Assignment 2: Environmental Policy

Due Week 10 and worth 180 points

There are several environmental laws, regulations, and policies that currently influence your life, and they include the following:

• NEPA
• The Clean Air Act
• The Clean Water Act
• The Endangered Species Act
• The Superfund
• CITES
• The Montreal Protocol
• The Basel Convention

Choose one of these environmental regulations, or another policy that interests you; then, research your chosen regulation or policy’s requirements and environmental and economic impacts. Remember that the Strayer Library is a good place to start. http://research.strayer.edu

Write a 3–5-page paper in which you do the following:

1. Describe three key elements of the regulation or policy you chose. Specifically, discuss who is affected and what actions they are required to undertake, including federal and state agencies and specific industries, and how these requirements are enforced.
2. Assess three effects this regulation or policy had on our environment. Next, quantify its effects, if possible, to analyze whether or not the regulation had the desired effect on the environment.
3. Discuss three economic effects of your chosen policy or regulation. Next, describe the direct costs of implementation, as well as the effect the regulation has had on economic growth. If possible, find a benefits/cost analysis that will provide you with objective analyses of this regulation’s economic impact.
4. Speculate whether or not you believe that this policy or regulation has been successful overall. Next, debate whether or not your chosen policy or regulation has promoted environmental benefits or outweighed its economic costs. Lastly, determine whether you would recommend renewing this policy or regulation when it comes to its expiration date, or whether you should let the policy or regulation expire. Justify your response.
5. Use at least three quality resources/references in this assignment, in addition to the course text. Note: Wikipedia and personal blogs do not qualify as quality resources.
6. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
   • This course requires the use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
   • Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with 1-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow SWS format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
   • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are as follows:

• Analyze the negative and positive impacts of human interaction with a specified ecosystem.
• Determine the fundamental principles of ecosystems and ecology.
• Assess the impact and effectiveness of environmental conservation methods and policy .