Environmental Policy (NR 602) Midterm Key Terms questions with 100% correct answers + rationales -Chamberlain

Public Interest

Collective goals - public and private self

Environmental Policy

government action/inaction that affects or tries to affect environmental quality or the use of natural resources

Who Creates Environmental Policy?

All 3 branches of government

Role of the Legislative in EP

Make laws and provide funds to programs

Role of the Judicial Branch in EP

Oversee court processes and issue court decisions

Role of the Executive Branch in EP

Set standards/Regulations/Sanctions (ex. cap on carbon emissions), Provide incentives

Gifford Pinchot

Forester and advocate of conservationist (use) viewpoint that supported the building of the Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite National Park and was the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service

John Muir

Naturalist and advocate of preservationist (leaving lands in their natural state) viewpoint that fought against the construction of the Hetch Hetchy dam and co-founded the Sierra Club

Aldo Leopold

Naturalist and author of a Sand County Almanac. He disapproved of efforts to eliminate predators like wolves from ecosystems and worked to the establish the Gila National Forest (First Wilderness Area in the U.S.)

Public Trust Doctrine

It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to protect certain natural resources for the benefit of the people

The Tragedy of the Commons

Developed by Garrett Hardin - Humans will selfishly rush to use a resource for fear that others will beat them to it (they will act in their own self interest), and if every does this, then the resource will eventually become used up

Common Pool Resource

goods that are available to everyone, such as open ocean fisheries; it is difficult to exclude anyone from using the common pool, but one user's consumption reduces the amount available for others

Conservation

An ideology that supports human use of natural resources to "benefit the greatest number of people for the longest time" and whose goal is to use/develop ways to use natural resources sustainably

Preservation

An ideology that supports protecting natural lands from human impact/use and whose goal is to minimize human impacts in nature

Criticisms of Hardin/his "Tragedy of the Commons"

Hardin was Racist/Nativist/Against Immigration - believed in the value of some lives over others

LIfeboat Ethics - limit immigration, sterilization, non-white women should limit reproduction

Hardin was cynical - believed that all humans were selfish/rejected UN Declaration of Human Rights

His idea of the commons was historically inaccurate

What role does the government play in protecting the public interest?

Controlling factions that work against the public interest

(Madison's Federalist Paper #10)

The public interest is an abstract concept, so it is the job of the government to define it through policy decisions

Hetch Hetchy Valley Controversy

In the nineteenth century (1913), the city of San Francisco wanted to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley, located in Yosemite National Park, in order to provide the city's residents with a consistent supply of water. This proposal created a conflict between the conservationist (Pinchot) and preservationist (Muir) viewpoints, but the conservationist viewpoint one, the bill passed, and the dam was built.

The Administrative Procedure Act (1946)

Act that governs how a federal agency proposes and issues rules/legislation/policies

Wilderness Act of 1964

Established the National Wilderness Preservation System "For the good of the whole people, and other purposes"

According to this act, "a wilderness areas" meets the following guidelines:

1. Left in its natural state with little human impact or influence

2. Provides opportunities for public recreation

3. Has at least 5,000 acres of land

4.Features of specific interest (historical, scientific, geological, ecological, scenic, etc.)

Organic Act of 1916

Established the National Park Service and laid out the following goals for it:

1. Preserve land and wildlife

2. Provide for the enjoyment of current and future generations

4 Goals of the Administrative Procedure Act (1946)

1. Make proposed rule and final decision public information via the federal register and explain decision-making process

2. Public can participate in policy process (public comments in the federal register)

3. Uniform standards for rule-making across agencies

4. Agency must be open to outside feedback on policy procedures/decisions via judicial review and can also use their own scientific expertise to evaluate themselves

Agenda Setting

How issues rise to the political agenda and demand government attention/action

The Four Methods For Agenda Setting

1. Scientific Research

2. Framing of the Issue - making the issue something that the public can understand/relate to by translating scientific research into stories, what will the consequences be if the issue is not addressed?

3. Focusing events (ex. oil spill, chemicals plant explosion, etc.)

4. Rising Saliency - when rising public concern about the issue causes politicians/policymakers to act

Policy Stream

Problem Stream

Political Stream

What was the problem with the original idea of "wilderness"/"wilderness preservation"?

White supremacist idea - goal was to "preserve the nordic frontier" which meant that lands were preserved and stewarded for white Americans and that other groups were excluded from conservation efforts

Steps of the policy making process

Rachel Carson

Biologist who was a staunch environmental advocate and brought the issue of the environmental impacts of DDT to the forefront.

Silent Spring

A book by Rachel Carson in which she explains that a pesticide called DDT (which has been thought to kill mosquitos that carry malaria) when sprayed on crops to control pests, washes into bodies of water and their harmful effects move up the food chain, ultimately affecting humans (specific ex. when bald eagles ate fish contaminated with DDT, their eggs would become soft and brake during incubation, causing the death of chicks)

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

A federal agency that works to protect the environment and human health

The EPA's Mission and They Do

Their overall mission is to protect human health and the environment. Their other, more specific goals are to ensure that Americans have clean air, water, and land; that policies regarding the environment are based on scientific research, that federal laws regarding natural resources and environmental protection are enforced fairly and effectively, that environmental stewardship is integrated into other U.S. policies, all citizens have access to information that gives them the ability to advocate for environmental and human health, toxic waste sites are cleaned-up, and that chemicals to be sold to consumers are reviewed for safety.

To fullfill this mission, they conduct research on environmental issues, give grants to programs/organizations/institutions working on environmental issues, publish written information about their work, work with others (buisinesss, non-profits, state and local governments), and educating people about the environment

NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act - 1970)

Environmental legislation signed into law by President Nixon in 1970 that created a process used by all federal agencies to evaluate whether a proposed action has an significant environmental impacts

Superfund Act (CERCLA) (1980)

Environmental legislation enacted in 1980 that dealt with the clean-up of toxic waste sites, placed a tax on the petroleum and chemical industries, and created a trust fund to fund clean-up of sites when polluter could not be identified

Clean Air Act (1970)

Clean Water Act (1972)

EIS (Environmental Impact Statement)

Component of the NEPA process - prepared when the proposed action is found to have significant environmental impacts

Includes:

1. Summary

2. Need for proposed action

3. Alternatives to proposed action including "no action"

4. Environmental consequences of action and alternatives

FONSI

Finding of No Significant Impact - prepared when an EA finds that an action will have no significant environmental impacts

Federal Register

Regulatory Approach/Command and Control (feature of First Generation of Environmental Policy)

The federal government can set nation-wde standards that limit the use of a certain pollutants that polluters and resource users dare encouraged /compelled to follow

Environmental Justice

Precautionary principle ("Look before you leap")

Council on Environmental Quality

Categorical Exclusion (CE)

Component of the NEPA process - When an action proposed by a federal agency has been found not to have significant environmental impacts (listed as such)

Enviironmental Impact Assentment (EA)

Component of the NEPA process - implemented when the agency is not sure if there are significant environmental impacts or not (leads to either an EIS or a FONSI based on their findings)

NOI (Notice of Intent)

Component of the NEPA process involving EIS - Written statement in the federal register which informs the public of the agency's intent to create an EIS on the proposed action. Summarizes the proposal and provides alternatives

Scoping

Component of the NEPA process involving an EIS - process in which the agency determines the scope of the issues to covered in an EIS. Involves identifying significant and non-significant issues and actions to be taken (could be "no action")

ROD (Record of Decisions)

Component of the NEPA process involving an EIS - A document available for public view (on federal register or agency website) which states the decision, any alternatives considered, and discusses any mitigation plans (enforcement and monitoring)

Garrett Hardin

Eleanor Ostrom and her critique of Hardin

Polluter pays principle (Retroactive, Strict, Joint, and Several liability)