View this email in your browser

This week: Environmental Policy

President Joe Biden speaking at the Climate Leaders Summit.

What is Environmental Policy?

Environmental Policy is any measure by the government, corporation, public or private organization regarding the effects of human activities on the environment. These measures are designed to prevent or reduce harmful effects on our ecosystem.

Environmental policies are needed because environmental values are not considered in the overall scheme of organizational decision making. This means that polluters do not bear the future consequences of their actions, and natural resources are underpriced because they are assumed to have infinite availability.

Climate in the News

The White House released a plan this week to increase the amount of offshore wind power off the East Coast. The plan is to add enough wind turbines to power roughly 10 million homes by 2030. It is expected to directly create 44,000 new jobs and indirectly create 33,000 others.

Offshore wind is attractive in this part of the nation because it is renewable, does not require sunlight, and does not need the space that onshore wind requires. This is relatively new technology and thus slightly more expensive; however, prices have been falling. Similarly, little is known about the effect that offshore wind development has on ecosystems, which is concerning for some.

Biden vs. Trump

During Trump’s four years in office, he rolled back roughly 100 environmental policies. When running for president, Biden released a plan on how he wanted to combat climate change if elected.

What the Green New Deal and Sunrise Movement Mean for 2030

As we continue to inch closer to the 2030 threshold for significantly reducing fossil fuels, plans such as the Green New Deal are becoming more urgent and worthy as a means of addressing climate change.

The Green New Deal was introduced in February 2019 by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and United States Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, both representing the Democratic party. The Green New Deal is not a bill or policy proposal, but a 14-page document that demands two things: stopping the burning of fossil fuels to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 and restructuring the economy to create more jobs, all in support of clean energy.

As progressive as it appears, the Deal has received criticism and support alike from both parties, with Democrats largely praising it, Moderates such as President Biden advocating for green jobs despite past hesitation over phasing out fossil fuels, and Republicans such as McConnell arguing that it will wipe out jobs.

However, Youth group Sunrise Movement has fully supported the Green New Deal’s development since day one, with members assisting in its creation and publishing a book on the Deal. One of their biggest actions was a sit-in outside of Nancy Pelosi’s office following the 2018 midterm election, before Pelosi was Speaker of the House. The group plans to continue mobilizing in political settings until the Green New Deal is approved.

Indian Policy: New Challenges due to Unprecedented Changes

The last few months have wreaked havoc for environmentalists in India because of multiple new drafts and policies the government of India has declared. From hundreds of protests across the country to challenging petitions and updated suggestions for the same, the Indian environmental sector has been seeing political unrest for a while now.

An updated “Environment Impact Assessment” Draft that was released last year faced a lot of criticism from multiple leaders and the youth of the country because the new draft seems to cut a layman’s role from the clearance process.

Last June, 2020, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, implied during one of his speeches that he is now opening the nation’s coal reserves to auctions so that the private sector, national and international, can participate and compete to begin mining for coal. He also said that he believes that the fact that India has the most coal reserves in the world can be used to an advantage here. Environmentalists across the country strongly condemned this decision because it would push the entire country towards the use of fossil fuels and distract them from following the path of renewable energy. This would be a huge hurdle in making the future of the country sustainable.

To read more about how there were protests at Goa - India’s smallest state - against the haphazard development of infrastructure for the conveyance of coal, click here.

Stay Connected With Us!

Stay up-to-date on more environmental topics, sustainability tips, and ways to continue promoting the campaign:

Learn more on how to #MakeClimateAClass and take the pledge: