1
Why are environmental policies sometimes needed at a national or even international level? What are some of the major U.S. environmental laws?
INFOGRAPHIC 24.1 AND TABLE 24.1
Why are international laws and policies necessary to address some environmental issues?
Legislation at the national level does not address important environmental problems.
National legislation cannot address environmental problems that cross national boundaries.
National legislation is not effective because people won’t vote for pro-environment laws.
International laws and policies are easier to enforce than national laws and policies.
B
A unique feature of many U.S. environmental laws is the citizen-suit provision. Explain this provision. Why is it a useful part of these laws?
The citizen-suit provision allows US citizens to sue the federal government for failing to enforce the law. This adds a “watchdog” dimension to the law and allows those who might be personally affected by failed compliance to take meaningful steps to demand enforcement.
What did the landmark environmental laws of the 1960s and 1970s have in common?
These laws aimed to reduce pollution and protect our environment and people and species that live in them. Rather than leave it to states to try and regulate environmental problems, the federal government set some specific guidelines (in the form of performance standards for pollution laws and the endangered species list for the ESA) that could more easily be enforced.
2
How are policy decisions made? How does lobbying influence policy decisions?
INFOGRAPHICS 24.2 AND 24.3
Modern U.S. environmental policy:
requires that environmental impacts be evaluated before federal action is taken.
allows input only from stakeholders (e.g., land owners or local citizens).
is focused on repair of damage rather than on prevention.
is mainly found at the state and local levels.
A
Explain the steps of the NEPA process for policy making and identify the strengths and weaknesses of this process.
The NEPA process begins by identifying the problem and this looks at a scientific assessment of the impact of various options related to a proposed action, including taking no action (the environmental impact statement). Public comment is allowed and then a proposed law or regulation is written. If it is adopted, the appropriate federal agency proposed regulations to implement that law and, once in place, these regulations are evaluated for their effectiveness and altered if needed.
How does political lobbying affect national environmental policy? Do you agree with the critics that political lobbies are too powerful? Explain.
Lobbying groups affect environmental policy by advocating their position to elected officials and to the general public (to affect voting). Students should support their answer concerning their position on the power of political lobbies.
3
What policy tools can be used to implement and enforce environmental policy?
INFOGRAPHIC 24.4
When there is uncertainty about an environmental problem or severe consequences are possible, policy makers should invoke the_____________ ____________when deciding how best to proceed.
Precautionary principle
A consumer who buys an electric car can get a reduction in his or her income tax that year. This is an example of:
a green tax.
command-and-control regulation.
a tax break.
a federal grant.
C
Give an example of a market-driven approach to solving environmental problems. How does this differ from command-and-control regulation of environmentally damaging behavior?
An example of a market-driven approach would be a cap and trade program. It differs from straightforward regulation in that a polluter (for example) could continue to pollute but would pay a higher fee (purchasing emission credits) for doing so. But it also provides an incentive to reduce pollution to save or even make money, spurring pollution reduction innovations that can then be shared with other industry users. With command and control regulation, a polluter would either stop polluting or face a fine (or even jail time); this is more straightforward and predictable for the polluter (costs are known) and may reduce the pollution sooner than the market approach but is less flexible (requires that a new standard be set or that new laws passed to deal with changing conditions), whereas the market approach may allow a quicker response to these changes.
4
How are international policies established and enforced? How has the international community responded to the issue of climate change?
INFOGRAPHICS 24.5 AND 24.6
Effective international environmental policies:
are simpler to implement than national policies.
benefit only a small number of nations and interest groups.
allow for revision based on science or changing needs.
focus on the causes, not the consequences, of environmental issues.
C
International policies may be enforced:
through a multitude of international laws.
by international bodies such as the United Nations.
more easily and effectively than national laws and policies.
mainly through voluntary compliance of the nations involved.
D
Which treaty would you identify as the foundation of international policy on climate change: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Kyoto Protocol? Explain your reasoning.
Answers will vary but may include the following: UNFCCC, because it was the first multinational treaty to address climate change OR Kyoto Protocol, because it was the first treaty to specifically assign actions and deadlines to address climate change
5
How successful have efforts to reduce CO2 emissions been? Why has the Clean Development Mechanism been less effective than expected in reducing greenhouse gases?
INFOGRAPHICS 24.7 AND 24.8
International climate change policy:
has established new binding targets to replace Kyoto targets, which expired in 2012.
requires that developing countries reduce carbon emissions.
has relied heavily on market solutions such as emissions caps and carbon credit trading.
has decreased global carbon emissions to below 1990 levels.
C
Since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol:
some nations have decreased their carbon emissions.
the United States has met its Kyoto target of a 6% reduction below 1990 levels.
global carbon emissions have fallen below 1990 levels.
All of the above.
A
How did HFC producers manipulate the Clean Development Mechanism, and what did this do to the effectiveness of this program? How would you recommend eliminating this abuse?
The HFC producers actually made more HFC product than was needed in order to earn the carbon credits for destroying a greenhouse gas byproduct that was produced in the process. This undermined the CDM because they were essentially creating greenhouse gases that would not have otherwise been created just so they could destroy them, instead of having the CDM credits go to legitimate programs that actually reduced greenhouse gas emissions overall and brought clean energy to developing countries. Recommendations to eliminate this abuse might include excluding all HFC projects (but this might result in the release of the harmful gas), tighter controls on the number of credits offered to HFC projects to discourage extra production, preferential assignment of CDM credits to more desirable projects such as those that bring clean energy to developing nations.
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