Blog #14

What surprised you about the process of Environmental
Policy? Do you think that the U.S. Senate should have ratified the Kyoto Protocol?
Why or why not. Why do you think creating and implementing environmental policy
is so difficult locally, nationally, and internationally? Should communities and
local government do more on a local level to create environmental policy? What
environmental issues would you like to see addressed by policy makers?


The process of Environmental Policy doesn't really surprise me at all because it is still the process of creating a law or rule which is tedious no matter what law you are trying to pass or enact.  I agree with our Senate's decision to not ratify the Kyoto Protocol.  The conditions we expected, which were to have third-world countries also sign and ratify, were not met therefore I think we have no obligation to a world policy when everyone else in the world is not participating.  We are still trying to knock down our amount of emissions even without signing the Kyoto Protocol.  I also believe that it may have given the United States a better green image if we have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and perhaps even more countries would have become involved if they had seen our country ratify the new policy.
It is difficult to implement and create any form of policy, not just environmental.  There are many obstacles that have to be conquered; majority of bills and proposals do not come close to becoming law.  Environmental policy may have more trouble because there are even more obstacles to consider.  By suppressing emissions, we may be inhibiting the production of some factories which in turn could halt production and cause people to lose jobs.  One could argue that the jobs and continued production of a certain useful good may be more important to our society than cutting emissions.
I am an advocate of the saying "Think Globally, Act Locally."  If a local community or local government can help to enact and enforce green policy on a smaller scale, then all of the small communities enforcing these policies add up to a much greener whole.  If we have problems here in South Carolina, we shouldn't be worried about what Georgia is doing, or worried about China, because we can't even solve these problems for ourselves.