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Thomas Grumbly, U.S. Department of Energy
Pages 407-412

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From page 407...
... BACKGROUND The nation, through its elected representatives, has laid a groundwork to protect the environment in numerous environmental statutes since 1970: the various clean air and water acts; our hazardous waste and toxic substances laws; the variety of all the other statutes that are on the books. In spite of all of this legislation, most public policy observers agree that improvements in environmental quality and protection could have been achieved at much lower cost, with less cumbersome and more intelligent regulations and, consequently, with much less industry hostility.
From page 408...
... Although the "goal" in the Clean Water Act of 1972 was fishable and swimmable waters in the United States by 1980, the government pursued many activities that adversely affect water quality: agricultural and transportation subsidies, flood insurance, timber leasing, and water pricing. Fixing this compartmentalization of governmental activity should be one step in establishing environmental goals.
From page 409...
... First and foremost, it articulates one, consistent analytical approach that captures the spectrum of risks associated with our program activities across the nuclear weapons complex; secondly, it assesses the degree to which risks are addressed in the patchwork of regulations and compliance agreements that govern our activities; finally, it links the risks in a qualitative fashion to regulatory program performance and the budget. A properly structured risk assessment program can have significant benefits, for the Environmental Management program and for other environment protection efforts.
From page 410...
... ENVIRONMENTALISM IN THE MARKET PLACE In his book Earth in the Balance, Vice President Gore writes, "Free market capitalist economics is arguably the most Powerful tool ever used by civilization." He further described how to conflate classical economic and environmental principles; one way is through market-based environmental policies. Harnessing the power of market forces can provide more cost-effective and far-reaching solutions for many environmental problems than can regulation.
From page 411...
... Over the past quarter century, the means to achieve environmental protection has been the "stick" rather than the "carrot" and has, as a result, not been either cost-effective or conducive to the kinds of technological innovation we need. Aggressive risk management and marketplace incentives, informed by our moral obligations, could yield more sensible, powerful, and effective results.
From page 412...
... So ladies and gentlemen, the huge problem of the moment is that the average citizen and public policy maker at the state and local level simply do not want the federal government to deal with the problem anymore. Putting all of these interests at the local level together so that we can develop a coherent national strategy against both our domestic environmental and our international environmental problems will be a major issue in the years ahead.


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