By: Jonathan Roitman
For: Dr. Rao
Course:
Poli 385/2
Due: December 4, 1995
I.D. #:
3071340
This essay identifies and explains the problem of
pollution facing humanity today. It will
also propose one of the first ideas which could more effectively limit air
pollution, Emission Credit Trading. This can be seen as one of the first steps
in the development of an ecosociety. The notion of a viable ecosociety has
created considerable problems in terms of deciding the most effective and
efficient policies to be implemented. Air pollution has become one of the most
serious environmental problems here at home, and throughout the rest of the
world. Air pollution is also perhaps one of the more politically sensitive
problems because of the numerous economic, environmental and health
implications involved.
A
key step in the policy-making process is to define the problem to be remedied.
If we can not understand the problem, how are we to know what needs to be
fixed. Unfortunately, implementing policies on air pollution has the
politically undesirable effect of having extensive economic consequences on all
sectors of the economy. Therefore, those
policies which lead to the development of an ecosociety must be aimed at having
the greatest environmental impact while creating minimal economic distortions.
For the purpose of this essay,
pollution shall be identified as follows "...the deliberate or accidental
introduction to the environment of contaminants, in the form of either wastes
or products " (Bryner, 10). This essay will deal with the problem of air
pollution. Air pollutants come from heavy industry, fumes from automobiles, jet
planes and the like. When speaking of the automobile alone "...each gallon
of gas burned releases 22 pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere...the car
is the single largest contributor to global warming " (Rifkin 179).
Although the majority of the problem areas are in the developing world, these
areas can affect the entire world. The atmosphere is not confined to borders
like the land. Pollution spreads beyond the borders of any country, and as
such, no one region can solve the problem alone. In some developing nations,
there are areas that people and animals cannot live in for extended periods of
time.
One visitor to the Romanian 'black town' of Cops
Mica noted that "the trees and grass are so stained by soot that they look
as if they had been soaked in ink." A local doctor reported that even
horses can stay only for two years in the town; "then they have to be
taken away, or else they will die" (Gore 81).
There are many
reasons that pollution has come to the foreground of twentieth century
politics. The most important is the effect it has on human life. This does not
place the effects that it has on our natural environment as secondary, however,
it seems that unless we as human beings are directly affected, we tend to look
the other way.
The EPA's 1990 report on urban air
quality trends estimates that over 100 million Americans live in areas where
pollution exceeds federal air quality standards, as well air pollution is
responsible for more then 50,000 to 60,000 premature deaths each year
(Bryner, 3)
Air pollution is
also the main cause of global warming
and the depletion of the ozone layer. If
the earth's temperature rises by a mere five degrees, the resulting catastrophe
would be immeasurable. It is important
to realize that global warming is a direct result of the depletion of ozone in
the atmosphere.
"A greater variety of greenhouse gases
are created by a myriad of essential human activities, including the generation
of power, industrial production, transportation, agriculture and forestry.
Mitigating climate change will require major changes in life-style, especially
those that consume large amounts of fossil fuels" (Vig and Kraft 313).
We can see that no matter where we
look, air pollution has come to occupy a major part in our daily lives. The only way to reduce the quantity of poisonous emissions to the air would require
a drastic change in the way we live.
Due to inefficient regulatory policies, the
different types of air pollution pose
severe problems. Air pollution occurs when "gases and particles are
combined or altered in such a way that they degrade the air and form substances
that are harmful to humans, animals, and other living things (Bryner,
41)." Some air pollution is a
result of natural processes such as forest fires, volcanoes or wind blown dust.
Conversely, the majority of pollutants are the direct result of human interaction
and misuse of our environment. An example of this is the loss of the whales, who for centuries lived in the St.
Lawrence region of the Atlantic Ocean, but had to migrate due to the "...polluted water emptying out of the
Great Lakes. They are said to be contaminated with toxic chemicals at
concentration levels high enough that they are technically classified as
hazardous waste" (Keller, 262).
"...the atmosphere will...need to be
regulated as a global trust if the human community is to entertain any
possibility of addressing the problems of global warming, ozone depletion, acid
rain, and air pollution. In June 1988, the prime ministers of Norway and Canada
proposed a "Law of the Air" treaty to protect the atmosphere from
global warming and ozone depletion.[The end result being]...the transition to
renewable energy sources, and the research and development of alternatives to
CFCs" (Rifkin 318).
Air pollution and
pollution in general have reached such alarming levels because of human neglect
and ignorance. They have been allowed to perpetuate due to the lack of clearly
defined property rights within the ecosphere (natural resources and the
environment). We must realize that individual actions as well as those of large
and /or small corporations affect not only the lifestyle, but the quality of
life of all organisms on the planet; human or not. "The corporation's inherent tendency to
maximize profits by mass-production and technological efficiency clashes with
the desire to limit material growth and preserve nature" (Arnopoulos 150).
We must recognize the consequences our actions have on the environment or we
are doomed to keep on repeating our mistakes.
Another example
could be what has become known as the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. "Perhaps
the largest forced migration in American history was the mass departure from
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska and other
plains during the period of the early 1930's... (Gore 71). The Dust Bowl
resulted in huge sand storms as the farmland of the above mentioned areas
became completely devastated as a result of the overuse of its agricultural
ability. It was pushed to far, and the exploitation finally ended in rendering
the land useless for decades.
The protection of
the environment has become a major concern in all levels of political, social
and economic arenas. As we enter the next millennium we must ask ourselves what
type of environment do we want to live in? How do we want our children to grow
up? The practical answers to these questions are difficult, but not the
theoretical ones. Theoretically, the perfect world is one in which we do not
have to fear pollution, we do not have to be afraid of the water we drink, or
the air we breath. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world and we have no
choice but to worry.
The idyllic world
outlined above is what ecologists and social scientists alike hope for: an
ecosociety. This ecosociety is sought after by so-called Green Parties. There
are six key strategies which they employ (through different tactical means) in
order to achieve their policies. They are: to think globally by acting locally.
The reason for this is to attempt to spread some sort of global awareness, but
get citizens involved at a local level, hence having them feel that they are
playing a key role and are important in the policy making process. Green
parties also advocate more ecological education, and a more sustainable
economy. This notion of a more sustainable economy can be achieved the
following ways: conservation of resources, slow down material production, and
lower industrial output. What this all amounts to is moving the tertiary and
quaternary sectors of the economy to the fore, and eliminating the primary and
secondary (to a literally subsistence level). Furthermore, they want to get
human beings to recognize the highly spiritual life that they are capable of
living and not the hedonistic material one they are living. By the same token,
they want to increase green spaces and partake in long range planning thereby
helping to keep the earth alive as long as possible (Arnopoulos, 92). By
concentrating on the above six strategies, Green Parties believe that it may be
possible for people to change from a consumed to a conserved society. A society
in which we live in harmony with nature, not in
dominance over it.
As we look back
today and see the damage that has been done to the environment, we wonder what
went wrong. That question could be answered as such: "The thoughtless and
shortsighted transformation of scientific knowledge into technical know-how has
given mankind too much power too soon to be able to use it wisely
(Arnopoulos 80)". With these
technological advances comes the inevitable depletion and deterioration of the
earth. Depletion, in the sense that we are undoubtedly going to run out of
natural resources at our present rate of consumption. Deterioration, in the
sense of all the pollutants which we constantly spew into our environment , where our children and
theirs will have to live.
Public opinion
polls show wide spread support for stronger and more aggressive measures aimed
at solving pollution problems and protecting our natural resources. These sentiments have become so pervasive
that well over the majority of people believe that "protecting the
environment is so important that requirements and standards cannot be too high,
and continuing environmental improvements must be made regardless of cost
(Mitchell, 85)." This mass
popularization of environmentalism has had the effect of increasing demands for
action being made on our political process and leaders.
In many
industries, air pollution is a
by-product of normal economic production. In some such cases government authorities
have restricted firms' production of effluents.
This restriction is often imposed as a maximum rate of flow at which a
firm may emit pollutants. This system in
which emissions are managed on a source to source basis has been labeled one of
"Command-and-Control (Vig and Kraft, 52)." However, empirical studies have shown that
costs under Command-and-Control mechanisms are as much as twenty times as
expensive as the least-cost market oriented mechanism that achieves the same
environmental quality. This discrepancy
in efficiency is due to the high costs associated with regulating the C&C
method since allocations must be made on a firm to firm basis. As well, even when all sources are in
compliance with technological based standards, there is no guarantee that the
sum of emissions will produce quality air.
Recently, there is growing consensus that the
methods of control do not work on a uniform basis in terms of addressing
different locations and types of pollutants with the most damaging health
impacts. Presently, standards refer to
ambient (outdoor) concentrations where measurements can most easily be made,
most often from the tops of buildings.
However, in North America we spend under 10% of our time outdoors, and
even less atop buildings. As negligible
as this may appear to be, the exposure to pollutants which one receives varies
greatly from being indoors, at street levels or on top of a high-rise. With particular pollutants, as little as 25%
of total exposure is due to outdoor exposure.
This is due to many of the air pollutants (environmental tobacco smoke,
household chemicals...) which in terms of total levels are minimal, but because
of the quantities we are exposed to have the greatest impact on human health
(Saunders, 277-8).
The implicit
assumption underlining ECT is that health damages from pollution depend only on
the effects of emissions on widespread ambient concentrations. Local effects are for the most part
ignored. Consequently, sources of
pollution that may have substantial effects on a local level but a negligible
effect on ambient ones are not taken into account. With this in mind Emission Credit Trading
could be considerably improved, in terms of the impact it is to have on health
and environmental conservation, by shifting from concentration to exposure
levels (Saunders, 276).
There is also the
question of legitimate enforcement. The
arbitrary nature of enforcement in such a system as C&C creates an
environment in which polluters have an incentive to be rent seeking
competitors. And with the status of our
political and administrative offices this can produce the perception of
favoritism or in some cases corruption.
Since rent seeking is economically inefficient, and it increases the
publics (already high) cynicism about government, a decentralized Emission
Credit Trading program would minimize these problems. ECT programs have been advanced as a major
improvement over command-and-control pollution abatement programs. This is one of the first pieces of proposed
legislation toward an environmentally friendly shift in politics. The entire
concept of Emission Credit Trading is bringing to the fore the notion that we
do live in a sort of 'Global Village'
and that the "... importance of a system is proportional to the degree it
can affect its environment... the sensitivity of a system depends on how much
it is affected by its environment. If the sensitivity is high, the system is
dependent on the environment; if low, independent" (Arnopoulos 45). We are
now realizing that we cannot act completely independently from nature, because
we are all related. We cannot be sustained without nature. The administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency went as far as to proclaim transferable discharge permits
"the most important innovation in environmental policy for the next decade"
(Rifkin, 66).
As previously
mentioned, the major contributor to air pollution is the automobile. Therefore,
any thought of policy dealing with the elimination or reduction of air
pollution should concentrate, but not be limited to the automobile. In dealing with the automobile in terms of
reducing it's impact on air pollution incentives must be given for
manufacturers to reduce pollutant emissions from their vehicles and the costs
associated with the pollution created from driving must be transferred to those
people operating the vehicle.
To increase
manufacturers compliance with the production of less harmful vehicles, a
combination of averaging and trading is the most effective solution. This system is very similar to that of
Emission Credit Trading in that manufactures will be given a fleet wide average
standard to meet (ie: their sales-weight emissions can't exceed the
average). This average can then be met
in two manners. By averaging emissions
within their fleet, through methods such as installing pollution reduction
equipment on their vehicle or by altering their sales mix towards more fuel
efficient vehicles. Or the manufacturer
can trade emission allocations with other manufactures in the same manner as
ECTs (Bryner, 176). It is important to note here that this is a different
proposal as to what is already in existence.
The second method
by which automobile pollution can be reduced focuses on internalizing the costs
of pollution into the driving experience. The most effective and efficient
manner is in the development of electronic scanning devices that would locate a
vehicle at suitable points along the road and then monthly billings would be
sent to the owner based on the vehicle's contribution to congestion. To increase fairness (due to different
emission levels of vehicles) this can be combined with periodic inspections so
as to determine emission levels of a particular vehicle, so as to adjust
billings accordingly (Bryner, 5). A serious increase in fuel taxes would also
not do any harm in reducing air pollution problems. It is important to note that by putting the
costs of pollution onto drivers this will increase pressures on manufactures to
produce more efficient cars, and develop alternative fuel sources.
In a nutshell emission credit trading programs
operate as follows. Rather than having
each firm reduce it's emissions by a given amount, the program requires that
average emissions be reduced by a set amount.
A firm that reduces it's emissions below this average level would be
given credits which could be sold or saved.
Credits which are saved could then be used at a later date if the firm
desired to increase production (hence pollution). Credits to be sold would go to firms finding
it less costly to purchase credits at market rates than to actually reduce
harmful emissions. Therefore, each firms
incentive to invest in more effective pollution abatement technology will
increase. Through the trading of
credits, dollars spent on pollution control are spent where they are most
effective at reducing pollution.
Some of the advantages of ECT's are that no
other method is as effective at allocating the decision making process to the
people who are in the position to devise the best balance between the
advantages and disadvantages of various methods of reducing polluting
emissions. There are different methods
by which a firm can reduce its pollution, most often being directly tied into
complicated technological processes unique to its operations or industry. Consequently, unless the cooperation of
management and technicians within the industry or activity can be effectively
mobilized by self-interest motivation, it is unlikely that the best solution
will be attained (Gore, 1).
In addition, as
mentioned earlier, nearly all other methods of reducing air pollutants involve
a degree of arbitrary decision making on the part of officials charged with
administering controls. Such controls
may be necessary to even the best ECT system, but if administered in
conjunction with such a system then the necessary discriminations will at least
be minimized. In such a case when
controls need to be imposed, they will be done (if not in practice at least in perception) in a
much more unilateral manner. This
eliminates the perception of arbitrariness and discrimination, which in turn
leads to greater levels of compliance and cooperation amongst corporations
(Gore, 2).
Furthermore, a
system of Emission Credit Trading is at least in principle, highly flexible, in
that the market price will vary in accordance with changing circumstances, even
changing weather conditions .
Technically, this may be difficult to incorporate immediately, but the
potential for development is present.
Perhaps most
importantly, the use of ECT forces the air pollution problem to be brought into
perspective. Once transnational
corporations take a stake in the problem, an ecosociety becomes more plausible.
The reason for this is because of the power that they yield, and the influence
which they are capable of spreading.
Pollution costs shall also be internalized into the cost of
production. This has the effect of
greater adoptions of emission reduction technology, since there is a monetary
incentive to do so. And with the
increasing levels of global competitiveness these transnational corporations
(as well as local firms) can not afford to ignore any forms of cost
reductions. As well, in this day of
information highways and increased consumer awareness firms which adopt
environmentally sound practices are much likelier to show healthier bottom
lines .
Air pollution in recent years has become one of
the more serious environmental concerns because of the many implications
involved. The problem has reached a
degree of considerable concern, however because of the lack of political will
to attack the problem in a radical manner (because of the economic distortions
it would create) a market oriented alternative must be approached. There are many areas which need to be
addressed so as to develop a comprehensive pollution reduction program. All sources of air pollution (industrial,
home and vehicle) must be taken into account when dealing with the
problem. However, by introducing environmentally
friendly concepts such as Emission Credit Trading a serious reduction in air
pollution can be achieved, and the initial steps toward the ecosociety
taken. Obviously this is not the ideal,
having to put a price on the air we breath so as to ensure it's quality, but
unfortunately it is the most viable option considering the social system in
which we all live.
Works Cited
1. Arnopoulos, P. Political Dimensions of an
Information Society: A General
Overview.
Montreal: Gamma, 1982.
2. Bryner, G. ed. Global Warming and the
Challenge of International
Cooperation: An Interdisciplinary Assessment. Provo UT: Bringham
Young University Press, 1992.
3. Gore, A. Biotechnology: Implications for
Public Policy. Washington DC. : Brookings Institution, 1985.
4. Keller, E. Environmental Geology. Columbus:
CE Merrill Publishing Co., 1985.
5. Mitchell, B. Canadian Resource Policies:
Problems and Prospects. Toronto: Methuen, 1981.
6. Rifkin, E. Proteases and Biological Control.
New York: Cold Spring Harbour
Laboratory, 1975.
7. Saunders, DA Reintegrating Fragmented
Landscapes: Towards Sustainable Production and Nature Conservation. New York:
Springer-Verlag, 1993.
8. Vig, N and Kraft, M. Environmental Policy in
the 1990's. Washington DC: C.Q. Press, 1990.
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