Environmental policies in USA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Environmental policies in USA - Research Paper Example The issues of environmental conservation have become so serious that they can no longer be ignored by the current generation unless we want to do it when the danger of a global disaster becomes inevitable. To this regard, a number of studies has been conducted regarding environmental issues to come up with various solutions so that to impend danger of humankind extinction. Different governments globally, including the government of the United States, have formulated various legislations with an aim of safeguarding the environment. The issues regarding environmental policy of the United States are to be regulated the federal government. Activities having environmental impact according to the United States environmental policy provisions should be acted upon by the federal government. The main purpose of formulation of environmental policy is to that the current generations protect the environment for future generations. The United States environmental policy also tries to interfere as little as possible with the efficiency of commerce and tries to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. The government of United States has instituted legislations that regulate the environment. These laws are administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was formulated in 1970 and has been bestowed with the power to control pollution and the environment at large since its inception. The United States is without doubt the number one country that’s spends a greater portion of its GNP in cleaning up the environment. The United States residents have in many occasions demonstrated a great deal of concern when it comes to environmental problems. As a result both local and national political leaders in the United States talk about environmental issues in their campaigns (Kraft & Vig, 1990). Each year millions of United States tax payer money and donations are spent in environmental policies plan and in management of resources. The United States has managed considerably, in recent decades to reduce many types of pollution, environmental disasters and improved the quality of waters in many places. But that being said, The Unites States just as many other countries faces and is still struggling to use its God given recourses in an efficient way and to preserve its ecosystem (Bass, Herson & Bogdan, 2001). When the United States started to develop an active environme ntal policy, it was a sovereign nation state which possessed all the constitutional, institutional, economic, and political requirements to conceive and implement a coherent and consistent environmental policy home and abroad (Holt & Winston, 2002). Various studies in the field explain that until the 1960s water and air issues were mainly dealt with at the level of individual states within the United States. This lead to an increased public concern, that ended up prompting the Congress to adopt federal air pollution legislation in 1965 and 1967 which later was reinforced by the Clean air Act Amendments of 1970. This didn’t stop here as a similar development occurred in the water sector of 1972 (Bass, Herson & Bogdan, 2001). As of the 1970s, Environmental policy in the United States started experiencing a strong centralization. This included the adoption of federal legislation concerning air and ware pollution, industrial permitting, nature protection and soil cleanup policies ; and powerful enforcement mechanisms, in particular via the EPA during 1970s, EPA and other federal agencies pursued a vigorous and robust policy