Envi Pol finalll
Terms
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- sectoral change
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o When the broad makeup of the national economy changes e.g. reductions in the size of the manufacturing sector, increases in the size of the service sector
o Example: in 2004 the SO2 emissions had gone down, which would lead one to think that policy had worked. In reality there was a major shift away from manufacturing in the US due to outsourcing which accounted for less emissions
- Reasons for inaction:
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• Not enough communication between subcommittees, perspectives are too narrow
• Subcommittees create opportunities for blocking of bills
• “All Politics Are Local†congressmen most concerned with their own states as opposed to the nation as a whole
• Congress must get re-elected, creates short term goals
• Scientific uncertainty
- Presidential Powers and Roles
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o The power of appointing officials, such as the top officials of the EPA
o The President can recommend to Congress specific laws for consideration, and perhaps approval
o Controls the degree of implementation of regulations
o Veto power
o Executive orders
o Bully pulpit
⬢ The power to have ones views and pronouncements covered by the media and widely disseminated
o Political capital
⬢ Accumulates political leverage and goodwill
o Framing: instill in the general public a perception of problems and solutions that is congenial to their objectives and ideologies
- Non Delegation Doctrine
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⬢ In making laws, Congress may delegate to the EPA the power to make rules and regulations that are needed to implement these statutes.
⬢ This delegation will not be considered unconstitutional, as long as Congress gives the agencies some degree of guidance -
Normative Analysis
Political feasibility -
o A policy that is not politically feasible, that is unable to get enough political support, may be theoretically interesting but not especially practical
o Can change over time with new policy makers, and changing social norms
o Should not be only consideration; environmental policy in enacted in the name of environmental improvements, so incorporating criteria beyond political considerations is critical
- Diversity of Political Actions
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SREPIP
⬢Statutes
o Lots of political maneuvering and coalition building go into passing major laws, so they happen infrequently
⬢Regulations
o Regulations can be written with greater or lesser stringency
⬢Enforcement changes (e.g. increase litigation against polluters)
⬢Presidential Orders
o have immediate effect (e.g. order to use recycled paper)
o Often provoke controversy because they sidestep Congress and the normal give and take that goes on there
⬢ Institutional
o appointments to public agencies (e.g. administrators of EPA appointed by president)
o change agency organization (e.g. make EPA less mediacentric)
o change executive office organization (e.g. downgrading of Council of Environmental Quality)
o organize public advisory committees
⬢ Private Initiative
o actions of voluntary nature, do not involve government
o private action among polluters and pollutees to regulate their affairs through recourse to common-law remedies
o private collective action (voluntary)
- Diversity of Policy Types
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SIPLMI
• Standards
o command & control approach: statutory regulatory action that establishes pollution control standards, which are then enforced thru the threat of sanctions should they be violated
o technology-based (e.g. requiring certain types of pollution control equipment in factories)
o performance (e.g. max emission quantities or rates)
o ambient (e.g. max SO2 concentration in the air)
• Incentive-Based
o taxes (tax on SO2 emissions)
o subsidies (bottle laws)
o cap and trade programs (1990 SO2 program)
• Product Bans or Limitations
o ban on DDT and CFCs
• Liability & Insurance Rules
o holding shipping companies liable for spills
o requiring hazardous waste handlers to have insurance
• Moral Suasion
o “pitch-in†control to trash
• Information Based Programs
o research funding (climate program of NSF)
o making info public (TRIs)
o publicizing environmental issues (Clinton’s effort to publicize climate change)
o voluntary actions (recycling, emission cutbacks)
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⬢ National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
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o Never exceed levels for entire country
o Apply only to outside air quality
o Primary standards: aimed at protecting human health
o secondary standards: meant to protect public welfare (nonhealth, i,e, impacts on crops) - o State Implementation Plan (SIP)
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• Plan to achieve NAAQS in specific states (different states have different air quality)
• Must be a balance/take cost into account --> we can’t completely stop all emissions because it would cripple economy
- ⬢ Technology Based Effluent Standards (TBES)
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o never exceed levels set by EPA, but most people must install new technologies to meet them
o EPA identifies technologies, provides incentives for companies to adopt them
- Differentiated Control
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o treat certain types of sources differently in terms of their requirements
o distinction between new and existing sources
o new source performance standards are much higher ---> new source review requires new or modified sources to get permits before building or changing-permits only given if approved technologies are adopted
- CAFE Corporate Average Fuel Economy
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⬢ Requires car companies to manufacture cars w/ better mpg
⬢ Despite this, overall avg mpg has gone up because of massive shift to SUVs from compacts
⬢ Price of gasoline fluctuates, effects personal decisions about driving
- Mobile Source Pollution
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o On road/off road
o Most federal efforts place requirements on manufacturers, not users
o Tailpipe standards for cars
⬢ new car certification
⬢ inspection & maintenance
- ⬢ Information Asymmetries and Incentives
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o Information asymmetries means that one person knows something another doesn’t, in this case polluters have more information than the regulators
o Essentially the best approach is to find a way to give the regulated community incentive to use their knowledge to develop and implement the most cost-effective pollution control actions
- ⬢ Emission Charges
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o An emission charge is a simple monetary charge per unit of material emitted, which provides incentive because they are designed simply to set the charge rate, not dictate the mean of reducing emissions
Popular in POTWs - Cap and trade
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• Set a cap, distribute permits, allow trading of those permits
• This harnesses the natural instincts of companies to find economic gains in this case leading to permit trading and redistribution of the of the overall reduction
• Reasons Environmentalists aren’t crazy about cap and trade programs
 Awarding emission permits implies society in some sense approves of that level of pollution
 They are overly complicated
 Firms will be able to profit off emission reductions they would have made anyways
 They may create hot spots
- Offset Trading
- o When someone pledges to reduce emissions, then supplies the company with offsets so that company doesn’t have to reduce its own emission
- Montreal Protocol
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• One important factor in the Montreal Protocol was that the path was clear for companies to develop alternatives—need this for global warm
• CFCs were to be phased out by 2000, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform were added to the list, and a long term schedule for phasing out HCFCs
• Effective policy, though not perfect - Kyoto flexibility mechanisms
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International emission trading
Joint implementation
⬢ E.g. a reforestations project in the US partly funded by another country and transfer emission allowances on the basis of the projects
Clean development mechanism
⬢ Countries part of the protocol can finance emission reductions in non protocol countries and gain credits toward their GHG cutback responsibilities
- Does rising trade result in greater or lesser amounts of pollutions?
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• Normal sectoral shifts associated with growth can reduce the environmental impacts of developing countries
• Environmental quality is what economists call a “normal good†meaning that people want more of it as their income and economic security increase
• For some pollutants increased trades will have positive effects, some will be felt immediately and others more gradual, but CO2 and some other pollutants have been historically associated with economic growth
- ⬢ Pollution control is not a ______ problem, It is a ____problem
- technological, behavioral
- There is an effective response to the statement “We can’t do too much too reduce greenhouse gas emissions because it would cost too much†what is it?
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Not if you do it right. This mean that we take into account the statement in question 1, behavioral problem. Implementing incentive based programs would provide a cost effective solution
- What is the “Interstate commerce†clause of the US Constitution? What is its relevance for federal environmental policy?
- The interstate commerce clause gives Congress the right to regulate interstate conmmerce. One example of how this effects environment is the interstate shipments of solid waste. States may not want to have these wastes shipped into their state, but can not interfere because of the interstate commerce clause
- What are the main criterion that EPA is supposed to use to set ambient air quality standards? And why is it basically impossible to use this criterion?
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o The criteria are primary and secondary standards, protect public health while maintaining an adequate margin of safety
o Interpreting and balancing the margin of safety
o People always have their own personal interests
o EPAs not supposed to take cost into account, but it does