Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Environmental Laws, Economics, and Ethics

Chapter Outline:
I. A Brief Environmental History of the United States
A. Protecting Forests
B. Establishing and Protecting National Parks and Monuments
C. Conservation in the Mid-20th Century
D. The Environmental Movement of the Late 20th Century
II. U.S. Environmental Legislation
A. Addressing New Environmental Problems with Government Policies
B. Accomplishments of U.S. Environmental Legistlation
III. Economics and the Environment
A. Natural Resources, the Environment, and the National Income Accounts
B. An Economist’s View of Population
C. Economic Strategies for Pollution Control
D. Case in Point: Environmental Problems in Central and Eastern Europe
IV. Environmental Ethics, Values, and Worldviews
A. Human-Centered and Life-Centered Worldviews

Key Terms:

Utilitarian conservationist / Personwho values natural resources because of their usefulness for practical purposes but uses them sensibly
Biocentric preservationist: / Person who believes in protecting nature because all forms of life deserve respect and consideration
Full-cost accounting / Process of evaluating and presenting to decision makers the relative benefits and costs of various alternatives
Natural capital / All of the earth’s resources and processes that sustain living organisms, including humans, minerals, forests, soils, groundwater, clean air, wildlife, and fisheries.
Marginal cost of pollution / Added cost for all present and future members of society of an additional unit of pollution.
Marginal cost of pollution abatement / The added cost for all present and future members of society of reducing one unit of a given type of pollution.
Optimum amount of pollution / The amount of pollution that is economically most desirable
Command and control regulations / Pollution control laws that work by setting limits on levels of polution
Incentive-based regulation / Pollution control laws that work by establishing emission targets and provides industries with incentives to reduce emissions
Environmental ethics / A field of applied ethics that considers the moral basis of env. Responsibility and how far this responsibility extends.
Environmental worldview / Worldview that helps us make sense of how the env works our place in the env. And right and wrong environmental behaviors.
Western worldview / An understanding of our place in the world based on human superiority and dominance over nature, the unrestricted use of natural resources, and increased economic growth to manage an expanding industrial base.
Deep ecology worldview / An understanding of our place in the world based on harmony with nature, a spiritual respect for life, and the belief that humans and all other species have an equal worth.
Risk assessment / Using statistical methodss to quantifyhe harmful efects on human health or the env. Of exposure to a particular danger
Risk management / Determining whether there is a need to reduce or eliminate a particular risk and, if so, what should be done Based on the data fromm risk assessment as well as politicl, econimic and social considerations.
Precautionary principle / The policythat no action should be taken if there is any reason to think harm might be caused
Ecological risk assessment / The process by which the ecological consequences of human activities aer estimated.

Chapter Outline:

Pacific Northwest was not operating sustainably, logging faster then the forest could regenerate
1994 NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN, federal aid to the area to retain some timber workers for other careeres, watershed restoration, restoration of salmon habitats

I. A Brief Environmental History of the United States

1700, early 1800s Americans had frontier Attitude a desire to conquer and exploit nature as quickly as possible.

  1. Protecting Forests
  2. John James Audubon, 1782-1851
  3. Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862examined how people near Walden Pond in Massachusetts and contemplated how people could economize and simplify live in harmony with natural world.
  4. George Perkins 1801-1882 wrote “Man and Nature” first discussions of humans as AGENTS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL changes
  5. GENERAL REVISION ACT 1891 gave the president the authority to establish forest reserves on public(federally owned) land.
  6. THEORDORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919) used this law to put 17.5 million hectares (43 million acres) of western forest, out of the reach of loggers.
  7. Gifford Pinchotv (1865-1946) the first head of forestry
  8. Both Pinchotv and Roosevelt were UTILITARIAN CONSERVATIONISTS
  1. Establishing and Protecting National Parks and Monuments
  2. 1890Yosemite National Park Bill (Yosemite and Sequoia national parks due to John Muir, a BIOCENTRIC PRESERVATIONSIT founded the SIERRA Club
  3. 1913 Congress approved HetchHetchyValley damn in YosemitePark.
  4. 1916 Congress created National Park Service to manage parks and monuments for the enjoyment of the public, “without impairment”
  1. Conservation in the Mid-20th Century
  2. FDR (1882-1945) Civilian Conservation Corps, employed 175,000 men to plant trees , make paths, roads ijn parks, building damns to control flooding, etc.
  3. 1930 American Dust Bowl: droughts and windstorms carried off topsoil, causing many farmers to abandon their farms.
  4. 1935 Roosevelt Formed the Soil Conservation Service.
  5. Rachel Carson (1907-1964) wrote Silent Spring
  6. Public awareness and concern about uncontrolled use of DDT, poisoning of birds and contamination of wildlife and human food supplies
  7. 1968 Paul Ehrlich published The Population Bomb .. earth population was 3.5 billion
  1. The Environmental Movement of the Late 20th Century
  2. 1970 ENVIRONMENTALISTS: sierra club and National Wildlife Federation now being heard. Earth Day 1970 20 million people supported plantings, cleaning roadways + parades
  3. 1990 Earth Day 200 million , 141 nations demonstrated public environmental consciousness. (Think Globally, Act Now)

II. U.S. Environmental Legislation

1970 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formed and the National Environmental Policy Acts(NEPA): Federal government must consider the environmental IMPACT of a proposed federal action by producing an” Environmental Impact Statement”

  1. Addressing New Environmental Problems with Government Policies
  2. Once an environmental problem has been recognized the process of environmental regulation begins with a US Congressperson drafting legislation.
  3. *full-cost accounting: is a valuable economic tool in Env decision making:
  4. Legislation passes and the President Signs it.
  5. Goes to EPA, provides allowable levels (pollution)
  6. Several rounds of public comments allow affected parties to present their views
  7. EPA responds
  8. Office of Management (OMB) oversees federal budget, rvws regulations and works with EPA on budgeting
  1. Accomplishments of U.S. Environmental Legislation
  2. General Environmental Laws:
  3. National Environmental Policy ACT (NEPA, 1969)
  4. Established the Env Quality and the Env Protection Agency (EPA)
  5. Requires Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for major federal construction projects
  6. Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, 1970)
  7. Provides standards for health and safety in the workplace
  8. Provides workers with the ability to hold employers accountable
  9. Air
  10. Clean Air Act (1970)
  11. est air qualities standards for primary and secondary pollutants
  12. est “criteria pollutants” as the most threatening to human health
  13. rqrs state to develop Clean air plans, which include Emission Testing of automobiles
  14. Asbestos Hazard and emergency Response Act (1986)
  15. Rqrs schools to be inspected for and mitigate asbestos
  16. Montreal Protocol (1987, amended 1990, amended 1992)
  17. Sets timetable for phasing out the use of ozone-depleting substances
  18. Kyoto Protocol (1997)
  19. Agreement among 150 nations to reduce greenhouse gases
  20. **The US does not participate in the agreement
  21. Water
  22. Clean Water Act (1972)
  23. as a result of Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969
  24. Sets goals of creating “Fishable, swimmable” waterways by setting water quality standards
  25. Water Quality Act (1965)
  26. est water purity standards
  27. Water Pollution Control Administration under Dept of Health, education, and Welfare
  1. Safe Drinking Water Act (1974)
  2. est. stdrds. For municipal water systems that treat water, also protecting groundwater recourses
  3. Ocean Dumping Ban Act (1988) prohibits ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste
  1. Land
  2. Homestead Act of (1862)
  3. U.S. Congress provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of residence
  4. Land could also be acquired after six months of residence at $1.25 an acre.
  5. The government had previously sold land to settlers in the West for revenue purposes
  6. National Park Service Act (1916) establishes National Parks
  7. Taylor Grazing Act (1934) est grazing restrictions in public land, no nationals
  8. Soil Conservation Act (1935) est. Soil Conservation Service after Dust Bowl
  9. Wilderness Act (1964) est. of wilderness areas
  10. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968) est. zones of protection for scenic river corridors
  11. Coastal Zone Management Act (1972) est national estuary system and provides funds to protect coastal areas
  12. FederalLand Policy and Management Act (1976)
  13. Outlines use of public lands
  14. Vests Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with the authority to manage most non-park public land
  15. Ends homesteading initiated by Homestead Act of 1862
  16. Toxic Substances
  17. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRC, 1976) amended 1984)
  18. Regulates hazardous waste storage and disposal by tracking them from “cradle-to-grave” or throughout entire period that the wastes may potentially be harmful:
  19. From procurement, through their use, and including the time after disposal
  20. Biodiversity
  21. Species Conservation Act (1966)
  22. Secretary of Interior charged with compiling a list of Endangered species
  23. Provided funds to add and to National Wildlife Refuge System
  24. Banned importation of globally endangered species
  25. Endangered Species Act (1973)
  26. Creates list of endangered species
  27. Protects habitat of endangered species
  28. Directs FWS to prepare recovery plans for endangered species

III. Economics and the Environment

Natural capital: Both sources and sinks contribute to National Capital

Source: part of the env from which materials move

Sink: part of the env the receives an input of materials

Over uses affect Natural Capital

Resource degradation: is the over use of sources

Pollution: is the overuse of sinks

  1. Natural Resources, the Environment, and the National Income Accounts (page 32)
  2. National Income Accounts: represents the total income of a nation for a given year,
  3. Uses GDP and NDP
  4. Misleading as they both do not incorporate environmental factors
  5. Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
  6. The market value of all the goods and services produced by labor and property located in the country.
  7. Equals GNP minus the net inflow of labor and property incomes from abroad.
  8. Net Domestic Product (NDP):
  9. Gross National Product less depreciation on a country's capital goods
  10. Depreciation of capital is subtracted in the calculation (costs for production)
  11. Ie. Use of oil, electricity
  12. An Economist’s View of Population
  13. External costs: the side effect, consumption or production of a product has a harmful side effect borne by people who are not directly involved in the market exchange for a product…
  14. A failure to add the price of environmental damage to the cost of products generates a market force that INCREASES POLLUTION.
  15. Industrial Pollution????
  16. Marginal Cost of Pollution must assess the risk associated with the pollution
  17. Marginal cost of Sulfur Dioxide: pollution produced during the combustion of fuels containing sulfur… ACID RAIN
  1. Marginal Cost of Pollution Abatement: the added cost for all present and future members of society of reducing one unit of a given type of pollution.
  2. AS MCPA tends to rise as the level of pollution declines
  1. As per Cost-benefit diagram.

Economists identify the

  1. Optimal amount of pollution: the amount of pollution that is economically most desirable. When the MCP and the MCPA intersect on a Cost-benefit diagram.
  2. If more pollution is than the optimal is allowed, the social cost is unacceptably high.
  3. If less than the optimal amount of pollution is allowed, the pollution abatement cost is unacceptably high.

  1. Economic Strategies for Pollution Control (Page 36)
  2. Command and control regulation
  1. Case in Point: Environmental Problems in Central and Eastern Europe

IV. Environmental Ethics, Values, and Worldviews

A. Human-Centered and Life-Centered Worldviews

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