ENVIRONMENT
AT
ISSUE:
Pollution:
Air / Soil / Oceans / Waterways
Deforestation and Logging
Toxic Waste
Global Enforcement/responsibility
Economic effects of Environmental Protections
Endangered Species Protection
Genetic Engineering
Nuclear Energy
Conservation of non-renewable resources
Development of Alternative Energy Sources
Indigious Cultures
Population Control
In
The Far Corners:
RIGHT
Economic
factors, including jobs, must come before conservation because
it is imperitive that the U.S. stay competitive in the open
market. Radical concerns about pollution, logging and waste
disposal are based on misinterpretation of data. The U.S. is
not responsible for the environmental status of other nations
and should stay out of enforcement policies.
LEFT
Industry, overpopulation and exploitation have seriously endangered
the ecological health of this planet. Only radical changes in
how we use and approach resources will be effective to prevent
global disaster. It is the government's responsibility to enforce
limits and to set restrictions on environmental issues. As a
major world power, it is the U.S.'s responsibility to set an
example and to cooperate with international enforcement.
OVERVIEW
Except
for fringe groups that believe in a coming Armageddon, virtually
all parties and candidates agree that it is necessary to develop
alternative energy sources to replace non-renewable resources
such as oil and coal. How much emphasis ought to be placed on
R&D and whether that development should come from the public
or private sectors is, however, a more partisan issue.
In
general, conservatives tend towards privatization of responsibility
with minimal government involvement in both fiscal management
of resources and regulation of most areas of environmental concern.
Any perceived need for conservation and waste reduction is carefully
balanced against requirements for a healthy national economy.
The
liberal spectrum emphasizes a long-range view with today's economic
considerations weighed against tomorrow's environmental prognosis.
There are entire parties whose platforms and agendas are environmentally
based and these generally tend to be considered politically
liberal. They emphasize globalization of conservation efforts
and believe that the U.S. should be a party to setting international
standards for environmental planning. A focal point over the
past decade has been the issue of old-growth logging and planetary
deforestation with conservatives backing loggers and lumber
companies in their efforts to promote jobs and industry and
the liberal factions seeking greater protections for old-growth
forests as both resources in themselves and as habitats for
endangered fauna.
STATISTICS
•
Since 1751 over 265 billion tons of carbon have been released
to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement
production. Half of these emissions have occurred since the
mid 1970s.
•
The 1996 estimate for global CO2 emissions, 6518 million metric
tons of carbon, is the highest fossil-fuel emission estimate
ever. The 1996 estimate represents a 1.7% increase over 1995,
continuing a trend of modest growth since a 1990-1993 decline
in global CO2 emissions.
•
Globally, liquid and solid fuels accounted for 77.5% of the
emissions from fossil-fuel burning in 1996.
•
Combustion of gas fuels (e.g., natural gas) accounted for 18.3%
(1196 million metric tons) of the total emissions from fossil
fuels in 1996 and reflects a gradually increasing global utilization
of natural gas.
•
Emissions from cement production rose to 202 million metric
tons of carbon, a twenty-fold increase since the 1920s.
•
Emissions from gas flaring for 1996 were estimated to be 67
million metric tons of carbon, well below the levels of the
1970s.
•
Collectively, emissions from cement production and gas flaring
contributed less than 5% to the total emissions for 1996.
•
Trends show relatively stable temperatures from the beginning
of records kept through about 1910, with relatively rapid and
steady warming through the early 1940s, followed by another
period of relatively stable temperatures through the mid-1970s.
From this point onward, another rapid rise similar to that in
the earlier part of the century is observed. The six warmest
years of the global record have all occurred since 1990, and
are, in descending order, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1990, 1991, and
1994. The average surface air temperature of the globe has warmed
~0.5¡C since the middle of the nineteenth century. According
to government studis, the warming has varied in extent and magnitude
across the globe and a few areas have even cooled since the
nineteenth century. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak
Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. Warming of 1¡F over the past century and
a further 2-6¡F warming over the 21st century has been projected
by IPCC. Global temperatures during the last ice age (about
20,000 years ago) were "only" 9¡F cooler than today.
• Greenhouse gases: Atmospheric gases that keep
heat in, like greenhouse glass does. The most common greenhouse
gas (GHG) is carbon dioxide (CO2), which comes from burning
gasoline, wood, oil, etc. The evidence of rising CO2 levels
is undisputed; the political dispute centers on how much of
the rise is attributable to human activities versus how much
is natural climatic fluctuation. Carbon dioxide is released
to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural
gas, and coal), and wood and wood products are burned. Methane
is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural
gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from the decomposition
of organic wastes in municipal solid waste landfills, and the
raising of livestock. Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural
and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of solid
waste and fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases that are not naturally
occurring include byproducts of foam production, refrigeration,
and air conditioning called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), as well
as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) generated
by industrial processes. Each greenhouse gas differs in its
ability to absorb heat in the atmosphere. HFCs and PFCs are
the most heat-absorbent. Methane traps over 21 times more heat
than carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide absorbs 270 times more
heat than carbon dioxide.
FREQUENTLY
CITED ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
Climate
Change Treaty: The basic international treaty on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions was signed by the US and 182 other
countries in 1992. It set up a 'framework' for later 'protocols.'
Also known as the Rio Treaty or Greenhouse Gas Treaty.
Kyoto
Protocol: The follow-up to the Climate Change Treaty which
sets GHG reduction targets for the US and other developed countries.
Completed in 1998, the US has not yet signed (Argentina is the
largest economy to have signed). This is politically controversial
because it would require the US to cut CO2 emissions, which
is potentially costly.
Endangered
Species Act (ESA): 1973 law prohibiting activities that
harm endangered plants or animals or their habitats. Which species
are threatened & endangered are listed or 'delisted' by the
Secretaries of Interior & Commerce. The controversy comes from
limitations on private property to protect one species.
ANALYSIS
Only a small minority of politicians went beyond basic sciences
when they were in school. Environmental concerns are so extensive
and so deeply rooted in scientific data that most politicians
lack more than a surface understanding of issues. And if they
can't spell the common name of a root vegetable, they aren't
likely to pursue in-depth studies of chlorofluorocarbons.
With
the exception of ecologically-oriented parties such as the Greens,
most parties and candidates will continue to tackle environmental
issues by exploiting photo ops and passing judgement on demonstrations
at logging sites and nuclear power plants and avoid commiting
themselves to proposals that they don't understand. Nobody wants
to be seen as a "tree-hugger" nor do they want to look stupid
and pretend that that diesel bus isn't belching black smoke
into the air. Smart conservatives will continue to focus on
the established platform that "good business is good for the
nation" and take credit for compromises that create jobs. Smart
liberals will have lots of pictures taken with windmills and
solar panels and enthusiastically test drive electric cars.With
the U.S. economy ostensibly on the upswing for the 2000 election,
nobody is going to want to address the hard issues which involve
trading dollars for cleanup and prevention. For the forseeable
future, the environment will continue to be somebody else's
problem.
