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Announcements – Dec. 1, 2006

Announcements – Dec. 1, 2006. Final exam, Monday, Dec. 11, 8am. (taking the final cannot hurt your grade). New York Times Interior Official and Federal Biologists Clash on Danger to Bird December 5, 2004

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Announcements – Dec. 1, 2006

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  1. Announcements – Dec. 1, 2006 • Final exam, Monday, Dec. 11, 8am. • (taking the final cannot hurt your grade)

  2. New York Times Interior Official and Federal Biologists Clash on Danger to Bird December 5, 2004 The scientific opinions of a Bush administration appointee at the Interior Department with no background in wildlife biology were provided as part of the source material for the panel of Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and managers who recommended against giving the greater sage grouse protection under the endangered species act. The appointee, Julie MacDonald, a senior policymaker, criticized studies showing widespread loss of grouse territory and sporadic declines in grouse populations. The sage grouse, whose habitat overlaps areas of likely oil and gas deposits across states like Wyoming and Montana, would likely become an economic headache to the energy and cattle industries if it were listed. Ms. MacDonald's critique of sage grouse biology and the biologists who work for an agency she oversees showed flashes of her strong property-rights background and her deference to industry views.

  3. Los Angeles Times Battle lines drawn on protection of species Julie Cart and Kenneth R. Weiss, December 05, 2004 SAN DIEGO — Western governors gathered last week to plan with the Bush administration and Congress how to change the Endangered Species Act, the 31-year-old law they say has cost developers, loggers and ranchers too much money and hassle for the few animals brought back from the brink of extinction. "Just about everybody agrees the Endangered Species Act is broken," said Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., a cattleman turned chairman of the House Resources Committee. "The only way you are going fix it is with legislative change."

  4. Environmental Policy Lecture Objectives: • What is the history of environmental policy in the U.S.? • What role did Kepone play in environmental policy? • What does the Endangered Species Act do?

  5. Development of Policy • Policy -general principles by which the branches of government guide management of public affairs • Congress passes legislation in form of acts and statutes to guide or regulate behavior

  6. Development of Policy • Types of regulatory approaches: • Prevention: ban production/activity, limit output, technology requirement • Discourage: taxes on undesirable products, liability for products/services, public disclosure • Encourage: subsidies for alternatives, tradeable permits http://thomas.loc.gov/

  7. History of Environmental Policy • Prior to 1960’s, no set Environmental Policy in U.S. • Federal agencies, industries, businesses, and individuals did not have to consider the environmental impacts of their actions

  8. Rachel Carson • Published Silent Spring in 1962 • Warned about the environmental consequences of DDT use • Considered to spark the beginning of the modern environmental movement • Public Awareness • Governmental research on pollution

  9. Problems of the 1960s • Air Pollution • Water Pollution • Chemicals Agent Orange

  10. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969 • Requires • federal agencies to consider environmental consequences of actions • produces publicly reviewable document on this analysis: Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) • Created Council on Environmental Quality • advises president, can issue regulations for federal agency compliance with NEPA

  11. NEPA • NEPA’s strength: EIS requirement • Revolutionary “stop and think” strategy • prevents tunnel vision by agencies • Emulated by 25 states and 80 countries

  12. April 22th, 1970 – First Earth Day Organized by Gaylord Nelson • 20 million people marched to demand improved environmental quality

  13. Problems of the 1970s • Water Pollution • Air Pollution • Oil embargo – energy crisis (’73-’74) • Environmental concerns faded when energy crisis threatened the economy • Love Canal (1978) • Three Mile Island (1979)

  14. Environmental Legislation in the 1970s: Clean Water Act Clean Air Act Safe Drinking Water Act Endangered Species Act Establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency

  15. Improvement in Air Quality 4/5 primary air pollutants decreased since 1970 Nitrogen oxides per vehicle down, but overall emissions increased due to larger number of cars Lead emissions way down after switch to unleaded gasoline

  16. Early Environmental Law: Kepone • Illustrates many of reasons why environmental law is necessary • workplace health, air and water quality, consumer exposure to hazardous chemicals • 1958 - Allied Chemical plants produced pesticide known as Kepone • Company tested for toxicity – highly toxic to both rats and mice • caused cancer, liver damage, reproductive failure, inhibition of growth and muscle coordination

  17. Kepone • Started commercial production in VA anyway • More negative toxicity tests, increased production • From 1966 to 1973 wastes were discharged directly into the James River • Later, into municipal sewer system

  18. Kepone • Numerous Health impacts on humans • causes tremors, liver dysfunction, affects reproductive system • 1975 - Doctor in Hopewell, VA made connection, reported • 75 cases of acute Kepone poisoning • Led to findings of serious contamination in nearby land, water • one hundred miles of James River, portions of Chesapeake Bay closed to fishing in 1975

  19. Kepone • Variety of lawsuits against Allied • plant workers, EPA, fishermen, etc. • 10,500 plaintiffs suing for $85 billion • Actual settlements unknown • stipulation for out of court settlement was not to divulge settlement amount • estimates are around $30 million • Why did they get away with it for so long? • Lack of enforcement mechanisms • Plant located in poor area • Case led to Clean Water Act of 1977

  20. Endangered Species Act • 1973, 1982, 1895, 1988, 1995 • Example of “roadblock” statute • very clear, unambiguous prohibition • Revolutionary • 1st piece of legislation anywhere to seriously protect endangered species • A number of striking success stories • bald eagle, American alligator, etc.

  21. ESA • Three pronged approach: • 1. Bans import and sale of endangered species or products • 2. Prohibits “taking” of any endangered species • Cannot kill or capture endangered species • Includes habitat modification and degradation • 3. Prohibits federal agency programs and projects that harm endangered species

  22. ESA • Why protect species? • Canaries in coal mine • Morally right • Potential resources • “They are keys to puzzles which we cannot yet solve, and may provide answers to questions we have not yet learned to ask.” - House Resolution • Considerable backlash against ESA • Interferes with land development, no obvious human importance

  23. Tellico Dam Case • Tennessee Valley Authority & business groups vs. citizens group including: • farmers • archaeologists • Cherokee Indians • Battle over construction of dam on Little Tennessee River • 1960s-1980s

  24. Conducted by the TVA Cost Benefit Analysis (1968) • Benefits • Electrical Power $0.9 million • Navigation Benefits $0.9 million • Flood Control $1.1 million • Recreation Benefits $3.7 million • Water Supply (agric.) $0.2 million • Employment Created $8.1 million • Enhanced Land Value $1.6 million • Costs • Annualized Dam Cost $5 million • Annualized Land Costs $0.0 million • Net Benefits $11.5 million

  25. Tellico Dam • TVA argued dam would provide recreation, promote industrial development • Citizens groups: 300 farm families in valley, used by fishermen and canoeists, sacred to Cherokees • Found endangered fish: snail darter • Project stopped by ESA’s roadblock statute

  26. Tellico • Supreme Court halts construction, reaction led to creation of “God Squad” • Committee that can declare exceptions to ESA in favor of economics • Had hearings on Tellico • Developed own plan for development, showed existing plan for dam seriously flawed • Request for exemption unanimously declined • “I hate to see the snail darter get the credit for stopping a project that was ill-conceived and uneconomic in the first place.”

  27. Cost Benefit Analysis (1978) Conducted by the Endangered Species Committee (“God Squad”) • Benefits • Electrical Power $2.7 million • Navigation Benefits $2.7 million • Flood Control $1.0 million • Recreation Benefits $2.5 million • Water Supply (agric.) $0.15 million • Employment Created $0.0 million • Enhanced Land Value $0.0 million • Costs • Annualized Dam Cost $3.2 million • Annualized Land Costs $4.0 million • Net Benefits $-0.75 million

  28. Tellico • Tennessee Senator - slipped rider on appropriations bill • Done at last minute, bill never read aloud • Made Tellico Dam Project exempt from ESA • Cherokees filed new lawsuit, was denied • Dam completed • No more snail darter in valley • Later, other small populations found • No industrial, little economic development

  29. Tellico Ecological Health Indicators atTellico Reservoir, 2001 • Dissolved oxygen Poor • Chlorophyll Poor • Fish Fair • Bottom life Poor • Sediment Fair

  30. Points to Know – Dec. 6 • What does it mean to have a governmental policy? What 3 approaches can the government use to regulate behavior? • What book is considered to have sparked the modern environmental movement? Who wrote it and what is it about? • What does the National Environmental Policy Act do? What is it’s major strength? • What is Kepone? Why did it lead to the Clean Water Act of 1977? • Why was/is the Endangered Species Act considered revolutionary and controversial? • What is the “God Squad,” how did they rule in the Tellico Dam case, and what was the final outcome?

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