Values Framework
Cohen (2006) states that “We are more dependent on natural systems than we once thought” (p. 13). He further states “ideas about our relationship to the ecological environment derive from our concept of property and a definition of nature as a resource to be used for human material well-being” (p. 13). The policy issue that this writer is evaluating is the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 309), which arose out of the high amounts of greenhouse gases produced by the United States. The goal would be to change some of the lifestyle changes of Americans, in order to reduce greenhouse gases. One of the focal targets in this Act would be automakers who would have the responsibility to manufacture automobiles that would meet a lower emission standard by the year of 2016. There would also be changes in the emission requirements of electric generation units, and the establishment of a low-carbon generation trading program. There are some conflicting values in this debate, which produced some difficulties in getting this Act to pass in congress. Currently, there are many opposing sides on this debate – some who believe that reducing greenhouse gases would promote strain on an already existing strained automotive industry and cause difficulties in other areas of industry, while others believe that it is necessary in preserving the environment for future generations. Versions of this Act have been introduced to Congress in both the 108th and 109th Congress, however at this time neither have been passed into legislation. This Act would provide revisions within the Clean Air Act, and have strict enforcement by the EPA.
Political Framework
Cohen (2006) states that “Environmental politics is closely connected to economic development and worldwide income distribution. Environmental policy is about individual and collective patterns of resource deployment, consumption and degradation” (p. 17). This is an interesting analysis, for it gives light to the importance of how closely connected the environment is to politics and economic growth. The current status of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act is that it was introduced by its sponsor – Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont on January 16, 2007. After this time, it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. At this time, there has been no more movement on the Act, and it has remained in Committee, thus not passing into legislation. There were a number of political stakeholders involved in the introduction of this Act, which included: Sen. Daniel Akaka (HI), Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA), Sen. Robert Casey Jr (PA), Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT), Sen. Russell Finegold (WI), Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Sen. (now President) Barack Obama (IL), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Sen. (now Vice President) Joseph Biden Jr. (DE), Sen. Benjamin Cardin (MD), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Sen.Richard Durbin (IL), Sen. Daniel Inouye (HI), Sen. Amy Kobuchar (MN), Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT), Sen. Barbara Mikuksi (MD), and Sen. Jack Reed (RI). Their support of environmental policy reform continues, and has been addressed during the administration of President Barack Obama who was a supporter of this Act when he served as the Senator of Illinois. The Act would be clustered/coupled with the Clean Air Act, and would provide some areas of reform in order to consider the control of greenhouse gas emissions. The level of government that is primarily responsible for addressing these issues would be the federal government, as it would be necessary to streamline policy to make a significant impact. It would be difficult to create policy that would solely impact the boundary of a single state without it having an impact on a bordering state; thus, environmental concerns should be addressed at a federal level. “Environmental issues must be raised and discussed through the electronic media, public education programs, and active efforts to elicit citizen participation in policy making” (Cohen, 2006, p. 18).
Science and Technology Framework
“To some degree, then the environment is a problem of science and technology…Problems caused by the impact of technological innovation on the environment are not easy to measure. The problems may take a long time to develop and sometimes it is hard to establish a causal relationship between an environmental problem and a specific technology” (Cohen, 2006, p. 27). There has been a great deal of research on the topic of global warming and the impact that pollution has on the environment; The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act would target emissions and greenhouse gasses in order to make efforts to produce a healthier environment. The Clean Air Act was introduced in 1970, with revisions made in 1977 and 1990; the revisions that were made in 1990 proposed emissions trading, and also added provisions for addressing acid rain, ozone depletion, and toxic air pollution. As a result of this amendment, there was also a national permits program established. Thus, there has been research produced which analyzes the specific causes and effects of the problem of global warming. Many of the problems associated with global warming have to do with the increase in production and industry. The United States is stated to be one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. The targets of the bill was for the US to reduce its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; by 2040, the goal was to have emissions reduced by 2/3 of 80% below 1990 levels and by 2050, emissions must be reduced to a level that is 80% below 1990 levels. Provisions within the Act (section 701) was to reduce US emissions to facilitate stabilization of a global atmospheric concentrations below 450 parts per million (Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act). http://sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm
Policy Design Framework
“Strategic regulatory planning is an effort by government to develop a comprehensive strategy for influencing behavior. There are two components to this plan. The fist is the formal regulation itself; the second is the manner in which the regulatory plan is implemented” (Cohen, 2006, p. 32). There are a number of regulatory features that were introduced with this Act, including increased involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who would be responsible for 1) establishing a competitive grant program for geological disposal deployment projects, 2) carrying out a global climate change standard and processing research programs. Other requirements were for covered generators to provide a minimum percentage of the base quantity of electricity produced for sale from low-carbon generation (Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, 2007 – S. 309). The stakeholders within this framework are made up of formal and informal environmental groups. The policy design is based upon strategic thinking and has been based upon scientific thought on how to reduce the impact of emissions on the environment.
Management Framework
Cohen (2006) states “One difficulty with the management of environmental policy is that environmental programs tend to take a piece of a larger problem and subdivide it in order to work on a solution” (p. 43). Cohen’s statement sheds light on some of the complications within management of various environmental issues. The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act attempts to target a very specific topic of interest, in the hopes of having a larger impact on the environment as a whole. By adding this as an amendment to the Clean Air Act, the goal would be to change the standards by which the EPA currently measures the amount of pollution within the environment. There is limited experience in addressing this issue, and as a result many individuals are apprehensive of changing current environmental policy. This is an area that the United States is continuing to research and develop statistical information on. Thus, there is much growth that must to continue to take place in order to ensure that environmental protection is maintained.
Cohen (2006) states that “We are more dependent on natural systems than we once thought” (p. 13). He further states “ideas about our relationship to the ecological environment derive from our concept of property and a definition of nature as a resource to be used for human material well-being” (p. 13). The policy issue that this writer is evaluating is the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 309), which arose out of the high amounts of greenhouse gases produced by the United States. The goal would be to change some of the lifestyle changes of Americans, in order to reduce greenhouse gases. One of the focal targets in this Act would be automakers who would have the responsibility to manufacture automobiles that would meet a lower emission standard by the year of 2016. There would also be changes in the emission requirements of electric generation units, and the establishment of a low-carbon generation trading program. There are some conflicting values in this debate, which produced some difficulties in getting this Act to pass in congress. Currently, there are many opposing sides on this debate – some who believe that reducing greenhouse gases would promote strain on an already existing strained automotive industry and cause difficulties in other areas of industry, while others believe that it is necessary in preserving the environment for future generations. Versions of this Act have been introduced to Congress in both the 108th and 109th Congress, however at this time neither have been passed into legislation. This Act would provide revisions within the Clean Air Act, and have strict enforcement by the EPA.
Political Framework
Cohen (2006) states that “Environmental politics is closely connected to economic development and worldwide income distribution. Environmental policy is about individual and collective patterns of resource deployment, consumption and degradation” (p. 17). This is an interesting analysis, for it gives light to the importance of how closely connected the environment is to politics and economic growth. The current status of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act is that it was introduced by its sponsor – Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont on January 16, 2007. After this time, it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. At this time, there has been no more movement on the Act, and it has remained in Committee, thus not passing into legislation. There were a number of political stakeholders involved in the introduction of this Act, which included: Sen. Daniel Akaka (HI), Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA), Sen. Robert Casey Jr (PA), Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT), Sen. Russell Finegold (WI), Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Sen. (now President) Barack Obama (IL), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Sen. (now Vice President) Joseph Biden Jr. (DE), Sen. Benjamin Cardin (MD), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Sen.Richard Durbin (IL), Sen. Daniel Inouye (HI), Sen. Amy Kobuchar (MN), Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT), Sen. Barbara Mikuksi (MD), and Sen. Jack Reed (RI). Their support of environmental policy reform continues, and has been addressed during the administration of President Barack Obama who was a supporter of this Act when he served as the Senator of Illinois. The Act would be clustered/coupled with the Clean Air Act, and would provide some areas of reform in order to consider the control of greenhouse gas emissions. The level of government that is primarily responsible for addressing these issues would be the federal government, as it would be necessary to streamline policy to make a significant impact. It would be difficult to create policy that would solely impact the boundary of a single state without it having an impact on a bordering state; thus, environmental concerns should be addressed at a federal level. “Environmental issues must be raised and discussed through the electronic media, public education programs, and active efforts to elicit citizen participation in policy making” (Cohen, 2006, p. 18).
Science and Technology Framework
“To some degree, then the environment is a problem of science and technology…Problems caused by the impact of technological innovation on the environment are not easy to measure. The problems may take a long time to develop and sometimes it is hard to establish a causal relationship between an environmental problem and a specific technology” (Cohen, 2006, p. 27). There has been a great deal of research on the topic of global warming and the impact that pollution has on the environment; The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act would target emissions and greenhouse gasses in order to make efforts to produce a healthier environment. The Clean Air Act was introduced in 1970, with revisions made in 1977 and 1990; the revisions that were made in 1990 proposed emissions trading, and also added provisions for addressing acid rain, ozone depletion, and toxic air pollution. As a result of this amendment, there was also a national permits program established. Thus, there has been research produced which analyzes the specific causes and effects of the problem of global warming. Many of the problems associated with global warming have to do with the increase in production and industry. The United States is stated to be one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. The targets of the bill was for the US to reduce its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; by 2040, the goal was to have emissions reduced by 2/3 of 80% below 1990 levels and by 2050, emissions must be reduced to a level that is 80% below 1990 levels. Provisions within the Act (section 701) was to reduce US emissions to facilitate stabilization of a global atmospheric concentrations below 450 parts per million (Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act). http://sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm
Policy Design Framework
“Strategic regulatory planning is an effort by government to develop a comprehensive strategy for influencing behavior. There are two components to this plan. The fist is the formal regulation itself; the second is the manner in which the regulatory plan is implemented” (Cohen, 2006, p. 32). There are a number of regulatory features that were introduced with this Act, including increased involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who would be responsible for 1) establishing a competitive grant program for geological disposal deployment projects, 2) carrying out a global climate change standard and processing research programs. Other requirements were for covered generators to provide a minimum percentage of the base quantity of electricity produced for sale from low-carbon generation (Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, 2007 – S. 309). The stakeholders within this framework are made up of formal and informal environmental groups. The policy design is based upon strategic thinking and has been based upon scientific thought on how to reduce the impact of emissions on the environment.
Management Framework
Cohen (2006) states “One difficulty with the management of environmental policy is that environmental programs tend to take a piece of a larger problem and subdivide it in order to work on a solution” (p. 43). Cohen’s statement sheds light on some of the complications within management of various environmental issues. The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act attempts to target a very specific topic of interest, in the hopes of having a larger impact on the environment as a whole. By adding this as an amendment to the Clean Air Act, the goal would be to change the standards by which the EPA currently measures the amount of pollution within the environment. There is limited experience in addressing this issue, and as a result many individuals are apprehensive of changing current environmental policy. This is an area that the United States is continuing to research and develop statistical information on. Thus, there is much growth that must to continue to take place in order to ensure that environmental protection is maintained.
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