There is a need for environmental regulations to ensure environmental protection. This article has concentrated on two ways of ensuring environmental protection; these include public use of the legal system and private negotiation. The readings have concentrated on the legal approach concerning environmental mismanagement.
It is very difficult to ascertain the damage done by environmental mismanagement and to be able to tell who participated in doing so. Therefore the definition for the property rights is difficult to make under environmental protection. Many factors prevent the regulation from going as planned. The governments usually have designed interventions to this problem.
There are various approaches that the governments can use but they depend on the regulatory program being used. Some of the approaches include the zero-risk approach that is basically putting a zero tolerance to any activity that results to pollution. The other one is the technology based approach and balancing approach. After trying to put this regulation in place the government should try to attain the environmental standards. This can be done by trying to use the centralized approach or the decentralized approach.
The final issue that is discussed in this essay is the monitoring for compliance to this issue. The paper has also discussed the issue of hybrid approach by the government to ensure proper implementation of these policies. The final part of this reading touches on the problems that face EPA. These problems include how to deal with the complex issues of the environmental laws, dealing with the standards that are put in place to regulate the mismanagement of the environment, the absolute goal in the environmental statutes that is difficult to determine and contamination of this statutes by the distributive goals.
The perspective of this article towards the environment is that there is need to protect the environment but the way to do it is the big issue. If the citizens were given the property rights there would be a need to clearly define these rights. This is because it is very hard to determine the amount of damage made by the polluters to the citizens. It is assumed that the individuals will take the pollution control measures if the cost of these measures is less than the damage.
The legal approach towards the environmental protection is less practical since it is hard to determine where the property rights of some environmental issues are and how they can be vested in our society. Though many people accept that it is the right of citizens to be free from pollution this seems to be impossible due to various constraints involved.
It should be noted that there is an increasing number of polluters and it has hence proved difficult to control the pollution. The people also face very little damage such that they don’t find it worthy to take any action. According to the article it was seen that the individuals prefer to pay for the damages caused by the environment. The fact that it is hard to determine the amount of damage caused creates an excuse for people to continue polluting the environment in order to gain.
There are several assumptions that are made concerning the issues of pollution. One of this assumptions is that little can be done to avoid some types of environmental mismanagement. This is because this mismanagement occurs when the individual is trying to do some economic variable things. The other assumption is that it is impossible to account for the amount of pollution that caused a certain damage that might have occurred.
Several approaches that are discussed in this article are in consistency with the current strategies of managing environment. I shall discuss those strategies that are used today to manage the environment and the basic principles in this article. Even today legal measures are being used to ensure proper environmental management strategies are put in place.
Though it is hard to ascertain the amount of damage that is caused due to mismanagement of the environment there are laws that can be used to curb the amount of damage done to the environment. In almost all the countries in the world there is some regulations imposed by the government to deal with the environmental mismanagement.
Government intervention is still being used today to prevent pollution. In the article the federal authority needs to set regulation to manage the environment. There should however be a limit set for the amount of protection the government should provide. In the world today the same issue is being used to protect the environment. The states have taken a step further and tried to offer protection to its citizens. They have done so by implementing regulations like use of the permits, taxing the polluter of the environment heavily, encouraging change among others.
After putting all the regulations in place there is also the need to monitor if the regulation and the legal support are being applied in the management of the environment. The governments have put in place several measures to evaluate the performance of these issues. Paul, Robert and Starvin (2000) observed that it is clear that several governments have ministries that monitor environmental management. In the article there are several approaches that the federal government also uses to manage the environment. These are also used today.
The principles in this article can be used to positively manage the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Take for example a situation where we take the measures to protect the atmosphere; the government can use the permits in order to reduce the amount of gases that are emitted by the air polluters.
This will in turn reduce the ozone layer depletion. In cases where the emission is to be reduced to a certain percentage it will result to a more successful management of the atmosphere. On the management of the hydrosphere which is the water component of the environment composition as discussed in Gary and Piezynski (2005). The principle of using permits, especially to the fishing companies will reduce water pollution to great extent. Also putting several regulations on the use of water resources and also encouraging the preservation of the forest to protect the water catchments areas.
On the issue of the lithosphere it is generally the protection of the land surface and the components on the earth. There is need to protect the earth surface since it is the habitant of many living organism. The principles discussed in this paper have tried to explain some of the measures that can be used to protect the lithosphere.
In this case legal approach can be very successful if used to protect the lithosphere. The effluent change can be applied in this case to ensure pollution tax is paid by all those who misuse the environment
I would like to recommend the use of both the legal approach and the government intervention in the management of the environment. This management strategy that the government can use can help in trying to reduce the amount of pollution that is evident in the world today. Though the legal approach it is difficult to ascertain the amount of damage that occurs.
If this damage can be ascertained then it would be the best action to take. The polluters have the responsibility of paying any plaintiff the damage caused to him as a result of the pollution. This in general will prevent the polluters from exercising control on the management of the environment.
The other regulation that the government can put in place is the use of government interventions to protect the environment. This can be considered as the most effective way of ensuring proper management of the environment.
The use of permits, taxation and use of equal percentage among others can qualify to be the best measures that the government can use to reduce the environmental degradation. The government has the greatest role to play in ensuring these measures are well implemented. They have the power to do so in an effective manner if only they are committed to do so.
Bucholl, Marcos and Post (1991) noted that individuals also have a role to play in protecting the environment. It is the duty of every citizen to try and reduce the amount of pollution where he can. There is also a need to educate others on the dangers of environmental degradation so as to protect the environment. The way forward is for all the stakeholders to play their own role to ensure proper management of the environment.
Reference
Bucholl, A. Marcos, A. Post, J. (1991) Managing Environmental Issues. New jersey: Prentice Hall Press.
Paul R. Robert N. Starvin, L. et el (2000) Public Policy For Environmental Protection. New York: Resources for the future press.
Gary, M, Piezynski, J. T. (2005) Soil and Environmental Quality. London: CRC press.