BESC 201 10 7 2013 Exam 2 Study Guide Lectures 10 20 Chapter 5 Lectures 10 12 September 23 September 27 Environmental policymaking is a problem solving pursuit that makes use of science ethics and economics and that requires an astute understanding of the political process Conventional command and control approaches of legislation and regulation remain the most common policy approaches but innovative economic policy tools are increasingly being developed These tools as well as efforts of environmental and ecological economists to quantify the value of ecosystem services are helping to bring economic approaches to bear on environmental protection and resource conservation Equating economic well being with economic growth as economists and policymakers traditionally have suggests that economic well being entails a trade off with environmental quality However as modern scientific economic and political efforts proceed they are helping us to see that safeguarding environmental quality helps to promote our quality of life Central Case Study San Diego and Tijuana Pollution Problems and Policy Solutions The Tijuana River flows across the international border from Mexico and empties into the Pacific Ocean Sewage tsunamis happen when heavy rains overwhelm the ability of sewage treatment plants to process wastewater The Tijuana River watershed is a transboundary watershed Beach closures and health advisories since then Chapter 6 Lectures 13 and 14 September 30 October 2 Today s human population is larger than at any time in the past Our growing population and our growing consumption affect the environment and our ability to meet the needs of the entire world s people The great majority of children born today are likely to live their lives in conditions far less healthy and prosperous than most of us in the industrialized world are accustomed to However there are at least two major reasons to be encouraged First although global population is still rising the rate of growth has decreased nearly everywhere and some countries are even seeing population declines Most developed nations have passed through the demographic transition showing that it is possible to lower death rates while stabilizing population and creating more prosperous societies Second progress has been made in expanding rights for women worldwide Although there is still a long way to go women are obtaining better education more economic independence and more ability to control their reproductive decisions Aside from the clear ethical progress these developments entail they are helping to slow population growth Human population cannot continue to rise forever The question is how it will stop rising Will it be through the gentle and benign process of the demographic transition through restrictive governmental intervention such as China s one child policy or through the miserable Malthusian checks of disease and social conflict caused by overcrowding and competition for scarce resources Moreover sustainability demands a further challenge that we stabilize our population size in time to avoid destroying the natural systems that support our economies and societies Central Case Study China s One Child Policy The People s Republic of China is the world s most populous nation Chinese women gave birth to 5 8 children in her lifetime Chinese leaders realized that the nation might not be able to feed its people if their numbers grew much larger A control program was put in place beginning with education increased accessibility to contraception and abortion and eventually more enforced policies Growth rate dropped from 2 8 to 1 8 Most controversial social experiments in history Led to a trend of preferences of sons over daughters because they don t carry on the family name and are married off Chapter 10 Lectures 15 17 October 4 9 International agreements such as REACH and the Stockholm Convention represent a sign that governments may act to protect the world s people wildlife and ecosystems from toxic substances and other environmental hazards At the same time solutions often come more easily when they do not arise from government regulation alone Consumer choice exercised through the market can often be an effective way to influence industry s decision making Consumers of products from plastics to pesticides to cosmetics to kids toys can make decisions that influence industry when they have full information from scientific research regarding the risks involved Once scientific results are in a society s philosophical approach to risk management will determine what policy decisions are made Central Case Study Poison in the Bottle Is Bisphenol A Safe Bisphenol A BPA a chemical and a synthetic organic compound that has been associated with everything from neurological effects to miscarriages but it s in hundreds of products Because most of the chemical passes through the body within hours of exposure its widespread presence in urine suggests the most Americans receive continuous exposure to BPA Babies and children accumulate the most BPA BPA mimics the female sex hormone estrogen Estrogen functions at very low concentrations in the body so a synthetic chemical in the body at similarly low concentrations can fool the body into responding as it would to estrogen Expert panels convened to assess the fast growing body of scientific studies of BPA have struggled with the fact that traditional research methods are not geared to test hormonemimicking substances that exert effects at low doses Grassroots lobbying efforts have led many companies to voluntarily remove BPA from their products Chapter 18 Lectures 18 20 October 18 16 As half the human population has shifted from rural to urban lifestyles the nature of our environmental impact has changed As urban and suburban dwellers our impacts are less direct but more far reaching Making urban and suburban areas more sustainable is vital for our future Fortunately we are developing sustainable solutions while making urban areas better places to live Planning and zoning entail long term vision so they can be powerful forces for sustaining urban communities Smart growth and new urbanism cut down on energy consumption helping us address the looming challenges of peak oil and climate change Mass transit systems reduce fuel use and carbon emissions And green building bring a diversity of environmental and health benefits Indeed because urban centers affect the environment in some positive ways and have