Reading

Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (Eds). (2018). Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation. OpenStax CNX. THEISandTOMKIN_Sustainability-a-Comprehensive-Foundation-45.1.pdf

Chapter 2 (all)
Chapter 7.4 (only section 7.4)

Supplemental:

Russell, E., & Fairfax, S. K. (2014). Guide to U.S. Environmental Policy (Links to an external site.). CQ Press. Chapter 28, see specifically pp. 400 - 407.

Introduction

Environmental protection is among the central matters for natural conservation, public health and sustainable business. With advanced technologies and changing lifestyles, the consumption of resources and release of wastes and pollutants are increasing fast. This requires policy makers to design environmental policies that properly guide the development of new products and business operations.

The goal of environmental policy is to limit, slow-down, reduce or eliminate environmental damages caused by industrial and human activities. Environmental issues generally addressed by environmental policy include (but are not limited to) air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem management, biodiversity protection, and the protection of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species. (Berg & Meijer, 2010, ¶1)

Often, environmental policy is conflated with politics. However, that is not always the case. Certainly, governmental policies are enmeshed in politics, however, there are environmental policies of colleges, businesses, and any organization or institution that demonstrates an awareness of the larger environment and related issues. Likewise, environmental policies reflect the culture and time in which they are enacted. For instance, during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States environmental issues were prominent on the cultural landscape and therefore on the national political agenda. Many of today’s federal environmental regulations (the results of policy decisions) were put in place in the mid-19^th century. However, during the mid-1990s the political landscape shifted, and government deregulation became prominent. Environmental regulations are viewed by some as putting a damper on our national economic prosperity and anti-environmental legislation, viewed from an economics framework, were put into place. Often it was not as blatant as overt “anti-environmentalism,” but rather a slow hacking away at the strength of the 1960/1970's regulations.

In today’s partisan political environment where federal policy gridlock has become the norm, states (Sun Sentinel, 2019) and municipalities (Samuel, 2019), as well as small businesses (McMahon, 2019) and regional coalitions, have begun to step in to take action through environmental policy. The City of San Antonio is one of these cities that is acting. “As we anticipate changes in our community related to climate change, the draft SA Climate Ready Plan charts the course for a more equitable, environmentally resilient and economically viable future” (San Antonio, 2019, ¶1).

In this module we will take an introductory look at the history of US environmental perspectives and some of the major federal environmental regulations that have resulted from policy decisions, as well as those that were rolled back in a short period of time, demonstrating just how fragile our environment policies are.

This is a self-graded, blog post activity.

Module Objectives Achieved

You will be able to…

MO 4.1. Use the vocabulary of env sci. in written communication (7. #vocab Course; 2. #commskills Core)

MO 4.2. Apply critical thinking skills. (7. #think Course; 1 #critthink Core)

MO 4.4. Assess the effectiveness of environmental policy (1. #critthink Core)

Task

1. Read: Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (Eds). (2018). Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation.

Chapter 2 (all)
Chapter 7.4 (only section 7.4)

2. Write an 700 to 900-word blog post summary of the history of environmental thought in the US. (Not the laws as found in Chapter 7.4, but the culture and thought perspectives found in Chapter 2).

Use this supplemental reading as your support. Don’t look for other references on the web, just outline from these two e-books only.

Russell, E., & Fairfax, S. K. (2014). Guide to U.S. Environmental Policy (Links to an external site.). CQ Press. Chapter 28, see specifically pp. 400 - 407.

3. Develop a timeline of major federal environmental laws enacted in the US using a graphical timeline tool from the Resources below. This will be from Theis & Tomkin (2018), Chapter 7.4. and Russell & Fairfax (2014). No need to use any other references.

4. Post both your historical summary and your timeline to your blog sufficient that your audience has a good overview of US environmental policy and thought.

5. Use in-text citations and complete references as required.

Criteria

Your declaration for this activity will read:

Blog Title: I used the title Activity 4.1 – US Environmental History and Major Regulations.
Historical Summary: I wrote an 700 to 9000-word summary of US environmental thought using only the readings provided.
Timeline: I posted a timeline of major US federal environmental laws in a graphical form.
Citations and References: I used correct in-text citations and complete, matching references per college writing guidelines.
Professionalism: I read my summary out loud two times and made corrections. I read it a third time after I posted it and made corrections. All of my work is written at a college level and has no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, or style.

Resources

Make Timelines with your Usual Microsoft Office Tools (Recommended)

Time Graphics (trial, only allows a few time points)

Visme - (Select "infographic." Free to create a .jpg.)

How to make a timeline in Google Docs

References

Andrews, R. N. L. (2006). Managing the environment, managing ourselves: A history of American environmental policy (2^nd ed.). Yale University Press. https://nvclibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/858861836

Berg, A., & Meijer, J. (2010). Handbook of environmental policy. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

McMahon, S. (2019, July 8). How a grocery store’s plan to shame customers into using reusable bags backfired. The Salt. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/07/08/739580158/how-a-grocery-stores-plan-to-shame-customers-into-using-reusable-bags-backfired

Popovich, N., Albeck-Ripka, L., & Pierre-Louis, K. (2020, May 20 version). The Trump administration is reversing 100 environmental rules. Here's the full list. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html

Russell, E., & Fairfax, S. K. (2014). Guide to U.S. Environmental Policy (Links to an external site.). CQ Press. https://nvcproxy.alamo.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.nvcproxy.alamo.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=862170&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=s4653251&authtype=ip&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_407

Samuel, M. (2019, May 29). Cities are making big climate promises. Keeping them can be tough. Environment and Energy Collaborative. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2019/05/29/724985884/cities-are-making-big-climate-promises-keeping-them-can-be-tough

San Antonio. (2019). SA climate ready. Climate Action and Adaptation, Office of Sustainability. https://www.sanantonio.gov/sustainability/SAClimateReady

Sun Sentinel. (2019, March 21). At last, Tallahassee is talking about sea-level rise. Editorial-Opinion. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-edit-sea-level-rise-20190321-story.html