Chapter 3
Environmental History,
Politics, and Economics
Jobs Or Owls?



Pacific Northwest
Northern spotted owl
 Listed as threatened
 Some logging suspended
Northwest Forest Plan
 Compromise
 Some habitat protected
 Some logging resumed
 Loggers retrained
Jobs Or Owls?

More changes
 Loggers got more access
 Annual surveys required
 Endangered
species
 Threatened
species
Conservation & Preservation


Conservation
 Sensible management of resources
 Sustainable use
 Examples?
Preservation
 Setting aside areas
 Protection from
humans
 Examples?
Environmental Views in the
U.S.: 1700s-1800s




Widespread environmental destruction
Promote settlement
Frontier attitude
Resources
appeared
inexhaustible
Early Environmental Movement


Resources quickly
being depleted
John James Audubon
 Wildlife artist
 Aroused public
interest
Early Environmental Movement


Henry David Thoreau
 Writer
 Lived simply
George Perkins Marsh


Man and Nature
Humans as agents of
change
Protecting U.S. Forests



Deforestation happened quickly
American Forestry Association
 Formed by citizens
 Concerned about forests
Forest Reserve Act
1891
 President can establish forest
reserves
 Reversed in 1907: why?

Protecting U.S. Forests


Gifford Pinchot
 First head of U.S. Forest
Service
 Appointed by T. Roosevelt
 Viewed forests as useful to
people
 Manage them scientifically
National Forests today have
many uses
National Parks & Monuments


1872: Yellowstone
1890: Yosemite
 John Muir
 Biocentrist
 Preservationist
 Sierra Club
National Parks & Monuments



National Parks created by act of
Congress
National Monuments designated by the
President
Today
 58 National Parks
 73 National
Monuments
Managing National Parks




Originally managed by
U.S. Army
Hetch Hetchy Valley
 Yosemite NP
 1913: dam built
Parks needed more
protection
National Park Service:
1916
Mid-20th Century Conservation


Great Depression: FDR
 Civilian Conservation Corps
 Soil Conservation
Service
Aldo Leopold
Game Management
 A Sand County Almanac


Developed a land ethic
Mid-20th Century Conservation

Rachel Carson
 Marine biologist

Silent Spring
 Dangers

of pesticides
 Heightened public
awareness
Paul Ehrlich
 Ecologist

The Population Bomb
The Environmental Movement



1970: First Earth Day
 Gaylord Nelson
 Denis Hayes
Religious support
1990: 141
nations celebrate
Earth Day
Important Dates In
Environmental History





1963: Clean Air Act
1970: NEPA; EPA
created
1973: Endangered
Species Act
1974: Safe Drinking
Water Act
1977: Clean Water Act
Important Dates In
Environmental History





1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident
1987: Montreal Protocol drafted
1989: Exxon Valdez oil spill
1991: World’s
worst oil spill
1999: Human
population reaches
6 billion
Environmental Legislation

NEPA
 Environmental Impact Statements
 Required by federal government
 Short- & long-term impacts
 Public input
 Council on Environmental Quality
 Monitors EISs
 Reports to president
Environmental Impact
Statements
Environmental Regulations
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Environmental problem recognized
Full cost accounting
Congressperson drafts legislation
Legislation is passed
EPA now translates law into
regulations
Law enforced
Legislative Success!




National Parks
Decreased soil erosion
Some endangered species improving
Decreased pollution
 Improved water
quality
 Safer drinking
water
 Superfund Act
Economics


Study of how we decide to use scarce
resources to provide goods & services
Free market
 Supply & demand determine price
 U.S. economy
How Are The Economy &
Environment Related?



Environment is the source of materials
Environment serves as a sink for wastes
Sources & sinks contribute to natural
capital
 Resource degradation: overuse of
sources
 Pollution: overuse of sinks
Economy & Environment
National Income Accounts



Total income in a nation in one year
GDP & NDP provide estimates
Two problems with current system
1) Natural resource depletion
2) Cost & benefits of pollution control
Natural Resource Depletion


Not figured in national income accounts
Oil
 Value is part of GDP
 Depletion not
subtracted out
Pollution Control


Currently, cost of
polluting not deducted
from GDP
Estimates of
environmental damage
should be subtracted
from GDP
External Costs




Harmful environmental or social cost
Those not directly involved in
transaction
Not reflected
in market price
Market
increases
pollution
How Much Pollution Is
Acceptable?


Pollution is inevitable
Marginal cost
 Added cost of pollution
 Must balance:
 Cost of more pollution
 Cost of giving up goods
Marginal Cost Of Pollution

Added cost of pollution
Marginal Cost Of Pollution
Abatement

Added cost of reducing pollution
Optimum Amount Of Pollution


Economically most desirable
Problems?
Economic Strategies For
Pollution Control


Command and control regulations
 Limits and punishments
 Some success
 Problems?
Incentive-based
regulations
 Emission targets
 Incentives to
reduce emissions
Case Study: Central &
Eastern Europe




Late 1980s: fall of communist
governments
Much environmental destruction
Governments supported heavy industry
Who suffered?
Case Study: Central &
Eastern Europe



Today, environment must be improved
Some areas improving
Some areas recovering slowly: why?