role of government

Report:

‘Government’s role in environmental protection’

Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Role of Government 3
Direct Regulation 4
Transferable Emission Permits 4
Effluent Fees 5
Problems faced 5
Environmental problems in Russia 6
Measures taken by Government 7
References: 8

Introduction

Nowadays we live in the era of scientific-technical progress and economic growth. The 20th century was the century of economic development, improving standard of living, increasing industrial power and in mining. The consequences of these events are increasing population 4 times and 8-fold increase in the volume of world production what could not effect the environment. As all that development was done without proper consideration of the features of a natural environment, a valid economic pressures on it. The result is degradation of the natural environment. The scientists say that since the 1960 the environmental changes under the influence of the man became worldwide, i.e. affecting all countries of the world, so they came to be called global.

The most relevant changes in the environment:

Changing of the Earth climate
The destruction of the ozone layer
Changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
Deforestation, especially tropical
Depletion of fresh water and the pollution of the World ocean
Deterioration of quality of life, increase of diseases associated with environmental pollution (including genetic), the emergence of new diseases
Desertification

We see that these changes affect the entire planet and the environmental issues have become the problem of the whole humanity. If we do not solve them, the consequences will become irreversible. That is why now people have realized the scale of the problem and become concerned a lot about it. The management of this issue connected with environmental protection can be done just through mutual efforts of different component of society: local and international funds and organizations, industrialists, scientists, government and the general public.

Role of Government

The key role in protection the environment should be given to Government, as it is the final controlling authority in most of the issues related to environmental management. For example, most of the forest areas are owned by the government, only the government can build dams, roads, railways, etc. industrial or any other related activity cannot start without the approval of the government.
Similarly, government is directly or indirectly responsible for meeting the costs of floods, droughts, epidemics, and other environmental disasters. Therefore, the government has to apply various checks and controls so that the environment is managed properly. Direct Regulation

Direct regulation of polluting activity (i.e., setting a legal limit for pollution) frequently comes to mind. The government could, for example, simply limit the industry’s pollution to R units by decree. Direct regulation of this sort was popular in the United States shortly after the setting up of Environmental Protection Agency, a government organization tasked to regulate any practice that may have an adverse effect on the environment. Created in 1970, the EPA became the US government’s answer to increasing qualms about the wanton disregard of some industries and their unsafe practices that pose hazards to human health and the environment in general. Aside from safeguarding human and environmental health, the EPA is also empowered to craft and enforce regulations under existing environmental laws. It is also responsible for researching various methods to protect the environment. Since its creation, the EPA took the lead in implementing changes to make the United States a better place to live in. Armed with existing and new laws like the amended Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, the amended Clean Air Act, Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act, and other federal environmental statutes, the EPA set out to build a new and better horizon for the citizens of the US and the world as a whole. The EPA, in partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE), expanded the coverage of the ENERGY STAR program in 1996 to promote the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Through this program, the agency made it possible for people to save 180 billion kilowatt-hours in 2007 alone, or the equivalent of around 5% of the total electricity demand in the US. Transferable Emission Permits

Governments have recently learned that they can work the trade-off between the certainty of direct regulation and the efficiency of effluent charges by issuing a fixed number of transferable emissions permits – permits that allow the holder to generate a certain amount of pollution. The total number of permits can be limited, so that total pollution can be held below any targeted level. The economically efficient amount might be the pollution target, but there could be others (especially if it were difficult to collect the information necessary to identify the efficient level or it there were an emissions threshold beyond which damage would be severe). In any case, allowing permits to be bought and sold would mean that firms whose marginal control costs were high would probably try to but some (so that they could their emissions) and firms whose marginal control costs were low would try to sell some (and make money even thought they would have to reduce their emissions). In fact, the market would work to bring the marginal cost of pollution control at each firm equal to the market price of permits, and so it would bring the marginal cost of pollution control at every form in line with the marginal cost at every other firm.
Effluent Fees

An effluent fee is a unit price that a polluter must pay to the government for discharging waste. The idea behind the imposition is that they can bring the marginal private cost of polluting faced by firms closer to the true marginal social cost of their emissions.
Effluent fees often have one major advantage over direct regulation. It is, of course, socially desirable to use the cheapest way to achieve any given reduction in pollution, and a system of effluent fees is more likely to accomplish this result than direct regulation. To see why, first consider a particular polluter facing an effluent charge. It would find it profitable to reduce its discharge of waste to the point where the (marginal) cost of reducing its emissions by 1 unit equalled the fee. The effluent fee would be the same for all polluters. And it is a simple matter to show that the total cost of achieving the corresponding reduction in total emissions across all of the polluters would thereby be minimized. To that end, suppose that the cost of reduction waste discharges by an additional unit were not the same for all polluters (as might be the case if they were given individual quantity limits). The cost of achieving the same amount of total pollution control could then be reduced by allowing polluters whose marginal control costs were high to increase their emissions (and lower their marginal control costs) while encouraging polluters whose marginal control costs were low to reduce theirs (by and equal amount).
Problems faced

Undertaking different projects for protecting environment, Government faces up many problems. The foremost problem is related to lack of cooperation.
For every activity, which has the potential of threatening the environment, government, h suggests corrective steps. For example, for control of pollution there are effluent treatment plants, air pollutions control equipment, noise reducing appliance, etc.
People engaged in activities, which can cause pollution, are supposed to adopt them. However, they do not do so readily. They consider these devices a non-productive. Therefore, they try to avoid them. Even if they are forced to erect or install these plants, they do not maintain and run them regularly just to save some money.
Government is empowered to take legal action against such offenders. However, this does not solve the problem. Court cases continue for years and no judgment is made; meanwhile the environment becomes the victim.
Similarly, illegal cutting of trees from forests, large-scale deforestation and killing of wild animals is done for small profits and therefore, some species of plants and animals have already become extinct. People do such acts for their personal gains and it is not always possible for the government to punish them. People have to realize that they have some responsibility towards their environment.
Environmental problems in Russia

There are numerous environmental issues in Russia. Many of the issues have been attributed to policies during the Soviet Union, a time when officials felt thatpollution control was an unnecessary hindrance to economic development and industrialization. With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moscow and the Russian Federation escaped direct responsibility for some of the world 's worst environmental devastation because many of the Soviet disaster sites were now in other countries. Since then, however, the gravity and complexity of threats to Russia 's own environment have become clear. 40% of Russia 's territory began demonstrating symptoms of significant ecological stress by the 1990s, largely due to a diverse number of environmental issues

Main problems:

Deforestation – what is the consequences of extensive logging that have reached high levels in the north-west of Russia and in the Russian Far East. According to the Center for Russian Environmental Policy, 16 million hectares of forest are lost each year to a variety of causes. Inefficient logging and clearcutting strategies result in 40% of harvested trees never being used.

Nuclear pollution - nuclear energy is widely used in Russia, now there are 31 operating nuclear reactors. Several of these are past their lifespan and have a higher probability of nuclear accidents. Instead of being decommissioned, they are still being used. The disposal of nuclear waste is also an issue, due to a lack of funding. Unsafe dumping methods are sometimes used to get rid of nuclear waste, which was dumped into the Sea of Japan until 1993.

Energy - inefficient energy usage and the use of fossil fuels is another environmental issue. 68% of Russia’s energy is produced by polluting fossil fuels, and it is a large producer of those fuels. Russia was the fourth top emitter of CO2 in 2009.

Air pollution - Before the 1990s, most air pollution came from industries. When industrial production declined, emissions of air pollutants from those sources also declined, although the amount of motor vehicles on the roads skyrocketed. Currently, vehicle emissions exceed industry emissions in most Russian cities.
Measures taken by Government

In Russia there is a special department of Government responsible for protection of environment called Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. As for many years, environmental issues were neglected, now the Government adopts laws and implement measures directed for preservation of environment. The majority of the them are connected with industrial area since this part of society harms environment a lot.

Special attention is paid to plants and factories’ performing, since in Russia there is a lot of heavy, extracted industry and industry connected with large amount of waste. For this reason there are laws restricting amount of C02 and other emissions, into environment untreated sewage from plants into seas, rivers and lakes and the discharge of solid waste generated in the production process.

To preserve forest Russian Government limit the amount of forest allowed to cut, the areas where it can be done and put particular quotas for firms. Breaching this leads to huge fines and penalties and also to legal accountability.

Control for right utilization of hazardous wastes such as hydrargyrum, chemicals, industrial rubber, oil etc. These substances can cause irreparable harm to environment. Government monitors thoroughly that the quantity of material being utilized is the same as the purchased and also that these wastes are utilized at special plant.

Developing of special areas that are seized wholly or partly from economic use and for which a special protection regime.

Different kinds of state subsidiaries ere provided for those that use modern environmentally friendly equipment and renewable resources of energy.

Investment for projects aimed for development and producing eco-friendly production, such as eco-engines, eco-fuel which decrease the impact on the environment.

In order to preserve rare or dying out species of plants and animals the Government create special sanctuaries, where any hunting or logging is strictly forbidden. There are currently 101 sanctuaries that cover a total of over 33.5 million hectares. However, some animals are facing extinction. The Russian government is attempting to revive those populations.

References:

1. http://www.preservearticles.com/201102244196/role-of-government-and-the-problems-faced-in-protecting-our-environment.html
2. http://www.mbaknol.com/managerial-economics/the-role-of-government-in-environmental-protection/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Russia
4. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Environmental_protection
5. http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/russia/environmental_problems_russia/

References: 1. http://www.preservearticles.com/201102244196/role-of-government-and-the-problems-faced-in-protecting-our-environment.html 2. http://www.mbaknol.com/managerial-economics/the-role-of-government-in-environmental-protection/ 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Russia 4. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Environmental_protection 5. http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/russia/environmental_problems_russia/