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Understanding Environmental Policies
A majority of world governments are well aware of the need for their national policies to shift to a more earth friendly direction. Unfortunately, the need for a global commitment to positive environmental changes has been around since long before the first “Earth Day” in the 1970s. It has taken massive climate change and even shifts in weather patterns to make more and more people aware of the fact that each individual as well as each nation must work to reduce carbon emissions and save the planet.
Many nations have instituted what are known as “environmental policies” that take into account the ecological effects of mankind on the planet and the social impacts of a declining environment. It is helpful to recognize that environmental policies are composed of two concepts – nature and formal policy. The natural world of ecosystems and human social systems are basically placed into the context of plans or courses of action that must amend or correct any destructive or unhealthy issues.
This can all get very complicated when also being addressed by many nations with their own issues, policies, budgets and concerns. When wondering if there are any strong or good environmental policies in the last few decades, the answer is multi-layered.
The first thing to consider is the overall environmental movement. It is no longer odd to see consumers using recycled bags, purchasing eco-friendly products and taking them all home in their hybrid vehicles. Such a turn of events may not have been foreseen even twenty-five years ago.
This means that some strong environmental policies are being implemented by consumers in general. Of course they may not have been made so easily aware of these issues were it not for several major groups and government organizations who worked to educate the world about many global crises developing rapidly. Some of these groups focused on air or water pollution and others on protection of biodiversity or natural resources. There have also been some impressive campaigns to educate the public about the needs for protecting wildlife and endangered species.
For example, the idea of “global warming” may not have been very clear or significant to millions of people until it was attached to the rapid decline of such beloved arctic species as polar bears. Clearly, these educational initiatives are critical to making any kind of positive change, and it is governments alone that can create environmental policies that make lasting and massive alterations in the course that our planet is heading. Have a look at the video below posted by CBS News about the Endangered Species Act.
On Thin Ice: Polar Bears and Global Warming