Enviornmental
Enviornmental (environmental) policy is a course of action taken deliberately, or not taken, to manage human activities with a view to mitigate, prevent, or reduce harmful effects on natural resources and nature , and to ensure that man-made changes to the environment do not have a harmful effect on humans.
It is helpful to consider that enviornmental policy comprises two major terms: policy and environment. Environment refers primarily to the ecological dimension (ecosystems), but can also take into account social dimension (quality of life) and an economic dimension (resource management). Policy is defined as a course of action or principle proposed or adopted by a government, business, party, or individual. Therefore, enviornmental policy focuses primarily on problems arising from the impact of humans on the environment, which retroacts onto human society by having a negative impact on human values such as a green environment or good health.
Environmental issues addressed by enviornmental policy include, but are not limited to, water and air pollution, ecosystem management, waste management, biodiversity protection, and the protection of natural resources, endangered species and wildlife. Relatively recently, environmental policy also attended to the communication of environmental issues.
The enviornmental policy of the United States is actions to regulate activities that have an environmental impact in the United States. The primary goal of environmental policy is to protect the environment for future generations, at the same time as interfering as little as possible with the liberty of the people or the efficiency of commerce and to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. This policy grew out of the environmental movement in the United States between 1960 and 1970. During this time several enviornmental laws were passed, regulating water and air pollution and forming the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Due partially to the high costs associated with these regulations, there has been a criticism from business and politically conservative interests, which limited increases to environmental regulatory budgets and slowed efforts to protect the environment. Since the 1970s, despite frequently occurring legislative gridlock, there has been significant achievements in environmental regulation, including increases in water and air quality and to a lesser degree, control of hazardous waste. Due to the increased scientific consensus on global warming, as well as political pressure from environmental groups, changes to the United States energy policy and limits on greenhouse gas emission have been considered, but such efforts have made limited progress.
The two major policy tools for protecting the environment are inducements and rules. The United States has opted to use rules through regulation. Such regulations can come in the form of performance standards and design standards. Design standards specify exactly how performance standards will be met, while performance standards specify emission levels and let those covered by the rules decide how those levels will be met. The government can alternatively use inducements, or market reform. Inducements are punishments and rewards used to influence groups or people. The two major types of market reforms are charge systems, such as tradable permit systems and emissions taxes. An example of tradable permit system is an auction of pollution rights in whereby the amount of pollution allowed is established and divided into units, which are then auctioned, giving environmental organizations the opportunity to purchase the units to create a cleaner environment than originally planned. This type of plan was implemented for SO2 emissions in the 1990 Acid Rain Program and was undertaken for greenhouse gases on a regional scale as a way to alleviate global warming.