Environmental policy

1. By: Bernadette Diodati, Christina Leinmiller, and Alexandra Thomas Environmental policy

2. Environmental Policy Leaders • Rachel Carson • She has been called the founder of the environmentalist movement in the U.S. • She wrote Silent Spring in 1962 which informed the public of chemical pollution, especially DDT, a chemical used by farmers. • In her book, she used many example of people getting sick and animals dying due to the pesticides that were being used. As a result of Silent Spring the DDT was banned.

3. President Nixon’s Contributions • President Nixon • Created the EPA in 1970 • During his presidency he wanted to expand the spending on the environment, and stated during his State of Union speech that he wanted $10 billion to clean up the nations waters • Made 36 environmental proposals and started the first earth week April 1971

4. President Nixon • Signed these acts, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Ocean Dumping Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Federal Insecticide and the Toxic Substances Control Act, in order to help the environment and enact more policies to help ensure the protection, preservation and conservation of the environment.

5. President Clinton Contribution • Bill Clinton • He used executive orders to create 17 new national monuments, preserved 4.6+ million acres, increased protection for wetlands and forests and finalized a rule that prevented roads from being built on more than 60 million acres of national forests.

6. Bill Clinton • He expanded the environment spending by 50% to more than $3 billion in order to research and develop clean energy technologies. He also strengthened the Drinking Water Act, advanced cleanup of Superfund sites, and bolstered the EPA's ability to go after.

7. More Leaders • Al Gore • He tried to educate people on the climate changes and as vice president tried to limit the carbon dioxide emissions. • He started the World Environmental Policy Act of 1989.

8. Bruce Babbitt • He was the speaker for “The Environment, Climate Change, and Land Policies”, a conference that included things such as climate change impacts , rising sea levels, and river basin flooding. •  He is the president of the conservation league which wanted to bring wolves to Yellowstone and Idaho, introduce Elk into arid regions , convince ‘green bureaucrats” to carry out policy activities on public lands, close thousands of miles of roads, catalogue endangered species and fund for the “Wildlands” project.

9. Environmental Acts & Laws • Clean Water Act (1948) • Was created in efforts to have clean, non-polluted water • Under this act, discharging any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters , unless a permit is obtained, is unlawful • Superfund Law • Enacted to clean up toxic waste dumps • Clean Air Act (1970) • 10 million tons of sulfur dioxide is required to be reduced

10. Endangered Species Act (1973) • Forbids buying or selling an animal or plant that is regarded as in endangered • As a result to this act, others have been implemented to further protect endangered species. An example of another act is Marine Mammal Protection Act: prohibits, with certain exceptions, the take of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens, and the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S.. • Water Quality Improvement Act (1965) • Restore and keep water free from chemicals and other substances out of the nations waters.

11. Coastal Zone Management Act (1972) • provides for management of the coastal resources, including the Great Lakes, and balances economic development with environmental conservation • National Environmental Policy Act (1969) • Federal agencies are required to be involved in environmental decision making. • In order to meet the NEPA requirements, federal agencies prepare an Environmental Impact States,

12. Congressional Committees • Subcommittee on Energy and Power • They are a committee focused on national energy policy , fossil and renewable energy resources and synthetic fuels; energy conservation, energy information, energy regulation and utilization, issues and regulation of nuclear facilities, interstate energy compacts, and nuclear energy and waste.

13. Congressional Committees • National Conference of State Legislatures • Governance • Jeff Morris • This committee is in charge of state and federal natural resources legislation, regulations and policies. They educate Congress and federal agencies on the concerns and issues • They are also to serves as a forum for legislators and legislative staff and to inform and share information about options being considered in other states.

14. Congressional Committees • Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works • Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health • Max Baucus and John Barrasso • This committee is focused on superfund law, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which includes recycling, interstate waste, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), Chemical Safety Board, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and Environmental Justice and Risk Assessment.

15. Other Congressional Committees • Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, and Regulated Agencies • Subcommittee on Environment and Economy • Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and International Environmental Protection • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

16. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • Established by President Nixon • Sets national air quality standards, states must develop plans to attain them and if not the federal government will. • Regarding toxic wastes the EPA is to clean up abandoned dump sites with money raised by a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and from general revenues.

17. Goals of EPA • The EPA had three main goals: • Eliminate all pollutants entering waterways by 1985 • Cut auto emissions by 90% within 5 years • Eliminate smog in all cities • In order to reach these goals they had to extend their deadlines. • Budget for 2010: $10.5 billion

18. Extension of Deadlines • Offsets: if a company wants to open a new plant in an area with polluted air, it can do so if the pollution it generates is offset by a reduction in pollution from another source in that area. To achieve that reduction, the new company may buy an existing company and close it down • Bubble standard: a bubble is the total amount of air pollution that can come from a given factory.

19. Extension • Pollution allowances (or banks): if a company reduces its polluting emissions by more than the law requires, it can either use this excess to cover a future plant expansion or sell it to another company as an offset.

20. Interest Groups/Agencies • Environmental Working Group (1993) • David Baker • Helping human from toxicity of the world • “Try to replace federal policies, including government subsidies that damage the environment and natural resources” • National Resources Defense Council (1970) • Frances Beinecke • Control global warming, restore the World’s Oceans, defend endangered wildlife and preserve wild places, prevent pollution, ensure safe water

21. National Wildlife Federation (1996) • Larry Schweiger • To encourage protection of waters, wildlife, forest and field, to restore and rehabilitate wildlife environment, To seek more intensive education of the public in recognizing resource conservation to recognize and promote hunting and fishing as essential tools of wildlife management

22. Earthworks • Jennifer Krill • Oil and Gas Accountability Project: works with communities to protect their homes against impacts of oil and gas • Other campaigns that Earthworks is promoting include the following: No dirty gold, Recycle my cell phone, no dirty energy, and mining reform campaign

23. Powder River Basin Resource Council • Kevin Lind • This group is currently only in Wyoming and is committed to the preservation and enrichment of Wyoming's agricultural heritage, conservation of Wyoming's unique land, minerals, water, and clean air resources.

24. Department of Energy (DOE) • Steven Chu • Established under President Carter in 1977 • Created to bring energy into homes and businesses and to research • The DOE has eight program offices and then sub-offices that all specialize in the research of different areas of the environment and specialize in energy research • Budget for 2010: $26.4 Billion

25. Sierra Club • Founded by John Muir and the current president is Robert Mann • A grassroot interest group that has been around since 1892, protecting our environment by limiting greenhouse emissions, “going green” on transportation, rebuilding America with high performance homes and buildings, and protecting wildlife.

26. Supreme Court Cases • Massachusetts V. EPA • Several states including Massachusetts petitioned the EPA asking them to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide from motor vehicles. Massachusetts argued that the EPA under the Clean Air Act was required to. The EPA denied their petition saying the Clean Air Act did not authorize the agency to regulate the greenhouse gases.

27. Massachusetts V. EPA Cont. • Questions answered during the case: • May the EPA decline to issue emission standards for motor vehicles based on policy considerations not enumerated in the Clean Air Act? No • Does the Clean Air Act give the EPA authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases? Yes • Massachusetts Won this case.

28. Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corporation • An amendment to the Clean Air Act stated that in order to make modifications to a company, it would have to obtain permits. Duke Energy Corporation made twenty-nine improvements to their company without having permits which is a violation under the Clean Air Act and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD).

29. Environmental Defense V. Duke • “Duke then pointed out that a PSD regulation explicitly defining "modification" for purposes of PSD as any change that increases the hourly rate of emissions from a facility. Duke's improvements increased the number of hours the plants remained open, and therefore also increased the total annual emissions from the plants. But since the improvements left the hourly rate of emissions unchanged, Duke argued that it did not have to obtain PSD permits.”

30. Environmental Defense Won! • Question: • Does the Clean Air Act require the EPA to interpret the term "modification" consistently in its Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) provisions and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) regulations? No

31. Chevron USA V. National Resource Defense Council, Inc • An amendment was added to the Clean Air Act requiring the “nonattainment” States to establish a permit program regulating “new or modified major stationary sources” of air pollution, pursuant to stringent conditions,

32. Question: • “Was EPA’s decision to allow States to treat all pollution-emitting devices within the same industry grouping as though within a single “bubble” based on a reasonable construction of the statutory term “stationary source?” Yes • Chevron was a landmark case (outcome of a legal case that establishes a precedent) that advocated giving agencies deference for their reasonable policy-making decisions.

33. Entrepreneurial Policy • Created the environmental movement and Earth Day on April 22, 1970, to celebrate the beginning of this movement • Congress decided to toughen up on laws such as the Clean Air Act. • Passed the Water Quality Act. 2 years later passed laws to clean up the water. 3 years later adopted the Endangered Species Act • Not all environmental policies are supported. • Example: Global Warming • “As with most kinds of entrepreneurial politics, global warming has resulted in a conflict among elites who after base their arguments on ideology as much as on facts.” • Influenced by the public’s demands along with the support of the media. Eventually people will give in and realize things need to be changed .

34. Majoritarian Policy • Mainly concerned with the Clean Air Act (1970) • A provision that required states to develop land-use and transportation rules to help attain air quality standards moved this issue from entrepreneurial politics into majoritarian. • When the public believes that they are not paying a high price and believes that it is gaining a large benefit, support for laws is high.

35. Cont. • Support is low when the majority of the public believes that they are paying a lot for a small benefit • Example: gasoline taxes go towards supporting non-cash benefits such as cleaner air and less congestion, but since people cannot see these changes they are skeptical of paying for the cause

36. Client Policy • Farmers are typically very successful with client politics • They have used client politics to protect the use of pesticides even though they political atmosphere favors the environment over pesticides, there is no convincing evidence that they cause cancer, which is the main argument against the use of them. • Client politics benefit a small group even though many people pay

37. Interest Group Policy • “Interest group politics often lacks the moral fervor of entrepreneurial politics and rarely taps the deep streams of public opinion that are reflected in majoritarian politics.” • Interest groups are concerned with a specific topic and they want to get policies created that fix these problems • Example: Acid rain: steel mills and electric power plants burn high-sulfur coal, and the fumes from this are released from the smokestacks and then they are loose in the air. When they are picked up by falling rain, it becomes acidic, which is harmful to the environment • Public interest groups, since they are typically small, compete with one another for publicity and money

38. VIDEO!!! • http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/Green-Jobs-for-a-Green-Future

39. Graph

43. Works Cited • "Board of Directors - Sierra Club." Sierra Club Home Page: Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. http://www.sierraclub.org/bod/.  • “Environmental Defense V. Duke Energy Corporation” Web. 18 Feb 2011. http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_848 • Chu, Steven, and Rachel Van Dongen. "Why It Matters." Who Runs GOV. The Washington POst, 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.whorunsgov.com/Institutions/energy>. • "Congressional Budget Office - Climate Change." Congressional Budget Office - Home Page. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/collections.cfm?collect=9>. • "Environmental Policy of the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_United_States>.

44. Hoff, Joan. "Nixon Era Center Library." The Nixon Era Center from Mountain State University. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nixonera.com/library/domestic.asp>. • Howard, Brian Clark. "Green Presidents - Environmental Presidents - The Daily Green." Going Green, Fuel Efficiency, Organic Food, and Green Living - The Daily Green. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/greenest-presidents-460808>. • "Learn the Issues | US EPA." US Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. <http://www.epa.gov/epahome/learn.htm#water>. • “Massachusetts V. EPA” Web. 18 Feb 2011.http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_848

45. "National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) | Compliance and Enforcement | US EPA." US Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/>. • "On a Mission from God: Bruce Babbitt and the Environmental Movement." The Moral Liberal. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.themoralliberal.com/2010/07/24/11063>. • "Summary of CWA | Laws & Regulations | US EPA." US Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwa.html>. • "Washingtonpost.com: Politics -- The Administration, Bruce Babbitt." Washington Post - Politics, National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - Washingtonpost.com. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/admin/babbitt.htm>. • http://www.eoearth.org/article/Rachel_Carson's_environmental_ethics