Chap 11 -Pol 211 (Fall 2019)


Chap 11
                                       Environmental and Energy policy

       Climate change is having significant effects throughout the world, such as shrinking glaciers and persistent droughts and the problem is certain to grow much worse unless the United States and other nations sharply reduced their greenhouse gas emission. Environmental scientists argue that a more useful way to understand the environment is to see it as set of natural systems that interact in complex way to supply humans and other species, with the necessities of life, such as a breathable air, clean water, food, fiber, energy and the recycling of waste. Humans now are so numerous and use of nature to such an extent to meet their needs that they threaten to disrupt these natural systems and lose the services on which life depends. Modern environmental policy was developed during the 1960s and shortly thereafter became firmly established on the political agenda in the United States and other developed nations; although is relatively recent, concern about the environment and the value of natural resources can be traced back to the early 17th century. By the 1960s the modern environmental movement was taking shape in response to changing social values. The major stimulus was the huge spurt in economic development that followed World War II (1941-1945). An affluent, comfortable and well-educated public began to place a greater emphasis on quality of life and environmental quality was part of it.
       The public and policy makers demanded that the federal government intervene to stop rampant pollution by industry that constituted a market externality. Most of the state were constrained from acting. Policy makers also appeared to believe at the time that pollution problems and their remedies were fairly simple, because they understand the complexity of environmental problems and the public difficulty to solve them.
         Environmental protection agency (EPA) develops regulation that affect the current and future use and release of chemicals pollutants that pose a significant risk to public health or the environment. In the case with pollution control policies, evaluating the success of natural resource policies is not easy. The time measurement of success or failure s whether an ecosystem is healthy or sustainable, but even ecologists cannot argue on precisely what that means oe what indicators to use. Most analyst would probably agree that the United States has no real or comprehensive energy policy. Energy policy is something of an anomaly compared to the collection of broadly supported environmental policies. 

Reference:
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2010). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives, 6th ed. Washington, D.C: CQ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer 2019 POL 241 Chap 4- Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games @ Robert D. Putnam

Elayne Guzman Summer 2019 POL 241 Chap 4 Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games @ Robert D. Putnam Quote: “The politics of many international negotiations can usefully be conceived by a two level game. At the national level, domestic groups pursue their interests by pressuring the government to adopt favorable policies, and politicians seek power by constructing coalitions among those groups. At the international level, national governments seek to maximize their own ability to satisfy domestic pressures, while minimizing the adverse consequences of foreign developments. Neither of the two games can be ignored by central decision-makers, so long as their countries remain interdependent, yet sovereign.”   Meaning/Chosen:     Putnam wants to model how domestic politics affects international relations, thus leaving purely statistic/realist perspectives. He assumes that international decision makers are concerned both with domestic...
Read more

T.H. Marshall, “Citizenship and Social Rights”; Michael Mann, “Ruling Class Strategies and Citizenship”; Charles Tilly “Where Do Rights Come From?

Elayne Guzman                                   Citizenship and Social Class by T.H. Marshall Quote: “ All who possess the status are equal with respects to the rights and duties with which the status is endowed” Meaning: It means that for Marshall a concept of citizenship bears a certain relevance to present day society. For Marshall as women are recognized in society as much more important and vital citizens, their status and therefore their rights increase; proven to be an excellent way in which citizenship is viewed. Chosen : I chose this quote because as men or women, we are equal to the rights and duties within society and those rights should be respected in every single citizen as long as that person is a member of the community and serves, respect and value the community.                   ...
Read more

The Moral Dilemma of US Immigration Policy: Open Borders Versus Social Justice? By Stephen Macedo

  The Moral Dilemma of US Immigration Policy: Open Borders Versus Social Justice? By Stephen Macedo. Quote: “Most people seems to accept that wealthy societies owe the first sort of concern to human beings generally, via humanitarian assistance, whether societies should pool their efforts and seek to lift poorer countries at least up to a level of basic decency; exactly what level is adequate or morally required is an important question” Meaning/Chosen: Humanitarian assistance to poor countries should be provided in an effort to ease suffering and provide a basic level of decency, especially when those countries have been exploited by richer countries. It’s true that American society should properly take care of their own less-well off, and then allow for distributive justice abroad. By doing this, immigration to US will decrease and people would not risk their lives leaving their countries, in an illegal and dangerous way, for a better life in US.
Read more