Environmental Problems and Politics

Chapter 1

Values and ethics

A dominant social paradigm of western societies (Catton and Dunlap):
humans are fundamentally different from all other species on earth over which they have dominion The world is vast and provides unlimited opportunities for humans Human history is one of progress in which all major problems can be solved

Energy in 2008
Gasoline prices rose rapidly Politicians searched for ways to reassure the public The 2008 debate energy Does the long-term solution lie more in reducing demand than increasing supply? Americans DO change their behaviors if they believe the price will remain high

Environmental problems that *many* agree on

Climate change Pollution in general Heavy reliance on fossil fuels Destruction of critical lands, forest and species Overconsumption Global conferences include the Earth Summit, the Rio conference and others The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Population and
Since 1900, the worlds population has multiplied more than 3x. World economy has grown by a factor of 20 Consumption of fossil fuels by a factor of 30 Industrial production by a factor of 50 The first generation of environmental policy was the passage of strict environmental laws Second generation policy is trickier to develop

Science and technology

There is a gap between the worlds of science and public policy Does the knowledge NOT exist or is it not being put to good use? Theres a difference between acquiring more scientific knowledge and communicating scientific knowledge How much responsibility does the public have to become scientifically literate? Rachel Pike: The Science Behind a Climate Headline

Economics and incentive structures

Economists, planners and policy analysts propose that we redesign the economic and behavioral incentives that unrealistic market prices create. If a resource is cheap, does that mean its plentiful? Pricing sends inaccurate and inappropriate signals to consumers and businesses, encouraging environmentally destructive behavior

 Measures of a countrys economic performance include the Gross National Product The GNP doesnt consider environmental damage or resource depletion. It is strictly a measure of output. Cash for clunkers was a successful incentive to the extent that money was made available

The Role of Government and Politics

Public policy shapes science by supporting certain research Government affects the design and use of economic incentives such as taxes or tax breaks Regulatory policy arises when society concludes that market forces alone do not produce desired outcomes. It also sets limits. A multiplicity of interest groups means that policy goals and instruments are subject to intense political debate.

Democracy, Politics and Environmental Policy

Most environmental laws contain public participation provisions Critics of public participation argue that public involvement can be problematic when
1) citizens dont understand complex environmental issues and/or 2) adamantly oppose actions that may threaten their way of life

Defining Environmental Policy

Policy typologies
Regulatory Distributive Redistributive

Regulatory: Example, the Clean Air Act. Seeking benefits for the general population vs minimizing costs and burdens on industry Distributive: resource subsidies bestowed on certain groups such as loggers, miners Redistributive: shifting resources from one group to another

The Breadth of Environmental Policy

The collection of environmental, energy and resource policies that have developed over time defy common sense (Kraft) Read the Dean Mann statement on page 15. This is also true of human health and safety, energy, transportation, building standards, food How do you start over?

Forecasting Environmental Conditions

Forecasting environmental conditions means making assumptions about economic, social and technological changes The best studies set out assumptions clearly and describe the methodology The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts forward the data, the analysis and the scientific conclusions Some participants in an environmental debate may exploit the inevitable uncertainties

Assessing Risks: Social and Technical Issues

Risk Assessment is a decision-making tool The process has been established since the 1970s. New no; Evolving - yes There is general support for the method because regulations could become even stricter without it In simplest terms, R=PxC where R= risk, P=probability and C=consequences

 Citizens often weigh the degree to which risks are uncertain rather than the severity of the consequences Or, they may ignore scientists conclusions that risks are low and oppose certain actions anyway

Susan Hadden (1991):

Technical rationality is a mindset that trusts evidence and the scientific method, appeals to expertise for justification, values universality and consistency, and considers unspecifiable impacts to be irrelevant to present decisionmaking. Cultural rationality, in contrast, appeals to traditional and peer groups rather than to experts, focuses on personal and family risks rather than the depersonalized, statistical approach, holds unanticipated risks to be fully relevant to near-term decision-making and trusts process rather than evidence.

Coping with Environmental Risks

Is government intervention necessary? Alternatively, will private or voluntary action achieve desired results? How clean is clean? Superfund: the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites Judgments about acceptable risk:
What is acceptable to society? Are we passing the buck? Which issues will survive a legal challenge to the regulatory agency?

Public Policy Responses

If government intervention is deemed appropriate, which level of government should take the lead? Command and control vs Voluntary Action How successful is our current mix? Government can spur technical progress through the power of the marketplace Environmental justice who pays the highest externalized costs?