9/17/08ESPP 781 Birth of Environmentalism Multiple origin stories –18th C: Weather monitoring and agricultural experimentation (Thomas Jefferson) –19th C: Nature preservation and establishment of national parks (e.g., John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt) Yellowstone National Park in 1872 –20th C: Pollution control and sustainability Silent Spring in 1962 (Rachel Carson) Earth Day in 1970 (Sen. Gaylord Nelson) Establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 (Pres. Richard Nixon) Deregulation and market mechanisms from 1980 onward

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9/17/08ESPP 783 Foundation Stones Connections to nation-building –Nature and “American exceptionalism” –Parks, wilderness, and the industrial revolution –Environmentalism and war –Sustainability and the planetary view Crucial role of the federal government –Environment as a product of law –Environment as a concern of science –Environment as a transnational concern

9/17/08ESPP 784 Tree, TR, and John Muir at Yosemite, 1903 (Source: Harvard)

9/17/08ESPP 785 Mapping Environmental Politics Map depends on the era and the kind of environmentalism we are talking about For each phase or period, we can ask –What was at stake? –Who were the actors? –What were the controversies and how were they resolved? –What were the processes? –What were the institutions, before and after?

9/17/08ESPP 786 Major Shifts in US History Ideologies: preservation, conservation, remediation, improvement Actors: individuals to social movements Objects of concern: pristine nature to human health to production and consumption Scales of concern: local to global Methods of control: private disputes to public law to international cooperation Distribution of authority: government to governance

9/17/08ESPP 787 Government / Governance Scale Actor LocalNationalInternational PublicCities and states National governments UN agencies CorporateLocal businesses National companies Chains Multinational corporations (MNCs) Civil societyNeighbor- hood groups Environment- al and consumer groups International NGOs

9/17/08ESPP 788 Legal Authority Federal authority –What makes a problem “federal”? Commerce clause –Pre-emption and delegation State authority –Delegated, under federal supervision (airsheds, watersheds) –Reserved, under constitution (cities, aquifers) Supranational law –International environmental treaties (climate, biodiversity) –Customary law (e.g., duty to warn other states) Unregulated domains and issues –Space debris, greenhouse gases, and energy, for example?

9/17/08ESPP 789 The Structure of US Federal Environmental Regulation Conceptual framework –Medium by medium (air, water, land, coastal zone) –Hazard by hazard (toxic products, GM products, noise) EPA’s anchoring role –Air, water, chemicals, pesticides, noise, radiation, wastes Dispersed and overlapping jurisdiction –Nuclear power - DOE, EPA –Parks - Interior –Endangered species - Interior –Farm animals and crop plants - USDA –Biotechnology - EPA, FDA, USDA –Climate - ???

9/17/08ESPP 7810 Instruments of Governance Regulation –Standards: design, performance, technology forcing Alternatives to regulation –Voluntary actions (corporate social responsibility) –Economic incentives –Information provision –Public-private partnerships –Campaigns and public information –Litigation