Environmental
Policy: Technology, Business & Government
Course Notes
Lake Narasch, Belarus
Societal
Priorities & Environmental Strategies (Week 1,2)
What constitutes an effective environmental policy?
Are all stakeholders equally vested?
Who determines the rights of stakeholders?
Who should pay for past environmental damage?
What are some of the stages of environmental awareness?
How can we compensate for environmental racism?
What are the most compelling global environmental issues?
How can systems thinking help us in developing sustainability?
What is "natural capital"?
How can we better incorporate sustainability into our business and economic
systems?
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Concepts &
Principles of Ecology (Week 3)
What is an ecosystem? A food web?
How do materials move through ecosystems?
How does biomagnification occur?
What do pesticides and mercury and radionuclides have in common?
Why are we so concerned about biotic diversity?
What does energy have to do with environmental quality?
What is the POET concept?
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Public Policy
& the Environment (Week 4)
What is the basic structure of U.S. government?
Which federal government agencies regulate the environment?
What roles do state governments play in regulation?
What roles are reserved for local government? Why?
How can citizens interact with government?
What is the basic structure of the Belarusian government?
To what degree is the environment protected in Belarus?
What special problems exist in Belarus and other NIS regions?
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Major Environmental
Problems (Week 5,6)
Why has air pollution worsened in spite of tight regulations?
Are "pollution credits" the answer to global air quality?
What are the main types of water pollution? In the U.S., Belarus,
China, Africa? Have we made any progress?
How do oceans get polluted? Economic effects on fisheries?
Whose responsibility is it to protect tropical rainforests?
Do trees have rights?
Why don't we utilize good land use practices, when we know so
well how to do it?
How can we make a dent in world population growth?
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Intervention
Techniques - Pollution Cleanup/Avoidance (Week 7,8)
How do we pick the most effective technology for a given problem?
How much should society pay for cleanup? Who should pay? How
do we raise the money needed?
When does Nimbyism go too far? How will we site needed facilities?
Are risk assessment techniques accurate enough?
Will the environmental cleanup business sector continue to grow?
How can we increase technology transfer to less wealthy nations?
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Trends in Environmental
Law (Week 9,10)
What are the major U.S. environmental laws at the federal level?
What was unusual about Section 208, Public Participation in the Clean
Water Act?
Why is the reauthorization process so important?
Why are so many US-EPA regulations administered by state agencies?
What role do cities play in regulating the environment? In the U.S.?
In Belarus?
How do pollution credits aid in cleaning the air? Is this a
cost-effective method to address air pollution?
Why is the Superfund law (CERCLA) so difficult to administer?
What are the major international agreements that protect the
environment?
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Dimensions
of Sustainable Development (Week 11,12)
If not sustainability, then what? Are humans suicidal?
What are some of the new trends in industry that support the
concept of sustainability?
What are some examples of corporations that approach environmental
responsibility seriously?
What role can ISO certification play in moving the sustainability
agenda forward more rapidly?
How important are World Environmental conferences?
Are NGOs the only ones that care about environmental protection?
-
Strategies
for Businesss (Week 13)
Is it more cost-effective
for businesses to protect than to pollute?
Should we be suspicious
of a "green image?"
How important is ISO
certification?
Are healthier employees
better workers?
Is your "right to know"
one of the basic human rights?
-
Strategies
for Society (Week 14)
What can YOU do to make a difference?
Who were some of the women who pioneered in environmental advocacy?
Do public/private partnerships work? For which stakeholders?
How can we improve conflict resolution? Does an angry public
signal a breakdown in public policy?
What are the main NGOs protecting the environment? In the U.S.?
In Belarus? Other places?
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Policy Strategies
for the Next Decade (Week 15)
Where do we go from here? Will it get worse before it gets better?
Will we invent new gadgets to fix what's broken? Is technology the
answer?
Will less government mean a cleaner environment? Or the reverse?
What lessons can Belarus learn from the U.S. saga of environmental
protection? What can we learn from the NIS?
Can a future Chernobyl type accident be prevented?
Will the millenium be characterized by ecological sustainability?
What ethical responsibility do we have for future generations?
Top of Page
Copyright: Gaytha A. Langlois, November
2000
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at langlois@bryant.edu
Last Updated: January 2004