Review Sheet

Part I: Short Answer Questions (25%)

Directions
You have 5 short answer questions worth 5 points each. The short answer questions will come in various forms such as: List three types of _____ ; Define and explain how three types of _____ operate; Explain what is meant by ______ ; In the video/case what was meant by _____? Accordingly, some answers will involve listing terms while other will require describing terms or concepts in either a few sentences or short paragraphs. You should also be able to apply them to videos and handouts discussed in class. In general, there will not be much overlap between the essay questions and the short answer questions.

Terms/Concepts
Policy process	cost/benefit (C/B) analysis
Agenda setting/building	Risk assessment
Estimation/formulation	Controversies over c/b and risk assessment
Selection/legitimation	Precautionary principle
Implementation	Watershed
Evaluation	Estuary
Termination/start over	Point sources vs. nonpoint sources
Continuation/justification	Eutrophication
Adjustment/policy change	Indicators of water quality problems
Triggering/focusing events	Urban sprawl
Policy entrepreneurs & Policy saboteurs	Potential benefits of developing ANWR
role of science in the policy process (which stages is it most useful)	Potential problems with developing ANWR
NIMBY	Problems/benefits of nuclear power

Part II: Essay Questions (75%)

Directions
You will have to answer 3 of the questions below at 25% each. There will be 1 required question and there may be some choice for the second question. Each answer should clearly address all aspects of the question. You should define all key terms/concepts used in your answer. You should also support your answer using examples from books, lectures, class notes, videos, or handouts whenever possible.

1) Describe the stages of the policy process and briefly describe some of the key activities that occur during each stage. Be sure to provide examples where possible. Then critique the policy process heuristic. What are the strengths and weaknesses of using this model to understand how policy develops. Finally, briefly describe the role that science plays at each stage of the process? Where does it have its biggest impact? Where does it appear to have the smallest impact?

2) You have just been hired by the City of Metropolis in their department of solid waste management as a policy analyst. The city has recently begun debating whether to start a recycling program. Since you are new and have not been involved in these debates, your boss has asked you for your opinion. What would be your recommendation to the Mayor and the head of your department? Be sure to explain the benefits of recycling cited by advocates and the costs and problems noted by critics of recycling programs. Be sure to assess the merits of each set of arguments in presenting your recommendations and use examples where possible to support your answer.

3) Suppose you are the chief of staff for a Senate committee that has the oversight responsibilities for the EPA. Several national environmental lobbying groups have requested that the Senate require the EPA to adopt the precautionary principle and incorporate it into their decision making process. The chair of the Senate committee has asked you for your recommendation. Critique the use of the precautionary principle. Be sure to clearly define what the precautionary principle is and how it would influence EPA's decision making. What are the strongest arguments for and against using this principle? Finally, the Senate committee has been struggling with what to do about reformulated gasoline (oxygenate) requirements that have placed MTBE in gasoline. What would the precautionary principle suggest should be done initially (1990) vs. today? Are there problems with applying the precautionary principle in this instance? Do these problems suggest any problems with the precautionary principle in general? Be sure to support your answer with specific examples where possible.

4) In the different videos, handouts, and issue memos we have seen that science often plays a critical role in the policy process. At the same time, decisions are often made based on little or no science. Describe the role science plays in the policy process. In your answer be sure to discuss: 1) Which stages does science have the strongest role? 2) where does science have the weakest role? 3) Is the world of policymaking different than the world of science? 4) is environmental policymaking fundamentally different than policymaking in other areas (e.g., crime, education, welfare, etc.)? and 5) should science play a stronger role in developing and implementing environmental policy?

5) You work as a water quality specialist in a state environmental agency. A local citizens group in Port Harbor is concerned about declining water quality in the Port Harbor Bay watershed. Based on the information provided in the watershed simulation assignment and your knowledge of common point and nonpoint sources of water pollution what do you think are the four largest sources of water quality pollution in the Port Harbor watershed. For each source, list the pollutants that are most likely to be generated by these sources. You should also list the potential health or environmental problems that could result from an excessive amount of each of the identified pollutants.

6) Suppose you are the new head environmental policy analyst for the Governor of Nevada. The governor is getting ready to go to Washington, DC to talk about the federal government's plans to use Yucca Mountain as the only repository for storing high level nuclear waste. Since you are new, the governor has asked you to take a fresh look at the plans and to brief him on the advantages and disadvantages of using Yucca Mountain as a disposal site. What position do you recommend the governor to take in his discussions with federal agency officials?

7) Suppose you just got a job as President Bush's energy policy advisor. "W" has asked you whether you think Section 1002 of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) should be opened up for oil and gas development. Specifically, he wants to know what are the potential energy benefits? Does the oil and gas industry believe they can develop oil and gas resources without harming the environment? How would they do this? What infrastructure needs would be associated with this proposal? After briefing "W" he asks you for you personal opinion about whether Congress should open up Section 1002 of ANWR to oil and gas exploration. What would you tell him?

8) Suppose you just got a job as President Bush's environmental policy advisor. "W" has asked you whether you think Section 1002 of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) should be opened up for oil and gas development. Specifically, he wants to know why ANWR and Section 1002 were created? What are the potential environmental problems associated with developing ANWR? are the oil and gas industry's arguments that they can undertake oil and gas exploration in Section 1002 without significant harm to the tundra habitat or wildlife species convincing to you? If development was restricted to Section 1002, do you think the rest of the wildlife area would be protected? After briefing "W" he asks you for you personal opinion about whether Congress should open up Section 1002 of ANWR to oil and gas exploration. What would you tell him?

9) Imagine that you are a concerned resident of Brunswick or New Hanover County (perhaps a stretch). You have recently been made aware of the fact that the Brunswick Nuclear Plant has proposed constructing a dry cask storage site to store spent fuel on site. Naturally this raises questions about nuclear energy, nuclear waste disposal, and the lack of an operational long-term storage facility for high level nuclear waste such as the one proposed for Yucca Mountain. Write an editorial to a local paper arguing for or against this proposal. These handouts as well as others on nuclear power and Yucca Mountain should help with answering this question.

10) Suppose you just got a job as President Bush's environmental policy advisor. "W" has asked you whether you think he support the Kyoto Protocol or whether the U.S. should make other unilateral changes in legislation, new regulations, new programs, or other policy changes designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In your answer be sure to comment on what the science suggests. In other words, how bad a problem is this? What are the potential effects of global warming (positive or negative) in the U.S. and elsewhere around the globe? From a practical standpoint, what do you think can be done about the problem? Be sure to clearly articulate your recommendations and comment on how your recommendations might change if instead you were his energy advisor or economic advisor?

11) Use elements of the policy process model to explain how the events surrounding September 11, 2001 have influenced policy regarding nuclear power and nuclear waste disposal in the United States. In your answer be sure to describe how policy entrepreneurs & policy saboteurs have use the events to influence public opinion on nuclear power. What is the role of the media? Be sure to also explain how these events have influenced agenda setting.

12) Based on your readings, the issue memos, simulations, and class discussions, what do you think are the five biggest challenges associated with developing and implementing environmental policy in the U.S.?

13) Suppose you are the Governor of Oregon's chief policy advisory. Several representatives of the state legislature from urban areas like Portland have introduced a bill that would ban all logging in the Tillamook State Forest. Supporters of the bill claim that logging harms the environment by causing nonpoint pollution. Other supporters claim that public forests should be preserved and protected at all costs in order to protect the salmon and other endangered species such as the spotted owl. Other recreational users support the ban because they will benefit from additional recreational areas and they do not like the aesthetic impacts that logging has. The opponents of the bill are mostly state representatives from the communities where the state forests are located. They are worried that the proposal will adversely affect the local economy as loggers lose their jobs. Moreover, a sizable portion of the timber revenue from state forest land goes back to the local communities to fund schools, watershed restoration efforts, and improve infrastructure and social services in these otherwise rural and impoverished areas. It is unclear whether there is a political advantage to supporting one side or the other. The Governor has asked you whether he should support or fight the proposal. What are the major strengths and weakness of the proposal? What would you recommend the Governor do? Are there any compromise solutions? What is your own personal view with respect to the conflict? How do your own values influence your opinion?