Transcript Document 7379637

Announcements – Dec. 4, 2006
Wednesday - final review
Friday - No class!!
Final - Monday, Dec. 11th, 8am
Honors Projects - due this friday
BBC
Dec. 8, 2004, Buenos Aires
US rejects climate policy attacks
The US has been defending its decision not to take part in
the Kyoto Protocol, just two months before the
international agreement to cut greenhouse gases comes
into force. Senior negotiator Watson was asked “What
has gone wrong with the American way of life to
make it produce twice the emissions of European
economies with similar living standards”. "Nothing
went wrong in the US," Watson said. "We are
blessed with economic growth which implies more
energy use, which typically implies more
emissions.
Environmental Policy
Lecture Objectives:
1. Compare the environmental issues in the 1960’s
& 1970’s with those in the 1980’s-today.
2. What can we learn from our environmental
history, and how can we best fight
environmental problems in the future?
3. Why are both international and individual efforts
necessary to combat environmental problems?
Environmental Policy
Brief Review
 1960’s
and 70’s
Environment, pollution come to
attention of public, government
 Enactment of major laws regulating
pollution
 Begin crackdown on most point sources
of pollution

Major Environmental Laws
National 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)
Regulatory Agencies

EPA - Primary agency with responsibility for
protecting environmental quality.

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Cabinet-level department.
Department of Interior (Natural Resources)

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National Park Service
Bureau of Land Management
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Regulatory Agencies

Department of Agriculture


US Forest Service
Department of Labor

Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA)
Problems in the 1980s

Exxon Valdez oil spill

Thinning ozone layer

Global warming

Acid Rain

Famines in Africa
Environmental Backlash — Wise Use

Argue regulations protecting
environmentally sensitive areas on private
property are unconstitutional “takings.”

Tend to frame complex environmental and
economic issues in simple scapegoating
terms.

Much of the funding from the wise-use
movement from timber, oil and coal
industries, real estate developers and
ranchers
SEIZING PRIVATE PROPERTY
June 23, 2005
A narrowly divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday
that local governments may take possession of
people's homes and businesses against their will for
private development.
US States Fight Back to Protect
Rights of Property Owners
01 December 2006
Thirty-four of the 50 states have passed laws
to limit the use of eminent domain by local
governments.
Local governments in the United States have
always had a constitutional right to seize
private property, with fair payment. This right
is called eminent domain. Eminent domain has
traditionally been limited to the taking of land
for public uses like roads, schools or bridges.
US States Fight Back to Protect
Rights of Property Owners
01 December 2006
On June 23 2005, the Supreme Court gave
local governments the right to take private
property for the purpose of economic
development. That means a homeowner or
business owner could be forced to move not
only for reasons of public use, but also for
private use. Owners could have their property
condemned if officials decide that another
owner could make more money on that
property.
Global Warming Dispute Divides U.S. Supreme Court
Greg Stohr
Nov. 29 (2006)
A divided U.S. Supreme Court wrestled with its first
global warming case, a bid by states and
environmentalists to force the Bush administration
to regulate tailpipe emissions. Several justices, led
by Antonin Scalia and John Roberts, questioned
whether 12 states have the legal right to challenge
an Environmental Protection Agency decision not to
regulate those emissions.
Global Warming Dispute Divides U.S. Supreme Court
Greg Stohr
Nov. 29 (2006)
Roberts, the chief justice, said the states were
``spinning out conjecture on conjecture'' to support
the argument that they would benefit from EPA
rules. Other justices suggested during the hourlong argument in Washington that the agency relied
on impermissible factors in making its decision.
Global Warming Dispute Divides U.S. Supreme Court
Greg Stohr
Nov. 29 (2006)
Justice John Paul Stevens criticized the EPA's
reliance on three National Academy of Sciences
reports for the notion that scientists are unsure
whether so-called greenhouse gases are increasing
the earth's temperature. ``In their selective
quotations, they left out the parts that indicated
there was far less uncertainty than the agency
purported to find,'' Stevens said.
Problems in the 1990s to Today

Over fishing

Climate Change

Invasive Species

Biodiversity Loss

Deforestation

Persistent Organic Pollutants

World Population
Worst states for auto-deer crashes
Insurance surveys find wrecks are up 6%
Nov 14, 2006
Drivers smashing into deer on U.S. roads is an increasing,
costly and dangerous problem, according to an insurance
survey.
About 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions happen each year
in he U.S.
1990s and today

Environmental Issues have become a
major Presidential campaign topic

Many people blame Ralph Nadar, Green Party
for Bush’s win in 2000

86 % of likely voters feel environmental issues
are important when deciding how to vote

Bush vs. Kerry 2004: War, economy biggest
issues but…
“In a tight race the environment could swing
undecideds”
-Brad Knickerbocker, The Christian Science Monitor,
March 25, 2004 edition
We proposed and passed a healthy forest bill
which was essential to working with -- particularly
in Western states -- to make sure that our forests
were protected. What happens in those forests,
because of lousy federal policy, is they grow to be
-- they are not -- they're not harvested. They're not
taken care of. And as a result, they're like
tinderboxes. And over the last summers I've flown
over there. And so, this is a reasonable policy to
protect old stands of trees and at the same time
make sure our forests aren't vulnerable to the
forest fires that have destroyed acres after acres in
the West. We've got a good, common-sense
policy. - G.W Bush
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
New York Times
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2004
The head of the nation's Superfund program says that
fundamental changes in the program may be necessary to
continue cleanups as more contaminated sites demand
attention and federal resources remain flat.
The program's annual cleanup budget = $450 million
355,000 hazardous waste sites require cleanup over the
next three decades, at a cost of up to $250 billion.
The agency's budget for Superfund cleanups has not
changed in the last few years. Since 1995, when Congress
did not renew a special tax on polluters, the cleanup
money has come entirely from taxpayers.
Defining the Future

Will 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

Three aims for future environmental issues:

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Next 50 years, world will be:
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Articulate role of technology
Define roles of all participants
Chart a course with strategic goals
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.
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

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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
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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
Monday, 27 November 2006
Tuna quotas cut as stocks decline
The annual catch of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean
Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean is to be cut by one fifth
in an attempt to conserve dwindling stocks.
The 42-nation International Commission for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) agreed the
quota cut at a meeting.
Conservation groups criticized the scale of the cuts
as "weak, scandalous and inadequate".
Monday, 27 November 2006
Tuna quotas cut as stocks decline
The annual catch of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean
Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean is to be cut by one fifth
in an attempt to conserve dwindling stocks.
Scientific advice prepared for the ICCAT meeting
concluded that catches in the eastern Atlantic and
Mediterranean were about three times above
sustainable levels.
Monday, 27 November 2006
Tuna quotas cut as stocks decline
"This is a collapse plan, not a recovery plan - and a
mockery of the work of scientists."
WWF said EU governments had traded long-term
conservation for short-term commercial interests.
24 November 2006
Ban on 'brutal' fishing blocked
United Nations negotiations on fisheries have ended
without a global ban on trawling methods which
destroy coral reefs and fish nurseries.
Conservation groups and some governments had
argued for a ban on bottom-trawling, which drags
heavy nets and crushing rollers on the sea floor.
Seafood faces collapse by 2048
November 2, 2006
Clambakes, crabcakes, swordfish steaks and even humble
fish sticks could be little more than a fond memory in a few
decades. If current trends of overfishing and pollution
continue, the populations of just about all seafood face
collapse by 2048, a team of ecologists and economists
warns in a report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Individual Choice

Individuals matter

Be an informed
consumer and voter
Hybrid Electric Vehicles 45-70
mpg

Reduce, reuse, recycle
SUV < 20 mpg

Limit use of household
hazardous waste

Proper disposal
What can you do?
Don’t transport exotic species
Landscape with native species
Buy products with minimal packaging
Alter your diet
Use local farmers’ markets
Know the origin of products made with tropical
hardwoods
Buy the most fuel-efficient vehicle for your needs
Drive less -- Use public transportation
Buy 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
Take Action!
Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/
National Resources Defense
Council
The Nature Conservancy
Sierra Club
World Wildlife Fund
http://www.nrdc.org/
http://nature.org/
http://www.sierraclub.org/
http://www.wwf.org/
Take Action!
http://www.iurso.uiuc.edu/
Complete list of RSO
Champaign County Audubon
Society
Earth Doctors
www.web-makers.com/audubon
http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/earthdocs/
Illinois Student Environmental Network
Prairie Rivers Network
Red Bison
Students for Environmental
Concerns
http://www.isenonline.org/
www.prairierivers.org
http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/redbison/
http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/secs/
Points to Know – Dec. 4
1. How did the environmental problems of the
2.
3.
4.
5.
1980’s -today differ from those in the 1960’s &
1970’s?
What was the backlash movement against
environmentalism called? What is their main
rationale?
So far, what has been the approach to
environmentalism? What are the 3 aims for
future environmental issues?
Why is international environmental policy
important? What are the remaining challenges
to global environmental policy?
Why is individual behavior and education crucial
to the environmental health of Earth?