Abstract: This
research examines the relationship between environmental groups and the
policies of the United States.
The United States
political system has been historically anthropocen-tric, or human
centered. Environmental groups
have been
attempting to change this to a biocentric or ecocentric viewpoint, which
includes the rights of animals and
the
environment. These views are nature
centered instead of human centered. This
study will answer the question of
whether these
groups have been effective at altering United States policies. This will be done through the study of
views offered by
both sides. Also, a survey will be used
to determine whether congressmen views are consistent with
environmentalist views. It will also present whether policy change
has taken place, and if these changes have
remained intact
through the study of past congressional decisions.
Research Problem
1. Research
Question
Have environmental
groups' strategies been successful at altering the policies of the United
States?
2. Rational for
the Research
This research
will help environmental groups to identify the effectiveness of their
strategies. This is necessary for
these groups to
effectively alter the policies of the United States, which is one of the
largest polluters in the world.
If their
strategies are ineffective then it will be necessary for them to reassess their
methods. Without the use
productive
methods these groups will not be able to protect the environment. Animals, plants and the entire ecosystem
must have the
same protection as humans have. An
ecocentric viewpoint establishes the right of the environment to have
legal
standing. This gives people the ability
to defend the right of an animal to exist with the same rights as
humans. Without this protection, people will be just
as negatively affected as the environment.
The earth must be
thought of as a
living organism, if one part is hurt then the whole planet will feel the
effects. Unfortunately,
business and
governments take the stance that the earth is more like a machine. That is, at times if a part is hurt it
can be repaired,
without it effecting the whole system.
Literature Review
The literature on
environmental groups and their influence and activities is vast. Several themes concerning the
groups' influence
in changing United States policy exist.
The American Psychological Association has done studies on
ecocentric and
anthropocentric attitudes (Thomas, 1994).
Ecocentric values have arisen recently as environmental
problems have
come to the public's attention.
Anthropocentric values have existed much longer. They have become
institutionalized
into our political and economic system.
The movement
toward environmental awareness arose in the political activism in the
60's. Although these values have
recently been
declining according to Finger (1993).
These biocentric and anthropocentric views are also examined by
Wildes
(1995). Wildes also explains the
beginning of the movement in the 60's, and the number of similar theories
developed during
the same era. In his study he applies
neo-marxism to the relationship towards Man and Nature. By
doing this he
shows how the government and industry uses the environment for its own use,
often neglecting the
resulting
effects.
Dodson (1995)
examines if either of these opposing viewpoints offer plausible answers to
current problems. Dodson
also explains how
the groups interact. Through this
interaction they form political policy.
Hampicke (1994)
address the vulnerability of the species and ecosystems to permanent
destruction. Also shown is how
conserva-tion
costs are not excessive as some in our government believe.
Lichterman (1995)
shows that green groups not only have problems relating towards our government,
but also
multicultural
obstacles. These groups must bring
together several interests in order to form a unified strategy to
present to the
United States government.
Environmental
lobbyists have so far been unsuccessful in their efforts to amend existing
environmental laws. Chemical
manufactur-ing
and other industry's lobbies have been able to block their efforts. They have used promising of
campaign funding
to influence Congress to support industries (Dowie, 1995).
Senator Ted
Stevens opposed the building of a pipeline across Alaska's coastal plain in
1977. He pointed out the
tragic
environmental costs of oil development in his home state. Now he is a part of a group of senators who
are
leading efforts
to roll back environmental laws (Foley, 1995).
Congress has been
modifying the country's environmental policy to suit business interests during
its first eight
months in
power. Senator Bob Dole sponsored a risk
assessment bill. This bill required that
new federal human health
and safety
standards be weighed against their economic costs. This bill was defeated by the Natural
Resources Defense
Council
lobby. Congress has also attached over
fifty riders to various appropriations bills to all anti-environment
projects while
minimizing public knowledge of the bills (Adams, 1995, 3). One of these riders was to a federal budget
cutting
bill. This rider allowed private
companies to salvage damaged trees in national lands. Other similar riders
include making it
legal to consider the sale of public assets toward the reduction of the budget
deficit. Another
bill passed
banned the addition of more species to the Endangered Species list and allows
increased logging at Tongass
National Forest
(Adams, 1995, 2).
Environmental
policy is positively affected by pressure from customers, shareholders,
government regulations,
neighborhood
groups and community groups. Although
environmental policy is negatively affected by lobby pressure from
other
groups. This is from empirical data from
firms that have an official policy for dealing with environmental
questions
(Henriques, 1996).
Tension between
social equity and environmental politics has existed in the United States over
the past thirty years.
This tension has
existed on a social classes basis, a gender basis, a racial basis, and an
economic basis. Several of
these tensions
however are more perceived than real.
There is a possible common grounds for these two goals (Paehlke,
1993).
Research Concepts
and Hypotheses
1. Research
Concepts and Variables
Change In United
States policy is dependent upon the action of interest groups. These groups are only able to alter
policy if there
actions are effective at promoting their cause.
This can be done through the support of the people,
or the
voters. It can also be done by directly
lobbying Congress for the passage of a law, or lobbying to prevent a
passage of
law. It is also possible to directly
gain public and political attention through protests and other
actions that draw
people's attention. The voting records
of congressmen and their current view will be examined.
Environmental
lobbying efforts will also be examined in order to conduct this research.
2. Research
Propositions and Hypotheses
The United States
government is anthropocentric in its attitude towards the environment. Although there was a surge
of environmental
awareness in the 60's this has declined in the recent decade. Green groups have been trying to shift
this viewpoint
towards a biocentric view. They are
faced not only with the problem with relating to government, but
also to different
cultures. With effective strategies they
will be successful at influencing political decision
making. The effectiveness of their methods must be
analyzed in order to ensure that what they are doing is
worthwhile.
Methodology
In order to
research the effectiveness of environmental groups at altering policy of the
United States government, a
close-ended
questionnaire will be created. This
questionnaire will be sent to congressmen.
The questionnaire will
attempt to
determine the congressmen's standing on different issues. These issues will be theoretical policy
choices. The policy choices will either have a
biocentric standing or a anthropocentric standing. A Likert scale
will be used to
determine how the congressman stands on an issue. A sample of the survey is
included at the end of
this proposal.
It will also be
important to determine whether the congressman is a Democrat or
Republican. The state that the
congressman is
from will also be important to determine.
These two indicators are important because of possible
alternative
influences on the congressman. Validity
of the answers can be determined by comparing answers with recent
voting habits of
individual respondents.
The lobbying
efforts of green groups will also be studied by examining their political
activities, which include
lobbying and
other forms of political pressure. If
there is a change in the congressmen's environmental positions
over a period of
time this will need to be examined closely.
The political pressure from environmental groups at the
time of change
will also need to be examined.
If there has been
consistent change in congressmen's views and pressure from environmental groups
at that time, then
this will be
considered as a positive influence by the green groups. If there is a change in policy and no
pressure
from green groups
is noticeable then the reasons should be deduced. The reasoning behind this change could be
used to
help the
environmental groups. If there has been
no change in policy or policy has changed against the environment,
then the methods
used by green groups will not be seen as effective. The importance of determining this is to give
the groups an
opportunity to change there methods in order to be more effective.
Work Schedule
It will take
about one week to prepare the survey and mailing list. After this the results should be back within
four
to six
weeks. While waiting for the results,
the voting record of congressmen will be examined. Also during this
period, recent
lobbying efforts by environmental groups will be recorded. It will then take about two more weeks to
compare the data.
References
Adams, John H.
1995. Breaking Faith. Amicus Journal. 17, 3: 2.
Adams, John H.
1995. Special Report: Congress and the Environment.
Amicus Journal. 17,
3: 3.
Dodson, A. 1995.
The Politics of Nature: Explorations in Green
Political Theory.
New York, NY: Routledge.
Dowie, Mark.
1995. Greens Outgunned. Earth Island Journal. 10, 2:
26.
Finger, Matthias.
1992. The Changing Green Movement - A
Clarification.
Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and
Change. 2:
229-246.
Foley, Dana
Nadel. 1995. A Congressional Sampler: Rollbacks,
Rhetoric, and
Greenbacks in the World of Washington's Anti-
Greens. Amicus
Journal. 17, 3: 13.
Hampicke, U.
1994. Ethics and Economics of Conservation. Biology
Conservation
Journal. 67, 3: 219-231.
Henriques, Irene
and Perry Sadorsky. 1996. The Determinants of an
Environmentally
Responsive Firm: An Empirical Approach.
Journal of
Environmental Economics and Management. 30, 3:
381.
Lichterman, Paul.
1995. Piecing Together Multicultural Community:
Cultural
Differences in Community Building among Grass-Roots
Environmentalists.
Social Problems Journal 42, 4: 513-534.
Paehlke, Robert.
1993. Environment/Equity: Tensions in North
American
Politics. Policy Studies Journal. 21, 4: 672.
Thomas, Dietz.
1994. The Value Basis of Environmental Concern.
Journal of Social
Issues. 50, 3: 65-84.
Wildes, F. T.
1995. Recent Themes in Conservation Philosophy and
Policy in the
United States. Environmental Conservation
Journal. 22, 2:
143-150.
Survey
1) What is your
political affiliation?
2) Which state do
you represent?
Please answer the
following questions in terms of (1) for strongly agree to (10) for strongly
disagree.
3) Should genetic
engineering be allowed to increase the production of a farm even if there is a
slight risk to the
environment?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
4) Should a
nuclear power plant be allowed to be built to meet the local energy needs of an
area?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
5) Should there
be mandatory recycling laws even though not all areas have an existing
recycling system?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
6) Should
residents be allowed to set thermostat readings to desired levels even though
it may use more energy?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
7) Should farmers
be allowed to protect their livestock by hunting indigenous wild animals?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
8) Should public
parks be open to increased mining or logging to spur the economy of an area?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
9) Should federal
laws outlawing the possession of feathers or other parts of birds of prey be
strictly enforced?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
10) Should
industry be forced to reduce air and water pollution originating from its
factories even if it means loss of employees and reduced job opportunities?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
11) Should the
use of private automobiles be restricted in order to reduce air pollution?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
12) Should the
government increase taxes on products that harm the environment?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
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