U.S. Domestic Policy: Sustainable Development Essay Analysis

This essay analyzes the U.S. domestic policy concerning sustainable development, examining its various facets from agricultural and forest systems to environmental protection. It discusses the role of government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agricult...Read More

Running head: U.S. DOMESTIC POLICY
U.S. DOMESTIC POLICY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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A sustainable policy is often referred to the sustainable goals that is taken up by a
country to safeguard as well as protect the environment. It should be noted that sustainability
as well as environmental policies depends on the socio-economic as well as socio-political
issues that is considered in the planning and management in the system of resources to meet
the desired needs of the society (Holden, Linnerud & Banister 2017). Domestic policy of
USA covers a wide range of areas ranging from business, energy, healthcare to natural
resources, freedom as well as social welfare. The essay aims to discuss the sustainable policy
of USA as one of its domestic policies.
U.S policies as well as laws regarding sustainability works towards advancing the
sustainability of the country’s agricultural as well as forest system in a number of ways. The
public sustainability policies address not only the impact of agriculture on the environment
but it also pays attention to safety of the workers, safety of modified crops as well as
biodiversity (Karttunen & Moore 2018). It should be observed that the policies of US
sustainability represents some of the federal laws of the government that might have an effect
on the modified crops, forestry sectors as well as livestock. Most of the sustainable policies
are made by as well as administered by Environmental Protection Agency or the agency of
Department of Agriculture (Kolk, 2016). However, it should be noted that there are other
federal bodies as well that contribute in the decision-making regarding the sustainable
policies.
According to Bende 2017, the US policy regarding sustainability as well as
management have contributed to the country in a variety of ways. According to the author the
policies of sustainable development felt that there a number of erodible lands as well as
wetlands that were being converted to lands for growing crops. Therefore, the author states
that the sustainable policy denies all kinds of programs related to farm benefits so that the

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producers could not cultivate the erodible lands without having a conservation plan as a
backup (Bende, 2017). This kind of an approach will naturally help in conserving the
environment and also put an end to the misuse of lands for unnecessary requirements. Bende
2017, further states that farmers according to the sustainable policy will have to implement a
conservative plan that is approved by the government. The policy also promotes planting of
trees or establishing a permanent habitat for animals. The contracts of the government with
the farmers under the sustainable policy is binding on the latter for a period of ten to fifteen
years (Bende, 2017). Such an approach will automatically improve the quality of water and
reduce the flow of nitrogen as well as phosphorus into the fields that might be harmful for the
crops as well as the cultivable lands. If this approach is chosen then according to the author
the sustainable development policy will help in lowering the environmental impact (Bende,
2017). According to Sheats 2017, the sustainable development policy of the USA will further
guarantee a better future for the people living in the country. It will also teach the citizens to
be more responsible towards others as well as the environment. Furthermore the above policy
of USA will help in assessing as well as managing risks that are posed by pollutants. The
author further states that sustainable policies will also help in cutting down waste and
improve the economy of the country. By following this approach or policy the global threat to
the environment will also reduce (Sheats, 2017).
However, as stated by Martinuzzi & Sedlacko 2017, though the sustainable policy of
the USA has led to the success of environmental policies and remains an essential tool for
coping with the environmental issues it should be noted that it is still not adequate to address
many of the problems that are complex that might put both the current as well as the future
generation at risk such as it can lead to depletion of natural resources, climate change as well
as loss of biodiversity. According to the above authors the sustainability policy of the US has
led to more unsustainable production as well as consumption. Despite taking a number of

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measures that would help in sustaining the environment the rate of environmental issues have
increased considerably rather than reducing it. This has happened due to urban sprawl that is
becoming a part of US society (Martinuzzi & Sedlacko 2017). Furthermore, according to
Pickering et al., 2018, though the US has taken up many sustainable goals to protect the
environment it is still lagging behind. This has happened as the country has still not adopted
the Kyoto Protocol that has aimed to the climatic changes. The issue related to the policy is
again a failure because the two political parties in the USA- the Republicans as well as the
Democrats have different views regarding the sustainable development (Mildenberger et al.,
2017). Due to increase use of automobiles in the country air pollution has risen that causes
acid rain that ultimately affects the ecosystem.
Therefore, according to the authors who oppose the US sustainable development
program the country though has come up with many new policies to protect the government
has not been able to control the existing use of elements that harm the environment. It is thus
essential for the country to realise the loopholes in their policies and they also need to realise
the impact of existing policies on the environment (Eun & Urpelainen 2018). The USA is the
leading country in the world therefore, it should also be leading in its policies of sustainable
development.
Therefore to conclude it must be kept in mind that sustainable development as a
domestic policy should be implemented by all the countries like the USA. The latter has
come up with many strategies to cope with the environmental issues however, there are still
many limitations to the policies. They are unable to realise the various impact from other
elements that might harm the country such as advanced use of technology, effects of urban
sprawl and lack of realization of the people. Therefore, the US should consider the above
issues while implementing new domestic policies regarding sustainable development.

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References
Bende-Nabende, A. (2017). Globalisation, FDI, regional integration and sustainable
development: theory, evidence and policy. Routledge.
Eun Kim, S., & Urpelainen, J. (2018). Environmental public opinion in US states, 1973–
2012. Environmental Politics, 27(1), 89-114.
Holden, E., Linnerud, K., & Banister, D. (2017). The imperatives of sustainable
development. Sustainable Development, 25(3), 213-226.
Karttunen, M., & Moore, M. O. (2018). India–Solar Cells: Trade Rules, Climate Policy, and
Sustainable Development Goals. World Trade Review, 17(2), 215-237.
Kolk, A. (2016). The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the
environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business, 51(1),
23-34.
Martinuzzi, A., & Sedlacko, M. (2017). Knowledge brokerage for sustainable development:
Innovative tools for increasing research impact and evidence-based policy-making.
Routledge.
Mildenberger, M., Marlon, J. R., Howe, P. D., & Leiserowitz, A. (2017). The spatial
distribution of Republican and Democratic climate opinions at state and local
scales. Climatic change, 145(3-4), 539-548.
Pickering, J., McGee, J. S., Stephens, T., & Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, S. I. (2018). The impact of
the US retreat from the Paris Agreement: Kyoto revisited?. Climate policy, 18(7),
818-827.

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Sheats, J. R. (2017). Information technology, sustainable development and developing
nations. In The Ecology of the New Economy (pp. 110-118). Routledge.