Hello all! Today we'll discuss about guiding principles when developing environmental policies
so an environmental policy statement is the commitment of an organization or government
to the laws regulations and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues these
environmental issues generally include but i'm not limited to air and water control natural resource
protection waste management ecosystem management and biodiversity protection to name some of the
most important ones environmental policy in the united states involve governmental actions at
the federal state and local levels to protect the environment and conserve natural resources
environmental protection is balanced with other policy public policy concerns
such as economic growth affordable energy and the rights of businesses and individuals the
environmental policy process takes place within the political context and reflects tension between
political considerations and scientific knowledge in some instances the public may
reject environmental policies that are justified scientifically research has suggested that logging
of the nation's forest contribute to increases in greenhouse gases as a result some municipalities
may decide to prohibit logging in order to protect the natural environment however
in communities supported by lumber production residents may oppose restrictions on logging
because such prohibitions cause widespread unemployment another example is the reactivation
of coal mining and fossil fuel extraction in order to create employment opportunities for minors
in other instances politics may be instrumental in the adoption of environmental policies that
might not be scientifically justified for example scientific findings will demonstrate
that the low levels of some pollutants in the water supply are unlikely to have adverse human
health impacts nevertheless consumers may demand that such pollutants be removed completely from
the water supply even if their removal is very very costly the european union plays a key role
in international environmental negotiations it is a party to numerous global regional or
sub-regional environmental agreements on a wide range of issues such as nature protection and
biodiversity climate change and transboundary air or water pollution the european union helped shape
several major international agreements adopted in 2015 at the united nations level such as
the 2030 agenda for sustainable development which includes 17 sustainable development goals or sdgs
the paris agreement on climate change and the sendai framework for disaster risk reduction
in the environmental health arena a number of environmental principles or philosophies may guide
the work of those who are charged with creation of policy we will discuss four such guiding
principles that drive the basis of policy making these principles are the precautionary principle
the principle of environmental justice the principle of environmental sustainability
and the polluter pays principle we will discuss this four one by one next as you are introduced
to these principles reflect how these concepts guide environmental policy makers in formulating
their subsequent policies when protecting and preserving the health of our environment
so the precautionary principle states that preventive and and c um ntc ndc
sorry preventive anticipatory measures should be taken when an activity raises threats
of harm to the environment wildlife or human health even if some cause and effect relationships
are not fully established this principle has four central components one taking preventive action
in the face of uncertainty two um shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity
three exploring a wide range of alternatives to actions that possibly is harmful and four
increasing public participation in decision making policies developed in the european
union follow the precautionary principle and advocate that preventive action be taken to
reduce risk from potential environmental hazards although the principle has its roots in german
environmental policy over the past three four decades it has served as a central element in
international environmental treaties addressing ozone depleting chemicals fisheries climate change
and sustainable development the principle is applied when weight of scientific evidence
suggests that a chemical is suspected of having adverse health consequences even though such
health effects not um have not been established definitely a specific case that would merit the
application of the precautionary principle relates to endocrine disruptors for example some chemicals
are believed to have an estrogenic effect acting as female hormones um two of the many
varieties of these chemicals are ddt and the family of pesticides known as organochlorines
scientists have speculated that endocrine disrupting chemicals may be related to
human sexual abnormalities such as low sperm counts in boys and animal abnormalities such as
changes in sexual functioning of aquatic animals the precautionary principle would advocate for
the control of potential endocrine deceptive chemicals even though the focus of most research
has been on whether or not they cause cancer the absence of demonstrated carcinogenic effects
does not rule out the possibility of other health hazards such as endocrine disruption
according to us epa environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement
of all people regardless of race color national origin or income with respect to
the development implementation and enforcement of environmental laws regulations and policies
because of disparities of power and privilege some communities with lower political voice
may be subject to an unusual significant burden
of environmental hazards because of this unequal toxic exposures
of adults and children from different racial ethnic or socio-economic groups may occur children
who reside in minority communities may receive especially high exposures to environmental toxins
fat treatment in these definitions mean that no group of people should should should bear
a disproportionate disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from
industrial governmental and commercial operations of policies on the other hand meaningful
involvement in this definition means that people have an opportunity to participate in decisions
about activities that may affect that environment or health the public's contribution can influence
the regulatory agency's decision that concerns will be considered in decision making process
and the decision makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected
epa has this goal for all communities and persons across this nation it will be achieved when
everyone enjoys the same degree of protection for environmental and health hazards and equal access
to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live learn and work
so um as we just saw there are actually four pillars of environmental justice
fairness in the distribution of environmental resources and negative impacts to intra and
intra generational equity or fairness three right to a clean safe and productive environment and the
fourth pillar right to have a voice in decisions that affect own life family and community
um here you can see some community activists and children living in polluted neighborhoods
and communities that are protesting in the streets and demanding environmental justice
so the third guiding principle of policymaking of environmental policy making is the principle
of environmental sustainability so environmental sustainability um means that resources should not
be depleted faster than they can be degenerated the concept also specifies that there should be
no permanent change to the environment to the natural environment an environmentally
sustainable lifestyle is adoption of a lifestyle that minimizes demands upon the environment an
example is to lower one's carbon footprint through energy conservation measures
the fourth and last guiding principle is known as the polluter pace principle a crucial aspect
of any environmental policy concerns is who should bear the cost of eliminating environmental hazards
according to the polluter periods principle the polluter should be at the expenses of carrying
out the pollution prevention and control measures to ensure that environment is in acceptable state
the cost of controlling pollution generated during manufacturing
and consumption are to be incorporated into the prices of associated goods and services
so the for guiding principle discussed just now help in formulating environmental policies in
many countries around the world however it is important to note the law of diminishing return
so initially environmental control methods are usually the most effective
and easiest to implement and produces the largest benefit at the lowest cost
continued progress requires using more and more extensive environmental control methods
that remove smaller amounts of pollutants at some point costs outweigh the benefit
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you