Environmental Policy and Air Pollution Assignment

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND AIR POLLUTION
Environmental policy and Air pollution
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Federal system has been established in United States by its constitution. In Federal
system, a division regarding the power of the government can be observed. In USA, the
power is divided in between the Union and State governments. A mixed governmental policy
has been observed in USA. Certain matters are involved in this system and environmental
policies are one of them. The main objective of environmental policy is to protect the natural
resources and act as a safeguard as against the pollution. There are many Union laws to
regulate the environmental policies and the first step has been taken by President Richard
Nixon in the year 1970. National Environmental Policy Act was enacted that year. The matter
of air pollution has been regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1990, another
legislation named Pollution Prevention Act has been enacted to deal with the environmental
policies and air pollution.
Due to the federal government system, Texas has also taken certain steps on
environmental issues. The air pollution criteria have been mentioned in Texas Commission
on Environmental Qualities. Apart from this commission, there is another Act named Clean
Air Act. However, the scope of these Acts is limited up to the territorial boundary of Texas
only. Certain provision regarding the Environmental Protection Agency has also applied in
Texas.
The issues regarding the environmental policies are burning topic and the problem
regarding the same has been reflected in many Journals and Articles. There are certain web
portals that are concerned about the subject. Jones, Robert P., Daniel Cox, and Juhem
Navarro-Rivera had, in their journal "Believers, sympathizers, and skeptics: why Americans
are conflicted about climate change, environmental policy and science: findings from the
PRRI/AAR religions, values, and climate change survey." narrated the emerging danger
regarding the environmental policies. They had made an attempt to point out the reasons
behind the environmental pollution and tried to resolve the problem by way of social

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reconstruction. McDonald-Buller et al., along with other three writers has set out the reasons
behind the air pollution in their journal named Dynamic Management of NO x and SO2
Emissions in the Texas and Mid-Atlantic Electric Power Systems and Implications for Air
Quality. They have concentrated on the economic effects regarding the air policies and
pointed out the necessity of smoke free policies. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine, and Matthieu
Glachant, in their Journal named Does foreign environmental policy influence domestic
innovation? Evidence from the wind industry, had examined the environmental policies and
made an asymmetric response regarding the same. Besides those journals, web portals like
Wikipedia has collected plenty of information on the environmental policies taken by the
federal government of USA and Texas.
There are various options which needs to be considered with respect to
environmental policies. The first option which needs to be considered is towards reduction of
carbon emission. 15% of the nation’s refining capacity is found in Texas and therefore it
leads the nation towards the emission of greenhouse gases. There are two option for the state
to initiate such emission reduction firstly the state may impose a policy where by the existing
carbon tax can be continued and the cost of emission would be paid by the consumers. On the
other hand the state has the option to introduce a cap and trade system. However the
measures of each option has to be considered by the policy makers. It has to be considered by
the policy makers that would the state suffer detriment if the cap and trade system to the
refineries is introduced as compared to other states or would it be better to have charges paid
by the consumers in case of imposing the carbon tax. Another situation is in relation to the
rise of sea level. It is the duty of the policy makers to ensure that they take in consideration
with respect to costal management the issue of rise in water level as Texas has a gently
sloping coast which exposes it to salt water intrusion. The issue should also be considered in
insurance requirements and zoning ordinance. Another issue which needs to be addressed by

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the policy makers is in relation to water scarcity. Texas has a large part which is semiarid.
The West Texas, Panhandle, Rio Grande border region specifically experiences higher
temperature, decreased rainfall and high rate of evaporation. In addition in the combination
with the issues like growth in population lead to increased ecological and municipal demand
and competition in agriculture. Therefore it is necessary for the state to prepare for global
warming through its water management agencies by more efficiently using water, better
preparation for draught and conservation.
There are several advantages and disadvantages of the above discussed options
which needs to be considered in order to be implemented by policy makers. Firstly coming to
the carbon emission tax system the biggest advantage is that consumers would be hesitant to
use products where carbon emission is high, however the disadvantage of this system is that
imposition of tax have not resolved the issue related to carbon emission anywhere around the
world and have only increased the price of the commodities. The cap and trade system on the
other hand has limits the emission which can be made during production. However the
system may lead to the increase in the price of the commodity but will also guarantee
reduction in carbon emission. The system may also subject the state to an economic
disadvantage.
In the given situation it would be best for the state to choose the cap and trade
method as the concerns related to environment in the state have become alarming and if they
are not addressed in a timely manner they would be converted from a matter of great concern
to a matter of grave concern.
Thus form the above discussed analysis it can be concluded that the issues in Texas related to
the environment has becoming alarming. The concept of federalism has to be taken positively

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by the state and the policy makers should draft policies which are effective in addressing the
major area of concern.

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Reference:
Dechezleprêtre, Antoine, and Matthieu Glachant. "Does foreign environmental policy
influence domestic innovation? Evidence from the wind industry." Environmental and
Resource Economics 58.3 (2014): 391-413.
Jones, Robert P., Daniel Cox, and Juhem Navarro-Rivera. "Believers, sympathizers, and
skeptics: why Americans are conflicted about climate change, environmental policy and
science: findings from the PRRI/AAR religions, values, and climate change survey." (2014).
McDonald-Buller, E., Kimura, Y., Craig, M., McGaughey, G., Allen, D., & Webster, M.
(2016). Dynamic Management of NO x and SO2 Emissions in the Texas and Mid-Atlantic
Electric Power Systems and Implications for Air Quality. Environmental science &
technology, 50(3), 1611-1619.

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