 1966 to 1973 wastes were discharged directly into the James River

Later, into municipal sewer system

Kepone

Numerous Health impacts on humans causes tremors, liver dysfunction, affects

reproductive system 1975 - Doctor in Hopewell, VA made connection,

reported 75 cases of acute Kepone poisoning

Led to findings of serious contamination in nearby land, water

one hundred miles of James River, portions of Chesapeake Bay closed to fishing in 1975

KeponeVariety of lawsuits against Allied

plant workers, EPA, fishermen, etc. 10,500 plaintiffs suing for $85 billion Actual settlements unknown

stipulation for out of court settlement was not to divulge settlement amount

estimates are around $30 million

Why did they get away with it for so long? Lack of enforcement mechanisms Plant located in poor area

Case led to Clean Water Act of 1977

Endangered Species Act

1973, 1982, 1895, 1988, 1995

Example of “roadblock” statute very clear, unambiguous prohibition

Revolutionary 1st piece of legislation anywhere to seriously protect

endangered species

A number of striking success stories bald eagle, American alligator, grey wolf

Three pronged approach:1. Bans import and sale of endangered species or products

2. Prohibits “taking” of any endangered species

Cannot kill or capture endangered species

Includes habitat modification and degradation

3. Prohibits federal agency programs and projects that harm endangered species

Endangered Species Act

Why protect species?Canaries in coal mineMoral / Ethical responsibility Potential resources

“They are keys to puzzles which we cannot yet solve, and may provide answers to questions we have not yet learned to ask.” - House Resolution

Considerable backlash against ESAInterferes with land development, no obvious human importance

Endangered Species Act

Tellico Dam CaseTennessee Valley Authority & business groups vs. citizens group including:

farmers archaeologists Cherokee Indians

Battle over construction of dam on Little Tennessee River

1960s-1980s

Tellico DamTVA argued dam would provide recreation, promote industrial development

Citizens groups: 300 farm families in valley, used by fishermen and canoeists, sacred to Cherokees

Found endangered fish: snail darter

Project stopped by ESA’s roadblock statute

Supreme Court halts construction, reaction led to creation of “God Squad”

Committee that can declare exceptions to ESA in favor of economics

Had hearings on Tellico Developed own plan for development, showed existing

plan for dam seriously flawed

Request for exemption unanimously declined “I hate to see the snail darter get the credit for stopping a

project that was ill-conceived and uneconomic in the first place.”

Tellico Dam

Tennessee Senator - slipped rider on appropriations bill

Done at last minute, bill never read aloud Made Tellico Dam Project exempt from ESA

Cherokees filed new lawsuit, was denied

Dam completed

No more snail darter in valley Later, other small populations found

No industrial, little economic development

Tellico Dam

New York Times

Interior Official and Federal BiologistsClash on Danger to BirdDecember 5, 2004The scientific opinions of a Bush administration appointee at the Interior Department with no background in wildlife biology were provided as part of the source material for the panel of Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and managers who recommended against giving the greater sage grouse protection under the endangered species act. The appointee, Julie MacDonald, a senior policymaker, criticized studies showing widespread loss of grouse territory and sporadic declines in grouse populations. The sage grouse, whose habitat overlaps areas of likely oil and gas deposits across states like Wyoming and Montana, would likely become an economic headache to the energy and cattle industries if it were listed. Ms. MacDonald's critique of sage grouse biology and the biologists who work for an agency she oversees showed flashes of her strong property-rights background and her deference to industry views.

No Endangered Status for Plains Bird

By JOHN M. BRODERPublished: March 5, 2010

WASHINGTON — The Interior Department said Friday that the greater sage grouse, a dweller of the high plains of the American West, was facing extinction but would not be designated an endangered species for now. As a compromise measure, the bird will be placed on the list of “candidate species” for future inclusion on the list and its status will be reviewed yearly.

Yet the decision in essence reverses a 2004 determination by the Bush administration that the sage grouse did not need protection, a decision that a federal court later ruled was tainted by political tampering with the Interior Department’s scientific conclusions.

No Endangered Status for Plains Bird

By JOHN M. BRODERPublished: March 5, 2010

A group of lawmakers from Western states had strongly urged to keep the sage grouse off the endangered species list, saying that the states had made significant progress in protecting its habitat. They said adding the bird to the list would hurt ranchers and energy producers who need access to sagebrush-covered lands that would be off limits under the listing.

“Today’s unnecessary federal designation is one more on a growing list of examples that ,” Representative Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, said Friday.

Representative Jason Chaffetz, another Utah Republican, has been more pungent in his opinion. “The only good place for a sage grouse to be listed is on the menu of a French bistro,” he said recently. “It does not deserve federal protection, period.”

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama on Tuesday overturned a last-minute Bush administration regulation that many environmentalists claim weakened the Endangered Species Act.

The regulation, issued a few weeks before George W. Bush left office, made it easier for federal agencies to skip consultations with government scientists before launching projects that could affect endangered wildlife.

By overturning the regulation, Obama said during an enthusiastic reception at the Interior Department, he had restored "the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, a process undermined by past administrations."

March 3, 2009

Obama overturns Bush endangered species rule

Congress, in a First, Removes an Animal From the Endangered Species ListApril 12, 2011

Congress for the first time is directly intervening in the Endangered Species List and removing an animal from it, establishing a precedent for political influence over the list that has outraged environmental groups.

A rider to the Congressional budget measure agreed to last weekend dictates that wolves in Montana and Idaho be taken off the endangered species list and managed instead by state wildlife agencies, which is in direct opposition to a federal judge’s recent decision forbidding the Interior Department to take such an action

Problems Today

Over fishing

Climate Change

Invasive Species

Biodiversity Loss

Fossil fuels use and energy

Persistent Organic Pollutants

World Population Growth

Learning From the Past

Most developed countries have engaged in crisis management.

EPA focuses almost exclusively on past and present problems

has ignored anticipated problems yet to arise

Defining the FutureWill we move from clean up and control to assessment, anticipation, and avoidance?

Much depends on public opinion

Environmental quality is largely a function of behavior of individuals.

Extent of environmental awareness important key Tree sitter Julia

"Butterfly" Hill

Defining the Future

Four aims for future environmental issues: Articulate role of technology Define roles of all participants Chart a course with strategic goals Education!!

Next 50 years, world will be: more crowded more connected more consuming

Should we make changes now?

Greening of Geopolitics

Environmental “Green” politics becoming more mainstream around world.

Ecological degradation in any nation is now understood almost inevitably to impinge on quality of life in others.

Most formidable obstacle may be entrenched economic and political interests of the world’s most advanced nations.

Where does the money go?

Where does the money go?

International Environmental Policy

Over 150 global environmental treaties negotiated since start of 20th century.

At least 500 bilateral agreements in effect dealing with cross-border environmental issues.

Successful Efforts 1961: Antarctic Treaty 1979: Convention on Long Range Trans-Boundary Air

Pollution 1987: Montreal Protocol 2004: Kyoyto Protocol?

International Environmental Policy

Remaining challenges to global environmental policy

Competing Interests Unable to address whole issues No international legislature with authority to

pass laws International court at the Hague in the

Netherlands has no power to enforce decisions

“Tragedy of the commons”

Individual Choice

Individuals matter

Be an informed consumer and voter

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Limit use of household hazardous waste

Proper disposal

Hybrid Electric Vehicles 45-70 mpg

SUV < 20 mpg

What can you do?Don’t transport exotic speciesLandscape with native plantsBuy products with minimal packagingAlter your diet – use local farmers’ marketsKnow the origin of productsBuy the most fuel-efficient vehicle for your needsDrive less -- Use public transportationBuy energy-efficient appliances

Conserve energy: turn off lights, use compact fluorescent bulbs, adjust your thermostat

Conserve water: Fix leaks, turn off water, run appliances only when full

http://www.sierraclub.org/

Take Action!

Sierra Club

World Wildlife Fund

National Resources Defense Councilhttp://www.nrdc.org/

The Nature Conservancy

Greenpeace

http://nature.org/

http://www.wwf.org/

http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/

Take Action!

http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/earthdocs/Earth Doctors

Complete list of RSO http://www.iurso.uiuc.edu/

Champaign County Audubon Society www.web-makers.com/audubon

Prairie Rivers Network www.prairierivers.org

Red Bison

Students for Environmental Concerns

http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/secs/

http://www.isenonline.org/Illinois Student Environmental Network

http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/redbison/

Points to Know (1of 2)

1) What does it mean to have a governmental policy? What 3 approaches can the government use to regulate behavior?

2) What does the National Environmental Policy Act do? What is it’s major strength?

3) What is Kepone? Why did it lead to the Clean Water Act of 1977?

4) Why was/is the Endangered Species Act considered revolutionary and controversial?

5) What is the “God Squad,” how did they rule in the Tellico Dam case, and what was the final outcome?

Points to Know (2 of 2) 1. Why is international environmental policy important?

What are the remaining challenges to global environmental policy?

2. Why is individual behavior and education crucial to the environmental health of Earth?

3. What are the four aims for future environmental issues: