An Introduction to Environmental Policy (10 Minutes
- Review)
You can begin the lesson
with a discussion about environmental policy in the U. S.
Environmental policy focuses on problems arising from human
impact on the environment.
Enforcement
- EPA
- The Environmental Protection Agency is a federal
agency charged to protect human health and the environment,
by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed
by Congress.
- Local/State - Each state has a
Department of Environmental Conservation/Protection in some
form that regulates more local policies.
Quick
History
- Clean air act - A Clean Air Act is one
of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the
reduction of smog and air pollution. The United States
federal government has enacted a series of clean air acts,
beginning with the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, and
followed by the Clean Air Act of 1963, the Air Quality Act
of 1967, the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970, and Clean Air
Act Amendments in 1977 and 1990. Clean water
act The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the
United States governing water pollution passed in 1972 and
amended in 1987.
- Recycling legislation - Legislation
for recycling is on a local level. Four methods of such
legislation exist: minimum recycled content mandates,
utilization rates, procurement policies, recycled product
labeling.
- Car emissions standards - Emissions
standards are requirements that set specific limits to the
amount of pollutants that can be released into the
environment. EPA regulates standards for autos.
-
Energy efficiency (Energy Star) - Energy Star is an
international standard for energy efficient consumer
products created in 1992.
Focus now on energy policy
issues. Although electricity is a clean and
relatively safe form of energy to use, there are
environmental impacts associated with the production and
transmission of electricity. Nearly all types of electric
power plants impact or effect the environment, some more
than others.
The United States has laws to reduce these
impacts. Perhaps the most important such law is the Clean
Air Act, which established regulations for the control of
air emissions from most power plants. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) administers the Act and sets
emissions standards for power plants through various
programs, such as the Acid Rain Program. As a result of the
Act some major types of air pollutants have witnessed
a substantial reduction of emissions in the United States.
The headquarters for the EPA are located in
Washington, DC.
Use this opportunity to
connect to Social Studies lessons about civics and
the U. S. political system. Reflect on historical and
contemporary issues while maintaining a focus on
environmental concerns.
Current Policy, Possible Futures
(10 Minutes - Investigate)
What are
the current energy policies in the U. S. ? Energy policy is
the manner in which a government addresses issues of energy
development including energy production, distribution and
consumption. The attributes of energy policy may include
legislation, international treaties, incentives to
investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation
and other public policy techniques.
Ask students to
investigate some questions:
o What is the
history of the Unite State’ s energy policy?
o How recently was energy policy legislation changed
and how do these policies compare to those of other
developed nations?
o What steps are we
taking to expand our use of renewable energy?
Also talk about how energy policy affects our every day
lives. Energy policies influence many things, from the
price of consumer goods to our electricity bills and gas
prices.
How does energy policy affect designers and
the designs they create? Use examples:
- In the
1990s Germany regulated recycling on the producer side,
making it a law that companies must take back their waste.
Companies responded by producing products with little or no
packaging.
- Currently the California Air Resources
Board is attempting to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
from automobiles, stemming from previous attempts like an
electric car mandate. Car manufacturers are responding with
more efficient cars and hybrids.
- Energy star became
the standard for consumer electronics resulting in more
efficient gadgets and appliances.
- CFCs
(Chlorofluorocarbons) were banned in the 1990’
s to prevent ozone layer damage and haven’ t
resurfaced in products since.
Designers of a diverse
range of products have adapted their work to comply with
these standards.
Policy Problems (10 minutes -
Frame/Reframe)
- Energy
efficiency and conservation - programs like the
Weatherization Assistance Program, which started in 1977
help home, and building owners weatherize their buildings
with insulation and other measures.
- Producer
subsidies - Subsidies given to power plant operators
to use better technologies and increase efficiency
programs
- Consumer subsidies - Tax rebates
for renewables and other energy efficiency measures
-
Renewable Energy Grants
- Smart Grid and
Infrastructure Improvements
What problems exist now
with energy policy? Why don’ t we have a mandatory
renewable energy policy? Is there a problem? How does a
policy get enforced? Discuss some of these issues as a
class.
Technology Connection
A broad
range of technologies are helping policymakers and
communities alike to get involved in politics on local and
global levels.
- Mobile Activism - Groups like
Oxfam and Greenpeace are using mobile technologies to get
interested people involved in campaigns and out to polls to
vote on vital issues that effect the environment.
https://mobileactive. org/ The Open Planning
Project - TOPP Labs is incubator for civic tech
initiatives creating projects like the Community Almanac
which shares stories about places all over the country and
the Livable Streets Initiative which advocates for
pedestrian and bike friendly neighborhoods.
https://streetseducation. org/ and https://communityalmanac.
org/
- Opinion Space: The US Department of State
has opened up an online international forum for people to
voice their concerns about issues including the state of
our global environment. https://www. state.
gov/opinionspace/
Policy Design Lab (20 minutes -
Generate Possible Solutions)
After a discussion
about historical and current environmental policy issues,
challenge students to design a new energy policy for their
community. To start a debate consider an example from the
2010 National Design Triennial’ s case study about a
proposed city outside of Abu Dhabi called
Masdar ,
pictured below.
Masdar Development -
Masdar is a brand-new, self-contained, sustainable city of
forty thousand residents currently being built on the
desert outskirts of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
A vast experiment, its design pushes ideas of alternative
energy, aiming to be the world’ s first car-free,
carbon-neutral, zero-waste city powered by renewable energy
sources. To achieve this, its master planner, the
London-based firm of
Foster + Partners , is applying
new approaches to architecture and engineering on an urban
scale. The only source of water will be produced through a
solar-powered desalination process in which sea water is
converted to fresh water. Water usage will be reduced from
a national daily average of 143 to about 21 gallons per
person by recycling waste-water and by using low-flow
fixtures, waterless urinals, and a leak-detection system.
The sun will be the primary source of energy, captured in
thin-film solar panels in the largest solar plant in the
Middle East; and supplemented by wind turbines and
waste-to-power plants, which use garbage retrieved from a
garbage-collection network as fuel.
How does this proposed
sustainable city address many of the important energy and
environmental policy issues facing the US and other
nations?
Divide students into policy design teams.
Each policy created must include measures addressing:
-
Energy conservation and efficiency measures
-
Renewable energy quotas
- Implementation
strategy
- Time scales
To focus teams
- give them each a specific area or energy policy to
ponder. Examples include:
- Energy
efficiency
- Renewable energy
-
Infrastructure (ie. Power lines, power plants etc. )
-
Building performance (weatherizing buildings)
Encourage each team to come up with a proposed title, a
description and diagrams of how the policy would work.
Help
students brainstorm. Create Ven diagrams and maps of the
region in which you live to begin. Remember to focus
students on local state and regional issues. (Edit and
develop)
School EPA Presentation (15
minutes)
After policies have been designed, have
each design team will present in front of a “ School
or Class EPA” . The Class EPA will determine whether
or not the policy makes sense, if its sound and could be
used in the community. Each student will have one vote for
each policy design. One will be chosen. The newly adopted
policy should be signed by members of the Class EPA. (Share
and Evaluate)
If you have time for further
discussion, talk about potential implementation. How does
one present a policy to a local legislator? Find out who is
in your congressional district. Mail them a copy of your
class policy. (Finalize the Solution) Post the newly
adopted policy somewhere in the school! This will
encourage other students and teachers to be energy
conscious, extending the impact of the lesson beyond the
dry-erase board. (Articulate)