Part 2Environmental Policy Trends The history of environmental policy over the last few decades has been an uneven one and focusing either on short-term or long-term agendas. Overtime, the continuity of strong public support for environmental protection and expansion of government authority has strengthened. When George W. Bush was elected president in 2001, within two months of taking office he announced a reversal in a campaign pledge to impose controls on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Additionally, he announced that the United States would withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change arguing that it was “fatally flawed” and placed too much unfair burden on the U.S. economy.
Presidential powers in enacting and sustaining environmental policies can be crucial in its success and widespread adoption. Presidents have a major role in agenda setting. They have the ability to bring issues to the public’s attention, define terms of public debate, and rally public opinion and support. Presidential powers, such as those of President Nixon can also be crucial in mobilizing expertise groups inside and outside the government to lay the foundation of policies and legislation that set into motion plans of action for generations.
Until the 1970 the federal government played a limited role in making environmental policies. In 1964 Congress passed the Wilderness Act to preserve forest lands and approved the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to fund federal purchases of land for conservation purposes. The third Act of the 1960s was the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 to protect selected rivers with “outstandingly remarkable features.” Land and water conservation were at the core of environmental policies before an overarching government body was formed.
The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970. Teachings about environmental problems highlighted the importance of the ecology on the nation’s social and political agendas. With the meaning and nature of “quality of life” evolving rapidly, the concern, need, and demand for stronger environmental protection grew among the population. Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969, setting the stage for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. President Nixon proclaimed the 1970s as the environmental decade, increasing new federal measures that covered air and water pollution control, pesticide regulation, endangered species protection, control of hazardous and toxic chemicals, ocean and coastline protection, better stewardship of public lands, requirements for restoration of strip-mined lands, setting aside more than 100 million acres of Alaskan wilderness for varying degrees of protection, and the creation of a “Superfund” in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for cleaning up of waste sites. The aforementioned were a truly remarkable level of achievement for environmental policies during the 1970s.
It is interesting to see how the 1970s were a giant leap forward for environmental protection. There were also other signs of commitment to environmental policy goals such as the doubling of are designated to national wilderness (excluding Alaska). However, in the 1980s, the Reagan administration brought a marked difference in the United States environmental policy agenda. Virtually all environmental protection and resource policies enacted during the 1970s were reevaluated in light of the president’s desire to reduce the scope of government regulation, shift responsibilities to the states, and rely more on the private sector. With President Reagan’s agendas clearly not in the favor of environmental protection, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, James Watt and the Administrator of the EPA, Anne Gorsuch (later Burford) were forced to resign due to their continued criticism of the administration.
President Reagan’s actions had a paradoxical effect on environmental issues across the nation. National and grassroots environmental groups organized and appealed successfully to the public creating further political incentives for environmental activism at all levels of government. Even after George H. W. Bush come into office, the White House was divided environmental issues for both ideological and economic reasons. Following George H. W. Bush, President Clinton exerted only sporadic leadership on the environment throughout his two terms in office. However, he was also praised for his environmental appointments and for his administration’s support for initiatives such as the restoration of the Florida Everglades and other actions based on new approaches to ecosystem management. President Clinton also reversed many Reagan and George H. W. Bush era executive actions that were widely criticized by environmentalists, and he favored increased spending on areas such as alternative energy and conservation research.
As for the George W. Bush administration, within two months of taking office, President Bush reversed a campaign pledge to impose controls on carbon dioxide emission from power plants and withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol despite pleas from world leaders and much of the scientific community. The controversial Healthy Forest Restoration Act/Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI) of 2003 allowed loggers to thin parts of federally owned protected forests based on the theory that it will reduce the risk of forest fires. During his Presidential Campaign George Bush had promised to clean up power plants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically $2 billion for research in clean coal technology. He later reversed his position, stating that carbon dioxide was not considered a pollutant under his Clean Air Act and that restricting carbon dioxide emissions would lead to higher energy prices. George W. Bush’s legacy has also been to take wolves off the endangered species list, allowing power plants to operate near national parks, loosening regulations for factory farm waste, and loosening mountaintop coal-mining operations.
The history of environmental policies in the United States has had its ups and downs. Overall however, there has been significant growth in national support for environmental policies. Much like the Nixon administration, the Obama administration is an upward trend from recent administrations in ensuring that appropriate measures are taken to place the environment at the forefront of policy and decision-making. President Obama’s 4-year term has just come to an end. While many criticized his efforts to further environmental agendas over creating jobs, few truly understood his resolve, determination, and foresight. From the first day in office, the Obama administration has been at the forefront of battling an economic depression comparable to the Great Depression while he has singled handedly make more efforts towards protecting the environment than the two Bush administrations combined.
A considerable effort has been made to his $150 billion funding for clean energy technologies over a 10-year period. President Obama has been able to modernize the U.S. power grid, revitalized the development of nuclear plants, funded research for use of coal without emissions of heat-trapping gases, and diversified the U.S. renewable energy portfolio to contribute 10 percent of the national energy grid by the end of 2012. All this while he successfully steered the country out of a recession. A remarkable achievement for one man in one presidential term.
References Part 21. Device Daily. November 9, 2008. “Obama To Change The Energy And Environmental Policy.” Retrieved February 6, 2010 from
http://www.devicedaily.com/environment/obama-to-change-the-energy-and-environmental-policy.html
