Evolution of Environmental Policy

Environmental policy and law aims to protect natural resources, the natural environment, and human health. These goals are achieved by enacting an array of multifaceted and complex policies, regulations, and statues to address environmental issues. Throughout the 20th century, into the 21st century, many major shifts have been noted in the in the arena of environmental policy; shifts that have had major societal changes and policy shifts. These different eras have seen significant legislation and policy reform, having a major impact on the environment and our society. This examination of key eras also focuses on the importance of Ulrick Becks Theory of Risk Society (1995), stating the shift between industrial societies, which focused on class inequities and social reform, to risk societies, focusing on individualism and political consumerism, in high-income Western societies.

This era, known as the "Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility" era, saw new administrations and increasing environmental issues. With George W. Bush in office, generous cuts to the EPA were made and regulations scaling back environmental protection policies occurred, further devastating the issues our environment as facing (Vig, 2020). Due to the rise in environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss in the second half of the decade, corporations were finally taking action to adopt "green" regulations.

In the midst of the Bush administration, many environmental policies were weakened through his use of executive powers (Vig, 2020). Much of his cabinet was filled with conservative leaders and corporate businessmen who looked to further the development of the fossil fuel industry. Although his budget was not accepted by Congress, Bush proposed slashing the EPAs budgeting in half, as well as cutting funding for environmental programs and natural resources by 8% (Vig, 2020). To add to his anti-environmentalists' actions, Bush withdrew U.S. participation from the international Kyoto Protocol treaty, which limited the use of fossil fuels.

This decade faced a new challenge not previously seen in prior decades: a globalization of risk. This is suggested in Becks Theory of Risk, which highlights that as risks such as climate change and loss of biodiversity become more evident, these issues cross international borders, leaving high-income nations to deal with multifaceted and complex challenges. This is evident in certain events, such as coastal hurricanes in 2005 and intense natural weather events, leading to a need for international corporation and action due to the complexity of these challenges coming from industrial activities. This decade saw risks starting to globalization, shifting from domestic policies to international treaties to deal with increasing environmental challenges.

The 2010s era saw a rise in climate activism and civil unrest about the global climate status. With the growing environmental issues and disasters, society is seeing an increase in demands for change and youth activism, yet the average global temperatures are rising. In this decade, one major global effort to mitigate increasing environmental devastations was the Paris Agreement in 2015, which former president Donald Trump withdrew from later. Although this legally binding treaty attempted to keep global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius pre-industrial level, the earth's climate may be changing too fast due to anthropogenic activities.

The beginning of this decade saw an increase for advocacy in reaction to the environmental challenges society is facing. Because of this, President Barack Obama took office with a strong environmental agenda. Despite the partisan divide in Congress, Obama utilized executive power to increase environmental legislation being put in place. He increased national spending for renewable energy and the environment, as well as increasing the EPA budget from the Bush administration. Obamas landmark actions, consisting of the Clean Power Plan finalized in 2015 and the joint international leadership between China and the U.S., paved wave for the Paris Agreement (Vig, 2020). 

Civil society is reaching its peak point of unrest as climate devastations are increasing and causing mass casualties, both on human health and ecosystems across the globe. More government action and corporate responsibility is being demanded through environmental advocacy, especially from youth. Not only are there increasing environmental consequences, but political and socioeconomic consequences as well. Because of this, new international forms of cooperation and government can be seen in the form of treaties and conferences, such as the Paris Agreement and the UN Climate Action Summit. In this decade, the amount of environmental degradation coming from large industrials are forcing leaders and youth activists to address these risks through drastic measures.

The 2020s era, categorized by Bidens Administration and his push for a green transition, started out in political, economic, and social disarray. With Trump still in office important environmental legislations and protection policies, such as wildlife, water and air pollution, and toxic substance regulations, were being rolled back (Popovich, et al., 2021). A major increase of natural disasters, displacing and harming thousands of people, were appearing across the globe: Australian and Canadian wildfires, record high temperatures and heatwaves, and massive air pollution leading to dangerous smog conditions. With more advanced technology and more funding being allocating to climate research, Climate scientists and world leading organizations are finding major decreases in biodiversity, quickly melting ice caps and arctic ice, thousands of species going extinct, and atmospheric temperatures rising. To add to this, the wake of the Coronavirus left the world in a social and economic disaster.

However, the Biden Administration delivered on their promise to increase environmental regulations and protections, much like in the Obama presidency, pushing for a transition to a green economy and zero-emissions for 2050. Overall, with more harmful environmental impacts being noticed and the 2024 presidential election, the direction of environmental legislation and reform is unknown.

New heights are being reached in this decade, as more climate initiatives are being made by the Biden Administration and world governments are recognizing the urgency behind solving the climate crisis. Anxiety about the state of our earth is engulfing our society, especially as extreme weather disasters increase. As we see worldwide disasters killing hundreds and displacing thousands, manufactured risks are created that instill a need to protect ourselves. These environmental challenges made from industrialization and the use of fossil fuels require international cooperation from many nations to solve. Decades of human activity are finally having their effect on the earth, shifting our society from an industrial to risk society, relying more on international cooperation due to the multifaceted challenges we have created. As in recent years, our society has not only seen an increase in environmental degradation, but political corruption and large corporations placing blame on consumers for climate change. For these reasons, individuals of society are speaking up for change on a large scale, resulting in an increasing number of UN climate conferences, treaties among UN nations, major shifts in U.S. environmental policy, and drastic increase in climate advocacy, especially from youth.

From the past three decades, a common trend can be seen: The climate crisis has been pushed to the forefront and finding gaining attracting on an international level. Throughout these three eras, a devastating increase in environmental degradation is apparent, with entire ecosystems, frequency extreme weather patterns, rises in sea level effecting coastal communities, a rise in atmospheric temperature, and overall destructive of human health and the environment. Only in the past 50 years, however, have we seen a shift in our system; governments at domestic and international levels are taking action due to the concerns of the public. Well legislations and policies passed by Congress and signed by the president are largely dependent on the political party they are affiliated with, an increase in awareness is apparent and more regulations are being set by government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Global organizations, specifically the United Nations, are bringing together vastly different nations who are all experiencing the same consequences of climate change in order to mitigate those consequences. This is typically played out in legally binding treaties on an international level due to the complexity of the climate crisis.

The first era shows the first sign of globalization of risk. Increasing climate change consequences and a lack of response from large governmental powers were picking up attraction in the public, causing a global crisis and anxieties. Specifically in the U.S., Bush's Administration, essentially ignoring signs of global warming and warnings from scientific advisors, was a final straw for environmentalists. The 2010s era saw that societal and political shift when Obama took the presidency, and the Paris Agreement was signed. Risks are becoming more global here, requiring more action from international governments and demands from the public. Individuals are more concerned with managing environmental risks then with social struggles due to the major anthropogenic effects on the environment. The last era, the 2020s, is dealing with rollbacks of policies and regulations from different presidents. The risk here will only increase if the legislations from former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden are once again turned over, and if governments on an international government are unable to act faster.

The 1950s saw an industrial society, focused on social inequalities and unequal wealth distribution, while currently we are facing a risk society, where our concern lives on the individual consumerism that stems from industrial activities. This shift can be easily detected from these three eras, perhaps due to the worsen state of our environment from human activity. As the state of our environment decreases due to anthropogenic causes, risk society becomes noticeable, forcing large masses of individuals to advocate for action in our governments. Overall, this is harboring a major social and political shift in our society, mostly due to the lack of consist environmental policy and government action, as well as corporate responsbility.