Transcript Chapter 2 PowerPoint

Chapter 2
Environmental
Laws,
Economics,
and Ethics
Environmental History of U.S.
1600
1700
1800
Dominated by the
frontier attitude
1900
Environmental History of U.S.
1750
1800
1900
John James Audubon
Henry David Thoreau
George Perkins Marsh
Some conservationists were influential in raising
environmental concerns later in this period.
Environmental History of U.S.
1850
1900
1950
General Revision Act
1st National Park:
Yellowstone
Several presidents,
particularly Theodore
Roosevelt, used this Act to
Yosemite and
establish 43 million acres
Sequoia National
of forest reserves.
Parks
Environmental History of U.S.
1850
Different worldviews
•Theodore
Roosevelt utilitarian
John Muir preservationist
1900
1950
Environmental History of U.S.
1900
1950
Franklin Roosevelt
establishes CCC
and SCS
Aldo Leopold’s
A Sand County Almanac
published posthumously
2000
Environmental History of U.S.
1900
1950
2000
Rachel Carson
published Silent
Spring
Environmental History of U.S.
1900
1950
Wilderness Act of
1964, spurred on by
Wallace Stegner
Paul Ehrlich published
The Population Bomb
2000
First Earth
Day
Environmental History of U.S.
U.S. Environmental Legislation
National Environmental Policy Act –
dictates ALL federally proposed actions
draft an environmental impact statement.
U.S. Environmental Legislation
Addressing New Environmental Problems
with Government Policies
US congressperson
drafts legislation
Problem
identified
Legislation
passed, signed
by president
Full-cost accounting
evaluation
Regulations
implemented /
enforced by
states (usually)
Public
comments
EPA develops
regulations
OMB reviews /
approves funding
U.S. Environmental Legislation
Many environmental laws have been passed:
Clean Air Act (1970) (Amended in 1990)
Clean Water Act (1972)
Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972)
Endangered Species Act (1973)
Energy Policy and Conservation Act (1975)
Federal Land Policy and Management Act (1976)
National Forest Management Act (1976)
Toxic Substances Control Act (1976)
Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (1977)
Medical Waste Tracking Act
Food Quality Protection Act (1996)
Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (2002)
U.S. Environmental Legislation
What has been their effect since 1970?
•
8 National Parks, National
Wilderness Preservation System
•
Substantial soil erosion reduction
•
Many endangered species fairing
better
•
Emissions of many pollutants
reduced
Economics and the Environment
Economy
Products
Source
Raw
Materials
Sinks
Production
Consumption
Money
Waste
Political Action:
Elected officials select a course of
action and implement it.
(Either based on scientific evidence,
economic or social factors).
Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
begins with specific
examples and seeks to
draw a conclusion (error
prone)
Example:
fact - Gold is a metal that is
heavier than water
Fact - Iron is metal heavier
than water
Fact - Silver is a metal that
is heavier than water
Conclusion - All metals are
heavier than water.
Deductive Reasoning
operates from
generalities to
specifics
Example:
General Rule: All birds
have wings
A specific example:
Robins are birds
Conclusion - All Robins
have wings
Inductive Reasoning
Discovering general principles by the
careful examination of specific cases.
4. Inductive reasoning
Fact: Au is heavier than H2O.
Fact: Fe is a metal that is heavier
than H2O.
Fact: Ag is a metal that is heavier
than H2O.
Fact: Li has ½ the density of H2O.
We induce that most metals are
heavier than water.
Inductive reasoning produces new
knowledge but is prone to error.
Deductive Reasoning:
Makes relationships
among data more
apparent by proceeding
from the general to the
specific.
Deductive reasoning
General rule: All birds have wings.
A specific example: Robins are birds.
Conclusion: All robins have wings.
We deduce information directly from
information given.
What can we induce from this?
General rule: All birds have wings.
A specific example: Robins are birds.
Conclusion: All robins have wings.
We could induce that chickens have
wings. We could induce that ostriches
have wings.
Economics and the Environment
National Income Accounts
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Net Domestic Product (NDP)
NDP = GDP - depreciation / capital expenses
BUT, consuming
nonrenewable natural
resources typically NOT
accounted
Economics and the Environment
National Income Accounts
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Net Domestic Product (NDP)
NDP = GDP - depreciation / capital expenses
External costs
rarely considered
In addition, degradation of
natural resources by
pollution also typically NOT
accounted
Ecological Risk
Assessments:
EPA has guidelines for estimating
probable effect of human activities in
ecosystems.
Stressors: These are human induced
changes that tax the environment.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: the estimated
cost is compared to determine how
much expense society will incur to
derive an environmental benefit.
Health effects and risk assessment
Risk assessment
the estimation of risks for
comparative purposes,
helps us set priorities and
manage risks
If risk is certain, its
probability is 1.
If risk is certain NOT to occur,
its probability is 0.
Risk management
the determination of the
need to reduce or
eliminate a particular risk.
Cost benefit analysis
Ecological risk assessment
Health effects of environmental
pollutants
Toxicology
study of chemicals with
adverse effects on health
Dose - the amount of a
toxin that enters the body.
Response - the type and
amount of damage caused
by exposure to a particular
dose.
Lethal-dose 50% (LD50)
the dose that is lethal to
50% of test animals (mg/kg)
the lower the LD50 the more
toxic
Effective-dose 50% (ED50)
the dose that causes 50%
of a population to exhibit
whatever response is under
study.
Carcinogens
Carcinogens
cancer causing
substances
See table 2-1 in text.
Page 26
Deaths caused by smoking
Ecological Risk Assessment
How one assesses the impact of
environmental damage in the environment
(water, land, air, flora and fauna) and the
interactions of each.
Today’s Activity From Chapter 1:
Discuss the Lake Washington Case-study
using the 5 components of addressing an
environmental problem.
1. Scientific assessment (model)
2. Risk Analysis
3. Public Education
4. Political Action
5. Follow through
Case - Study - Lake Washington
Damage to the environment can
often be reversed. (As in
Seattle's Lake Washington)
Problem: Raw sewage inputted
into lake - making it nutrient
rich and Eutrophic.
– Scientific assessment
identifies problems and
makes suggestions
– Risk analysis environmental, social and
political
– Public education and
– Political action come into
play
– Follow through of
assessment and implication
of remediation
Lake Washington Case-study
Lake Washington Case-study
U.S. Environmental Legislation
What has been their effect since 1970?
•
8 National Parks, National Wilderness Preservation
System
•
Substantial soil erosion reduction
•
Many endangered species fairing better
• Emissions of many pollutants reduced
•Increases in fish consumption advisories has increased. Due
to Mercury or polychloriated biphenyls??????? Why??????
Economics and the Environment
Source are that
part of the
environment from
which materials
move
Economy
Raw
Materials
Production
Sinks are that part
of he environment
that receives input
of materials
Products
Consumption
Waste
Money
Depends on natural capital to provide sources fro raw materials and sinks for waste products
Economics
Study of how people use their limited
resources to try to satisfy their unlimited
wants.
Depends on natural capital to provide
sources fro raw materials and sinks for
waste products
Economics and the Environment
National Income Accounts: total income of a nation
for a given year
Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
Net Domestic Product (NDP)
NDP = GDP - depreciation / capital expenses
BUT, consuming nonrenewable
natural resources typically NOT
accounted
National Income Accounting Practices
are misleading and incomplete,, they do
not incorporate environmental factors
National Income Accounts
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Net Domestic Product (NDP)
NDP = GDP - depreciation / capital expenses
External costs rarely
considered
Not accounted for:
1. natural resource depletion
2. costs and benefits of
pollution control
An Economists View of Pollution
External cost: when consuming
How much pollution is Acceptable
Economics and the Environment
Marginal cost of pollution
Economics and the Environment
Marginal cost of pollution abatement
Economics and the Environment
Cost-Benefit diagram: economists identify
the optimum amount of pollution as the
amount at which
Marginal costs= marginal cost abatement
Economics and the Environment
HARMFUL
Marginal cost of
pollution EXCEEDS the
cost of reducing
pollution (abatement)
BENEFICIAL
why?
Economics and the Environment
Common problems with economic analyses:
1) Reduction in quality of life and natural
beauty difficult to assess.
2) Fails to consider unexpected catastrophic
environmental damage.
Economics and the Environment
Economic strategies for pollution control:
1) Command and control regulations
• Catalytic converters
• Clean Air Act amend. 1990 quantitative goal a 60%
reduction of nitrogen oxide
2) Incentive-based regulation
• Emission charge in Europe (tax), green taxes
• marketable waste-discharge permits
• Emission reduction credits (ERCs)
Economics and the Environment
Case-in-Point: Environmental Problems in
Central and Eastern Europe
Economics and the Environment
The Black Triangle is located on
the triangular border area
between Germany's Southern
Saxony; Poland's Lower
Silesia and the Czech
Republic's Northern Bohemia.
Environmental Ethics, Values,
and Worldviews
Deep Ecology worldview
Western worldview
Environmental Ethics, Values,
and Worldviews
Environmental Ethics:
List your moral values concerning the
stewardship of natural resources.
Where would you place yourself along this
spectrum of worldviews?
Deep
Ecology
Western