United States' Environmental Policy

SOURCE: www.kickstarter.com

The United States has had many different types of environmental regulations since we became a country. Overall, we as a society have become much more environmentally conscious and thus we as a nation have taken extra precautions and have tightened restrictions in the last several decades. These regulations and protectors are what guide industries in our country in what they are allowed to get away with, and what they can not get away with. It dictates the way all industries must go about their business. The EPA enforces regulations in various industries that Congress & the Presidents asks them to do; however, this process is often too slow and can cause a lot environmental damage. 

According to the EPA website, our EPA deals with these broad topics: Air and water pollution, Solid waste, Radiation, Pesticides, Noise, and Toxic substances. Although the EPA is the most involved entity pertaining to environmental protection, it does not hold absolute authority over these laws and regulations. It is mainly only their job to enforce the laws and executive orders passed by the executive and legislative branches. The legislative branch has passed all of the laws that are there to help the environment, the EPA is just the one who enforces them.

The way our EPA is set up is there are different regulations for each sector. The sectors are automotive, oil and gas, agricultural, electrical utilities, transportation, and construction.

• The agricultural sector is primarily engaged in “growing crops, raising animals, and harvesting fish and other animals from a farm, ranch, or their natural habitats.” 
• The automotive deals with things pertaining to motor vehicle manufacturing, sales and salvage, and repair and maintenance services, for cars, trucks, trailers, and other motor vehicles. 
• Electrical utilities sector deals with all electric generating facilities powered by fossil fuels, including coal, petroleum, or gas as the power source. 
• The transportation sector  includes industries providing transportation of passengers and cargo, warehousing and storage for goods, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and support activities related to modes of transportation. 
• The construction sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in the construction of buildings or engineering projects. 
• Finally, there is the oil and gas sector that pertains to establishments that extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas.

Now according to Ethics & International Affairs from Global Issues in Context, the U.S. has a different approach to how it views environmental policy. In Europe they believe in stopping a problem as soon as it is even possible that it is unhealthy and bad for the environment. In the U.S. however, we are a very factual country and the term “innocent until proven guilty” holds true even for our environmental sector. We believe that there needs to be hard and indisputable evidence that something is breaking a law or is dangerous. I think that this is blatantly ignorant and dangerous because often times it will take a lot of time before there is an absolute verdict about the truth and by then the problem may have escalated too far and it may be too late. The phrase better safe than sorry should truly apply here as if we were to just stop production of a certain product and wait, sure there may be some financial loss but that is nothing compared to these mega corporations that are making the products.

Future Research Question: What were the policies of the past like and what were their effects?