Name
Class
Date
2.2 United States Environmental Policy
Key Concepts
Environmental policy makes use of science, ethics, economics, and the political process
to solve environmental problems.
Throughout its history, the United States government has reinvented its approach to the
relationship between the nation’s goals and the environment.
Modern U.S. environmental policy reveals lessons learned from past misuses of
resources and strives for a sustainable future.
Vocabulary Preview
Define each vocabulary term in your own words. Then, write yourself a quick note on
how you will remember each. One term has been done for you.
Term
Policy
Environmental
policy
Environmental
Impact
Statement (EIS)
Definition
How I Remember
the average number of children
born per female member of a
population during her lifetime.
I think of how they graph
female children for prereproductive in the future
I think of the graph we
looked at in the textbook
model of economic
and cultural change
A report that evaluates the impact of
new construction on the environment
To impact means “to affect,” so an
Environmental Impact Statement tells
how something will affect the environment
What Is Environmental Policy?
that
1. Identify three goals of modern-day environmental policies.
I learned how they collect the results and how they predict human population growth.
2. Name five individuals and groups that help make environmental policies.
I know that they graph the results they find in the Census.
3. What role does science play in making environmental policy?
I learned how they collect the results and how
they predict human population growth.
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Name
Class
Date
4. How do environmental catastrophes tend to influence environmental policies in state and
local governments?
It describes the relative numbers of females and males which can help demographers calculate a population
size.
5.
Fill in the T-chart with short descriptions of how different
branches of the U.S. government are involved in environmental policy.
Some regions might
have more females
than males because
males migrate to find
work. Other areas
might have more
males than females,
such as in culture that
values males more
than females, with a
resulting decrease in
the quality of care for
females
Branch of U.S.
Government
Its Role in Environmental Policy
Population A because
most people will soon
reach reproductive age
and have children. In
population B, the
population is aging and
fewer people will be having
children.
History of U.S. Environmental Policy
For Questions 6–8, write True if the statement is true. If the statement is false, replace
the underlined word to make the statement true. Write your changes on the line.
TRue
9.
6. From the 1780s to the late 1800s, people thought the amount of
land and resources in the West was limited.
False
7. People overused natural resources in the West from the late 1800s
through the mid-1960s.
TRue
8. The pristine condition of Ohio’s Cuyahoga River during the 1950s
and 1960s helped make more people aware of environmental issues.
How did Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring help change U.S. environmental policies?
Some regions might have more females than males because males migrate to find work. Other areas might have
more males than females, such as in culture that values males more than females, with a resulting decrease in the
quality of care for females
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Name
Class
Date
Modern U.S. Environmental Policy
10.
Add labels to the timeline for the following environmental events and
laws.
National Environmental Policy Act
Clean Water Act
EPA formed
11. After studying the timeline above, what observations can you make about U.S.
environmental policy between 1970 and 1996?
Nations can provide incentives for one-child families and fines for larger families. Nations can also take
education-based approaches, provide economic incentives, offer free contraception, and provide reproductive
healthcare.
12. What is the current direction of environmental policy in the United States? Give examples.
it's a summary of the number of individuals of each age in the population. Age structure is useful in
understanding and predicting population growth. An understanding of population age structure is critically
important to industries that harvest living organisms.
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Name
Class
Date
Organize Information
13. Fill in the compare/contrast table with information about the three historical periods of
U.S. environmental policy and modern-day U.S. environmental policy.
First Period
(1780s to late
1800s)
Policy
catalyst
Policy focus
Second Period
(late 1800s to
mid-1900s)
Post-industrial
Pre-industrial
stage: Both
stage:
birthrates and
Birthrates and
death rates fall to
death rates are low and stable
high.
levels.
Transitional stage:
Birthrates are high
but death rates
are declining.
Third Period
(mid- to late
1900s)
Modern Day
Industrial
stage: Birth
Rates start to
decline; death
rates stay low.
Transitional stage:
Birthrates are high
but death rates
are declining.
Industrial stage:
Pre-industrial
Industrial
Birth Rates start
to decline; death
rates stay low.
stage:
Birthrates and
stage: Birth
Rates start to
death rates
are high.
decline; death
rates stay low.
Answer the questions to test your knowledge of lesson concepts. You can check your
work using the answers on the bottom of the page.
14. Describe how an environmental policy becomes law in the United States.
it's a summary of the number of individuals of each age in the population. Age structure is useful in
understanding and predicting population growth. An understanding of population age structure is
critically important to industries that harvest living organisms.
15. Since the late 1800s, how has the United States tried to protect the environment?
Nations can provide incentives for one-child families and fines for larger families. Nations can also take
education-based approaches, provide economic incentives, offer free contraception, and provide reproductive
healthcare.
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