November 17

Public Policy

Discussing the Environment, Evaluation and Externalities 

Administrative Items for Class

• Rachel and Amy's Oral Presentation Today

• PAPER DUE MONDAY!?  Any Questions?

• Announcements?

• What is "New & Groovy in Public Policy?" 

THE PUBLIC POLICY TOOLKIT

• Definitions - What is public policy?

• Contexts - What information is needed when making policy?

• Models - What are specific ways to analyze policy making?

• Federalism - Recognizing Levels of Gov't & Tools Used

• Variables - Cause (IND) and Effect (DEP)

• Process  - Stages of Public Policy 

• Data Conclusions "Filling In Gaps" and Policy Consistency

• Policymaker Types 

• Lowi Policy Categories

• Evaluation  - DEALING WITH EXTERNALITIES

SHOULD WE DRILL FOR MORE OIL IN ALASKA?

Environmental, Economic and Evaluation Policies

• Play in Peoria - Policy Environment in Systems Theory

• Indicators - IN ANY policy

• Before and After - What policy/contextual event changed things (9.11.01)

• Others? _____________

• Pre/Post

• With v. W/out

• Cost/Benefit Analysis

• Symbolic and Tangible Effects

• Ratios...

  Theories Influencing a Policy Environment - Continuum of Ideologies

  VERY PRO _____________________________VERY CON

  Wrestling with Group Behavior Evaluation, Economics and and COMPLEX Issue Networks

  ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

  MSNBC-Environment

  ENN - Environmental News Network

  PUBLIC CHOICE Theory, Group Theory and Externalities  

          Q.    What is the cost of a sunrise over the Great Smoky Mountains?

  Q.   What is the price of clean drinking water for our children?

  Q.  How much environmental risk is enough to absorb before regulating it?

  Priceless….yet in today’s world it actually must HAVE a price in order to be considered as a policy issue.  What we discussed last time - finding common units to discuss VERY divided policy

  Does Cost Benefit Analysis (CBR or BCR) do enough?  

  What about the local connection?

    How Should East Tennessee Deal with Air Pollution?

  How should Maryville College impact the environment?

  First - An environmental continuum - understanding extremes and looking for a third option

    Pro Preserving the Environment -------------------------------Pro Conserving/Consuming the Environment

                                                          and each of us somewhere in the middle

    

Four Major Approaches in the History of Environmental PolicyMaking (1970 - Today)

Official Policy Making - Mainly Regulatory

Unofficial Policy Making

Two Official Approaches – Command and Control v. Market Influenced

  RESOURCE POLLUTION and RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

 Get the Issue on the Agenda...and then keep it there.

Best cleanup ever in past 30 years      OR    Harbinger of disaster in next 30 years

Air– CAA and CAAA  removing particles and gases.  Clean Skies Initiative

Types and Sources

• Motor Vehicles – CO and SO2
• Industrial and Power Generation – NO x and SO2
• Day-to-Day use – PM10s, Acid Rain  
• http://www.ccaej.org/projects/airpol.htm 
•     Eight studies of air pollution in US cities have shown that particulate matter in our air is presently killing about 60,000 Americans each year. In other words, any increase in this pollution, kills someone. Mere compliance with federal standards does not protect the public’s health.
• http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/4/1/14

Land   

• Wilderness – National Parks, Nat'l Forests
• Endangered Species Act – Bald Eagle, Snail Darter
• Urban Growth – Sprawl, Greenspaces and Culture  

Water    - WPCA

• Potable, Swimable, Fishable, Grey and Waste Water  

• Pollution – Runoff, Chemicals, Nitrogen/Farming

• Management – Wetlands, Coastal,  Sewage Treatment  

Oil Spills Timeline

CNN Oil Spill Story

Waste

• US 4 pound/person/day  * 365 = 1,500 pounds/person/year
• Double waste rate of 1960
• BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in municipal waste removal and storage
• Toxic Waste -  Chemical, Nuclear/Radioactive  Superfund - NPL  
• YUCCA MOUNTAIN--oops, its energy too!
•  
•             American Nuclear Society
•             US DOE OCRWM - Yucca Mountain Project

  Energy - eia

• Energy Security - Continue with Fossil Fuels or Go Alternative?
• Trade offs for each policy?
• $ 1,000,000 per minute spent on electricity
• SHOULD WE DRILL FOR MORE OIL IN ALASKA?   Why?  Why Not?

PUBLIC CHOICE Theory, Group Theory, Evaluation (Cost/Benefit)  & Externalities Clarified

 ANWR - Open ANWR -Closed

TAKINGS – When the government tells you to do something to your land in order to

Better protect the environment; are they taking away your rights?

POLLUTION CREDITS and EMISSIONS TRADING – Should pollution be trading in the open market

In the same way that stocks, commodities and other financial means are?

  GROWTH – Is growth the only measure of a society’s success? 

  LOCAL ISSUES…But a global context   “Think Globally, Act Locally.”

GAME THEORY - Made Real...

Inspections in Iraq     and Background  CNN-Showdown: Iraq