REVIEW SHEET

MIDTERM EXAM

Sample Essay:

How does the structure of the American political system (separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism) affect environmental policymaking?  Discuss several examples.

Explain the difference in the policy perspective of the major environmental political actors - - business and industry, state and local governments, natural resources users, workers, environmental advocates.

Describe the science and politics problem.  What are the problems and what might help lead to better decision-making?

Explain each step in Anthony Downs' "Issue Attention Cycle" as it relates to the environment.

Sample Short Answer:

1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation environmental problems (the key issues for each generation)

National Environmental Policy Act (1969)

Importance of Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring

The difference in environmental philosophy between John Muir and Gifford Pinchot

Greenwashing

NIMBY

Dominant Social Paradigm and New Environmental Paradigm

FINAL EXAM

Sample Essay:

In class, we discussed four factors why states differ in terms of their commitment and capacity to address environmental problems.  Describe these four factors as they relate to why states differ in terms of their environmental policies.

Research shows that Congressional Democrats and Republicans differ in their approach to environmental policy.  Describe this difference and offer an explanation why this partisanship exists regarding this issue.

Describe and explain why the U.S. was able to work with other countries in support of the Montreal Protocol to address the hole in the ozone issue but has not been able to do the same with regard to global climate change.

How and why would you rank the following issues in terms of importance:  air quality, water quality, endangered species, hazardous waste, ozone depletion, climate change

Describe and explain the similarities and/or differences regarding how Presidents Bush (the father), Clinton, and Bush (the son) dealt with the issue of global climate change.

Sample Short Answer:

National Environmental Policy Act (1969)

Endangered Species Act (1973)

Love Canal

Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989)

Stratospheric ozone depletion

Ronald Reagan and the Montreal Protocol (1987)

Why Canada was upset with the U.S. about coal-powered electric plants during the 1980s 

George H.W. Bush and the Clean Air Act of 1990

Bill Clinton and the Timber Summit

Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Unfunded federal mandates and state action(s) regarding the environment

Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (2007) 

Fracking