环境学概论英文版.docx

1、环境学概论英文版Environmental policy and decision makingObjectives After reading this chapter, you should be able to:. explain how the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the U.S government interact in forming policy. Understand how environmental laws are enforced in the United States. Describe

2、 the forces that led to changes in environmental policy in the united states during the past three decades. Understand the history of the major U.S environmental legislation. Understand why some individuals in the United States are concerned about environmental regulations. Understand what is meant

3、by “ green” politics. Describe the reasons environmentalism is a growing factor in international relations. Understand the factors that could result in eco-conflicts. Understand why it is not possible to separate politics and the environment. Explain how citizen pressure can influence governmental e

4、nvironmental policies.Chapter OutlineNew Challenges for a New CenturyLearning from the past Thinking about the FutureDefining the FutureThe Development of Environmental Policy in the United StatesEnvironmental BacklashThe Wise Use MovementThe Changing Nature of Environmental PolicyEnvironmental Clos

5、e-UP: shaping U.S. Environmental Policy as the New Century BeginsEnvironmental Policy and Regulation The Greening of GeopoliticsEnvironmental Close-up: Changing the Nature of Environmental Regulation-The Safe Drinking Water ActTerrorism and the EnvironmentInternational Environmental PolicyGlobal Per

6、spective: Earth Summit onEnvironment and DevelopmentGlobal Perspective: Overview of an International Organization-The International Whaling CommissionGlobal Perspective: Eco-Labels Environmental Policy and the European UnionNew International InstrumentsIt All Comes Back to YouNew Challenges for a Ne

7、w CenturyWe live in remarkable times. This is an era of rapid and often bewildering alter-ations in the forces and conditions that shape human life. This is evident both in the altered nature of geopolitics in the post-Cold War era and in the growing understanding of the relationship between human b

8、eings and the natural world. This relationship varies , however, between the developing and developed countries of the world. One of the major challenges of the foreseeable future will be centered on worldwide environmental impact as developing nations evolve economically. The end of the Cold War ha

9、s been accompanied by the swift advance of democracy in place where it was previously unknown and an even more repid spread of market-based economies. The authority of central governments is eroding, and power has begun to shift to local governments and private institutions. In some countries, freed

10、om and opportunity are flourishing, while in others, these changes have unleashed the violence of old conflicts and new ambitions. Internationally, trade, investment, information, and even people flow across borders largely outside of governmental control. Domestically, deregulation and the shift of

11、 responsibilities from federal to state and local governments are changing the relationships among levels of government and between government and the private sector.Communications technology has enhanced people,s ability to receive information and influence events that affect them. This has sparked

12、 explosive growth in the number of organizations, associations, and networks formed by citizens, businesses, and communities seeking a greater voice for their interests, As a result, society outside of governmentcivil societyis demanding a greater role in governmental decisions, while at the same ti

13、me impatiently seeking solutions outside government,s power to decide.But technological innovation is changing much more than communication. It is changing the ways in which we live, work, produce, and consume. Knowledge has become the economy,s most important and dynamic resource. It has rapidly im

14、proved efficiency as those who create and sell goods and services substitute information and innovation for raw materials. During the past 25 years, the amount of energy and natural resources the U.S. laws first required industry to control pollution, the response was to install cleanup equipment. T

15、he shift to a knowledge-driven economy has emphasized the positive connection among efficiency, profits, and environmental protection and helped launch a trend in profitable pollution prevention. More and more people today now understand that pollution is waste, waste is inefficient, and inefficienc

16、y is expensive.Even as their access to information and to means of communication has increased, citizens of the more developed nation are becoming cynical about, and frustrated with, traditional political arrangements that no longer seem responsive to their needs. The confidence of many citizens in

17、the large institutions that affect their livessuch as business, government, the media, and environmental, labor ,and civic organizations is eroding. Individual citizens have lost faith in their ability to influence events and have surrendered to apathy, or worse, to anger.Since the end of world war

18、II, the world,s economic output has increased substantially, allowing widespread improvements in health, education, and opportunity but also creating growing disparities between rich and poor. Even in the highly developed nations, the gap between rich and poor is widening.Tomorrow,s world will be sh

19、aped by the aspirations of a much larger global population. The number of people living on earth has doubled in the last 50 years. Growing populations demand more food, goods, services, and space. Where there is scarcity, population increase aggravates it. Struggling to survive in places that can no

20、 longer sustain them, growing populations overfish, overharvest, and overgraze.As we begin the new century, it is important that we recognize that economic, environmental, and social goals are integrally linked and that we develop policies that reflect that interrelationship. Thinking narrowly about

21、 jobs, energy, transportation, housing, or ecosystemsas if they were not connectedcreates new problems even as it attempts to solve old ones. Asking the wrong questions is a sure way to get misleading answers that result in shortterm remedies for symptoms, instead of cures for long-term problems.All

22、 of this will require new modes of decision making, ranging from the local to the international level. While trend is not always destiny, the trend that has been evolving over the past several years has been toward more collaborative forms of decision making. Perhaps such collaborative structures wi

23、ll involve more people and a broader range of interests in shaping and making public policy. It is hoped that this will improve decisions, mitigate conflict, and begin to counteract the corrosive trends of cynicism and civic disengagement that seem to be growing.More collaborative approaches to maki

24、ng decisions can be arduous and time-consuming, and all of the players must change their customary roles. For government, this means using its power to convene and facilitate, shifting gradually from prescribing behavior to supporting responsibility by setting goals, creating incentives, monitoring

25、performance, and providing information.For their part, businesses need to build the practice and skills of dialogue with communities and citizens, participating in community decision making and opening their own values, strategies, and performance to their community and the society.Advocates, too ,m

26、ust accept the burdens and constraints of rational dialogue built on trust, and communities must create open and inclusive debate about their future.Does all of this sound too idealistic? Perhaps it is; however, without a vision for the future, where would we be? As was stated previously, trend is n

27、ot destiny. In other words, we are capable of change regardless of the status quo. This is perhaps nowhere more important than in the world of environmental decision making.Learning from the pastFor the past quarter century, the basic pattern of environmental protection in economically developed nat

28、ions has been to react to specific crises. Institutions have been established, laws passed, and regulations written in response to problems that already were posing substantial ecological and public health risks and costs, or that already were causing deep-seated public concern.The United States is

29、no exception. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) has focused its attention almost exclusively on present and past problems. The political will to establish the agency grew out of a series of highly publicized, serious environmental problems, such as the fire on the Cuyahoga River in Ohio,

30、smog in Los Angeles, and the near extinction of the bald eagle. During the 1970s and1980s, Congress enacted a series of laws intended to solve these problems, and the EPA, which was created in 1970s, was given the responsibility for enforcing most environmental laws. Despite success in correcting a

31、number of existing environmental problems, there has been a continuing pattern of not responding to environmental problems until they pose immediate and unambiguous risks. Such polices, however, will not adequately protect the environment in the future. People are recognizing that the agencies and o

32、rganizations whose activities affect the environment must begin to anticipate future environmental problems and then take steps to avoid them. One of the most important lessons learned during the past quarter century of environmental history is that the failure to think about the future environmental consequences of prospective social, economic, and technological changes may impose substantial and avoidable economic and environmental costs on future generations.Thinking about the futureThinking about the future is more important today than ever before, because the acce