Dr. Courtney Brown
Politics and the Environment
Test Study Questions

1. What is biological slavery, and what does this have to do with the concept of Gaia? Also, how are these concepts related to conflict between environmentalism and the human psychological belief in national sovereignty?

2. Describe the nature of the conflict between international trade and environmentalism. Describe some international agreements relating to these things, and explain how the conflicts are resolved. In your discussion, describe GATT and explain how it works.

3. What is the free rider principle? How does it affect environmental regulation? What can be done to deter free riders and to affect enforcement of environmental rules? Finally, what moral problems exist with regard to the enforcement of environmental rules in developing countries?

4. Discuss and relate the following things with regard to the global environment. (a) Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo, (b) the carrying capacity, (c) exponential growth, (d) logistic growth, (e) subsistence living. How can the carrying capacity of a region temporarily move below the current total population? What happens then?

5. What causes global warming? What are the political problems that political leaders encounter while trying to resolve the global warming problem with regard to energy sources? Give examples of how different countries view the global warming problem differently.

6. Explain the relationship between the politics of environmentalism and "hard" and "easy" issues. Be sure to define hard and easy issues clearly, and explain the three primary criteria of the definitions. Give examples of how environmentalism can be categorized, and explain why.

7. Why is it that there are so many options to the planet's current pattern of energy usage but so little social movement to change? Connect this to the way research and development into alternative sources of energy is funded by governments. What does this have to do with how we elect our leaders in democratic societies? Be specific and give examples.

8. Describe the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock. According to Peter Russell, what is the connection between global intellectual interdependency and the management of the earth's environment? What is Gaia, and how does the concept of Gaia fit into all of this? Describe Peter Russell's portrayal of the theory of Gaia as depicted in the video "The Global Brain." Compare it to other theories that are less optimistic. What are the assumptions that make the different theories either optimistic or pessimistic? What is comparable between the structure of the Gaia hypothesis and an idea once described by Karl Marx?

9. What is "deep ecology?" What is the relationship between the general philosophy of deep ecology and Peter Russell's concept of Gaia?

10. Describe the difference between command and control vs. market-based strategies for pollution control. Be specific and give examples. Be sure to describe the pros and cons of each. Why is the market-based approach not universally applied?

11. Discuss the relationship between democratic and authoritarian forms of government with regard to the respective abilities to control pollution. Why are there differences? What disadvantages still remain with respect to democratic forms of government and why? Use the former Soviet Union and the United States as examples for each case.

12. Describe the arguments for and against NAFTA from an environmental perspective. Be sure to explain why NAFTA could be good for the environment in the long run.

13. Explain the arguments relevant to the debate as to whether environmental degradation will lead to violent international conflicts (i.e., not internal domestic violence). Be sure to explain both sides of the issue (i.e., that environmental degradation will cause international conflicts and visa versa).

14. Describe a model that explains the eruption of internal violence, both urban and rural, in the Philippines that has environmental degradation as one of its primary causes. Give a pictorial representation of the model as well as a verbal description.

15. Describe a model that has three sub-models relating to the role that the scarcity of renewable resources plays in the emergence of violent conflict within a country. Describe also how these three sub-models may happen sequentially (i.e., over time, one after the other). Draw a diagram of each model, and explain them with words. Examples are wonderful, and needed.

16. Describe a detailed model of the sources and consequences of the scarcity of renewable resources that includes ideas such as unequal resource access and weakened states. Draw a diagram of the model and explain it with words.

17. Explain with examples what is meant by the assertion that corporations have historically been able to "externalize" environmental costs. What does this have to do with corporations building factories in lesser developed countries?

18. Explain The Du Pont Corporation's political strategy for rapidly phasing out chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) in favor of HCFC's and HFC's in advance of the deadlines specified by the Montreal Protocol. How does this correspond with DuPont's previous behavior regarding toxic waste disposal? Give specifics.

19. What is biodiversity and why is it important? Explain the relationship between equilibrium systems, oscillatory systems, and chaotic systems with regard to biodiversity. Explain why it is difficult for politicians to devise policies manage species diversity given the uncertainty of ecological systems models.

20. Summarize the arguments both for and against the reauthorization of the endangered species act. Be sure to explain the mechanics of how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers the act and how species are used strategically to wage larger political/environmental battles. What is an argument for not saving some dying species, at least in some instances, even if one is very concerned about the environment and biodiversity? Give examples.

21. Describe the political process in Washington, D.C. with regard to presidential and congressional action on the environment. What sectors of the bureaucracy primarily deal with the environment? Describe how presidents are limited in terms of influencing environmental regulations and legislation regardless of their political viewpoints. Give specific examples of all of this. Be sure to explain why there is environmental gridlock in Congress with regard to developing new legislation.

22. Describe how interactions between the environment and politics can produce oscillations in environmental damage. In particular, relate the following concepts to these oscillations: generational change, governmental actions to repair environmental damage, delay between the time of environmental damage and the widespread recognition of that damage. How have these oscillations affected the U.S. automobile industry, dolphins, fishing in U.S. coastal waters, and Ducktown, Tennessee.

23. Describe the relationship between the presidential electoral system in the United States and environmental degradation. Be sure to relate these concepts: continued economic growth with its associated environmental costs, oscillations in the control of the White House, delay in public awareness of environmental damage, relationship between public concern for the environment and governmental actions to clean-up the environment, costs of environmental repair, the consciousness of our political leaders. With these factors considered, what type of oscillations can occur over time with regard to environmental damage. Examples are always useful.

24. Explain the Exxon Valdex incident. Include lots of details with regard to the activities of the corporations and bureaucracies. What activities did the Exxon Corporation undertake to avoid U.S. governmental action on the incident, and why were the corporation officials so concerned about conducting the clean-up themselves?

25. Describe the approaches to environmental policies that were taken during the Reagan and Bush administrations. Be specific. Include details. Explain what actually happened (i.e., who did what, when, and where).

26. Describe what is meant by an evolutionary process with regard to these three types of systems: physical law, genetic transfer, and decision making. Also describe the following processes that can occur within the above systems: regular, periodic, chaotic, catastrophe. Finally, especially with regard to regular processes, explain the concepts of bifurcation, growth, and maintenance. Give examples of these things relating to politics and the environment, and answer why there could be a disagreement between a "pastist" an a "futurist" with regard to the near term evolutionary stability of our planets environment.

27. What are the following complex systems: physical laws, genetic transfers, decision-making? Describe the evolutionary processes that apply to them, i.e., regular, periodic, chaotic, and catastrophic. Be sure to define the terms bifurcation, growth, and maintenance with regard to these processes. Also, what is interdependence? Finally, what are competitive and cooperative decision-making processes? Give two examples of these things that relate to the political environmental system. Explain why these concepts are important to the relationship between politics and the environment.

28. Explain Edward O. Wilson's perspective on whether or not humanity is inherently suicidal. Be sure to include a discussion of the difference between exemptionalism and environmentalism. Describe why humanity's fate is ultimately an interdependent problem involving politics, biological genetics, and ecology. Give examples of our cultural and political evolution that evidence a growing human awareness of the problem and its political consequences. What are those political consequences that will be required to resolve the problem? Give your reasoned opinion with regard to whether or not you think it will be possible to fix the situation. Does post-materialism matter in this regard? If so, why?

29. Explain the disaster in Bhopal, India. Discuss the way Western capitalism interacts with developing countries in connection with potentially disastrous ecological problems of this nature. What kinds of bureaucratic and political problems occurred with regard to the Bhopal incident and which may be general in such situations?

30. Present a general discussion of the principles behind the need to preserve biodiversity on this planet. Who was Chico Mendes, what is his story, and why are tropical rainforests important to us? What political problems are encountered when one tries to defende biodiversity, as in the case of Mendes? Explain the economic interests that threaten biodiversity and discuss why these interests often have political advantages in contemporary democratic systems of government.

31. Read the attached New York Times article titled "Forcast for 2050...." Write a critique of the article. Is the argument made in the article naive? Is the argument sophisticated? What other worries will we have if the article's predictions come true? If the article's prediction is correct for the United States, what will the remainder of the world be like? Be sure to connect your discussion to the following concepts: (a) Thomas Malthus, (b) the carrying capacity, (c) exponential growth, (d) logistic growth, (e) subsistence living, (f) population migrations and conflict.

32. What is postmaterialism and who is the principal proponent of it? What does postmaterialism have to do with politics and environmentalism in developed and developing nations? How does it relate to broader areas of environmentalism? Be complete in your answer.

33. Explain the complexities involved with the problems of global warming and business and economic realities of the energy marketplace. Include in your discussion an explanation of how developing and developed nations view these problems.

34. Describe in detail the relationship between water, war, and peace in the Middle East, both historically and now.

35. How is an African circus currently being used to evade illegally the international ban on trade in endangered species. How was this discovered, and in what country. Describe how the illegal activities operate, and relate this to the potential future of our planet given the ingenuity of people who profit by evading laws relating to the environment? Be careful how you answer this last part. A good answer can conclude various ways, depending on the argument used. Remember, you now know about the circus scam. Why do you know about it? Are things changing, and how?

36. Describe mainland China's dependence on coal and the implications this has on global warming through the year 2030? Be specific. Include lots of details. Tell the entire story, including the complexities.

37. Discuss how war affects the environment. How do the activities associated with war affect the environment differently than the activities associated with peace? Give some historical examples (say, two) of how war affected the environment. Explain how time is involved in the war and peace comparison.

38. Give reasons explaining why environmentalists may choose to refrain from partisan electoral politics in many nations. How do the nature of political parties play into this? In some areas, green political parties have emerged as a response to these otherwise inhibiting reasons. Why is this so? What do green parties have to offer environmental movements that other parties cannot? Explain all of this in some detail.

39. Describe the politics behind the manipulation of research and development funding for alternative sources of energy. Why is it that conventional sources of energy receive the largest share of funding in this regard? Give a real-life political example that illustrates all of this.

40. What is environmental racism? What arguments exist that suggest that environmental racism does not exist, and indeed is a hoax? What are the arguments both for and against doing something about environmental racism? Explain the entire issue.

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