Environmental issues have been observed throughout human history, but they are becoming especially crucial in modern times. The public eye turned to the quality of water, air emissions, soil damage, extinction of entire species, and wildfire in recent years. While most of the attention is held on forests and oceans, it is no less important to preserve sources of freshwater: lakes and rivers. Great Lakes are especially susceptible and require an additional layer of protection, and so does the prevention of illegal fishing (Havens & Jeppesen, 2018). Sheldon Whitehouse introduced the Bolstering Long-term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act (the BLUE GLOBE Act) to protect the environment.
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Application of the Biblical Principles. Biblical principles rely on tenants of the Bible and the Scripture: humanity’s duty in the eyes of God and society. Preservation of natural resources and life on Earth is one of the primary responsibilities of humanity as a whole. The BLUE GLOBE Act and other environmental bills provide nature with needed protection.
Constitutional Authority. The Federal government needs to play a central role in environmental protection, as it regulates the laws and their execution. According to the Constitution, the government must provide people with a safe and healthy environment. Because humanity’s survival depends on the planet’s well-being, the government is required to implement laws that would protect natural resources, such as the BLUE GLOBE Act.
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Political Feasibility. While legislation that focuses on improving the country’s environmental situation can gather massive political and social support, the BLUE GLOBE Act is unlikely to be passed. Skopos Labs (GovTrack.us, 2021) has determined it has a 4% chance of being enacted: the bill was assigned to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and its primary subject is public lands and natural resources. Many similar bills exist and overshadow the BLUE GLOBE Act. These factors make it very unlikely that this bill will be enacted, but it is not improbable either, as the legislation covers many important topics.
Financial Feasibility. The BLUE GLOBE Act calls for the amendment of a section in the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892d), specifically several paragraphs about governmental spendings. This amendment aims to increase monetary investment in environmental research, enlarging the overall sum from around 180 to approximately 223 million USD. The BLUE GLOBE Act also calls for improvements in monitoring equipment and technology. All these factors would enlarge the national debt by a minimum of over 43 million USD and improve the national effort in battling Climate Change.
Practical Feasibility. The bill requires many implementations to be made in technology, data, and policies. The BLUE GLOBE Act focuses on creating better tools to monitor and secure Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, from deploying autonomous vehicles to advanced electronic fisheries monitoring equipment. Many of these require monetary investments and improvement in scientific approach and practices, which may need workers well-equipped for the changes. While the bill offers many essential changes, its implementation can take years to fulfill.
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The BLUE GLOBE Act is designed to address many overlooked issues in terms of environmental protection. While many other bills focus on lowering the emission and pollution levels, the BLUE GLOBE Act pays attention to a less developed area: monitoring and protecting natural resources such as lakes, bays, and estuaries. The bill would benefit if it were made more publicly visible to gain more supporters, especially on the Democratic side. As Bromley-Trujillo, Holman & Sandoval highlighted, shifts in temperature and weather affect the legislators’ perspective on bills aimed at Climate Change (2019). Therefore bills such as the BLUE GLOBE Act can gain more considerable friction if they reach out to the public. From a Biblical perspective, the protection of nature goes hand in hand with humankind’s duty as the protectors of life on the planet. It does not negatively affect any human rights and can be assisted by local federal lawmakers to consider local knowledge about the area’s nature. As it stands, the bill has little chance of being passed.
References
S. 140 — 117th Congress: BLUE GLOBE Act. (2021). GovTrack.us. Web.
Hydrographic Services Improvement Act, 33 U.S.C. § 892d (1998). Web.
Bromley-Trujillo, R., Holman, M., & Sandoval, A. (2019). Hot districts, cool legislation: Evaluating agenda setting in climate change bill sponsorship in U.S. States. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 19(3), 375-395. Web.
Havens K, & Jeppesen E. (2018). Ecological responses of lakes to climate change. Water, 10(7): 917. Web.