Announcements

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Announcements Dec. 1, 2006

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

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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.
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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."
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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?

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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

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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/
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History of Environmental Policy

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

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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

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Problems of the 1960s

• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Chemicals

Agent Orange
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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

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NEPA

• NEPAs strength EIS requirement
• Revolutionary stop and think strategy
• prevents tunnel vision by agencies

• Emulated by 25 states and 80 countries

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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Cost Benefit Analysis (1968)
Conducted by the TVA

• 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

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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 ESAs roadblock statute

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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.

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Cost Benefit Analysis (1978)

• 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

Conducted by the Endangered Species
Committee (God Squad)
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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

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Tellico

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

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Points to Know Dec. 6

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