The final lecture reviews topics discussed in previous lectures by imagining an ideal society. Professor Wargo talks about success stories in land management in the Adirondacks and pesticide regulation, and notes ongoing challenges in food safety, drinking water quality, personal consumption, population control, and the creation of parks and protected areas. He lectures about the fractured nature of environmental management at different levels of government, and the way governmental and corporate secrecy have affected environmental regulation. He ends the lecture with advice for students.

24 - Reflections and Lessons

The lecture discusses the various factors affecting the expansion of the U.S. renewable energy portfolio, as well as the importance of energy efficiency and changes to current consumption. As a case study, Professor Wargo discusses the nine-year effort to create Cape Wind, a wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts. The project has faced opposition for a number of reasons, including noise and disruption of use of private property. The lecture ties the development of more renewable energy options to issues of property rights and discusses ways to overcome challenges in siting, in noise pollution, and in the impacts on wildlife (i.e. avian mortality as a result of wind farms).

23 - Renewable Energy Policies

The lecture begins a discussion of present and future energy demands and the ways in which we invest in different forms of energy by focusing on nuclear energy use globally. The risks associated with nuclear energy are described, including risk of human error leading to a mass evacuation event, and the challenges faced in finding an adequate nuclear waste storage facility for the United States. Such a facility would be need to be able to store nuclear waste for a million years or more, due to the long half-lives of nuclear waste. The lecture describes the disaster that took place at Chernobyl nuclear plant, and the wide-ranging effects of that disaster on the natural and built environments as well as human health.

22 - The Past and Future of Nuclear Power

The lecture critiques the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) certification system, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The criteria for being highly rated under LEED emphasize energy efficiency and minimizing waste, but do not prioritize environmental health and limiting use of dangerous plastics and chemicals. USGBC is a non-profit organization, not a government agency, and has employees of for-profit organizations on its board of directors. The lecture discusses the implications of having a non-profit organization run this system and be responsible for evaluating environmental quality in architecture and construction.

21 - Certification: Design and Green Architecture

The lecture reviews the legal and economic strategies that can be used to manage coastal development. Over half of the United States population lives in coastal areas and will be affected by sea level rise and more intense storms. The lecture looks at the conflict between property rights and efforts to protect coastal ecosystems through the use of eminent domain to create national seashores. Barrier islands such as Fire Island National Seashore and Cape Cod National Seashore are used as case studies; a variety of strategies have been employed to manage these constantly moving islands. The lecture also discusses the role insurance plays in coastal settlement patterns; changes in insurers' policies in high-risk coastal areas could change the way people settle in coastal regions.

20 - Managing Coastal Conservation and Development

The lecture addresses the issue of takings and when the government has the right to seize private property for the public good. The government is required to compensate property owners in some circumstances. Through legal cases, Professor Wargo gives some examples of when compensation is required and why takings are an important management tool for environmental managers.

19 - Land Use Law and Property Rights

The lecture centers on public lands management and the effect of property rights on sustainable resource management. Property rights create a complex set of relationships that complicate effective environmental management. Popular conceptions of wilderness also make it difficult to manage public lands sustainably, since people view wilderness as a place of freedom, without regulation. Managing property rights and people's concept of right to wilderness are the central issues facing natural resource managers and public lands managers. As a result, it is important to consider external forces, such as climate change, that influence one's ability to exercise property rights.

18 - Property Rights and Public Lands Management

By reviewing the conservation history of the Adirondack Park, this lecture examines strategies to manage land use and natural resources in protected areas. The Adirondacks has been protected since the 1880s and became a national park in the 1970s. The government manages the park for a variety of uses, including recreational, ecological, and natural resource-related uses. The multiple uses of the park create conflict amongst stakeholders and require regulations that prevent certain types of development. The lecture reviews regulations and zoning ordinances that protect public lands.

17 - Land Use and Conservation Law: The Adirondack History

This lecture continues the previous class's discussion of tobacco law. In this class, Professor Wargo highlights the unique issues of freedom of choice and freedom of speech that tobacco regulation create, as tobacco regulation restricts individual choice and corporate freedom of speech via advertising restrictions. Tobacco law also illustrates the difficulties of managing environmental hazards in the face of an industry with the resources to fund its own research and to fight regulation at every step of the process. The passing of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009 is held up as a success story in tobacco regulation, as it places stricter standards on tobacco corporations.

16 - Evolution of Tobacco Law

The lecture explores the development of scientific proof of the harm that tobacco poses to human health and the legal tools used to regulate its use. The government has used warnings, control over advertising, and age restrictions to regulate tobacco. The tobacco industry has been able to complicate efforts to impose stricter regulations on tobacco consumption due to its power in the media due to ad sales and government due to the importance of cigarette sales taxes to state governments.

15 - The Tobacco Paradigm

Environmental Politics and Law - Audio

To illustrate the linkages among national security, secrecy, and environmental quality, Professor Wargo describes the Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear tests in the 1950s. The Atomic Energy Commission collected data on the spread of radionuclides from the nuclear tests, and discovered that the radionuclides were circulating around the world. This process of discovery raised issues regarding ways to manage risks to the population while both continuing the nuclear tests and keeping them secret for national security reasons.

03 - Nuclear Experiments

The United States government employed a variety of approaches to protect citizens from danger, including public education, nuclear weapons testing, and gathering data about the effects of nuclear testing. The US government's testing of nuclear weapons at the Bikini Atoll is used as an example of government approaches. Nuclear testing led to ecological devastation, leading the US government to move Bikinians to another island. The case highlights the far-reaching environmental, economic, and health consequences of nuclear weapons testing.

04 - Nuclear Secrecy and Ecology

The change from smaller, more diverse farms to larger single-crop farms in the US has led to greater reliance on pesticides for pest management. Other changes as the US food system becomes more commercialized include: increased use of additives, higher food prices, more water and energy consumption for agriculture, and more pesticide residues entering food through processing. Pesticides have also been used to combat insect-borne diseases, like malaria. The lecture provides an overview of relevant food, agriculture, and pesticide law, and covers the changes in pesticide use as scientific knowledge of a given chemical (i.e. DDT) improves.

08 - Chemically Dependent Agriculture

The lecture describes the Clean Air Act and the way the federal government measures air quality as well as improvements in air quality. Professor Wargo reviews challenges in regulating air quality, reasons for lack of adequate enforcement, and approaches to setting ambient air quality standards. The lecture focuses predominantly on vehicle emissions, and the difficulty that regulators face when trying to decrease particulate matter expelled by cars. The public health impacts of poor air quality, particularly in urban areas, are discussed as well.

12 - Air Quality Law: Margins of Safety

This lecture covers site restoration law by looking at the US Navy's use of the island of Vieques as weapons testing ground. Vieques residents are filing a civil suit against the US government, which raises issues of burden of proof, scientific certainty with respect to exposure amounts and health impacts, and how the government protects citizens from environmental hazards. Professor Wargo traces the evolution of site restoration law, from the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 setting the stage for sustainable land use, to Superfund amendments in the late 1980s that mandated more stringent protection of citizens from toxics.

07 - Site Restoration Law

The lecture discusses developments in air quality monitoring and regulation in the United States, with an emphasis on regulating vehicle emissions. Monitoring takes place at fixed points with results being averaged over three years, and this data informs air quality standard setting. Studies have found that this form of monitoring underreports the amount of pollution that children and other susceptible populations (i.e. bus and truck drivers) are exposed to. Professor Wargo details ways in which individuals are exposed to heightened air pollution on a daily basis and the policy responses at the federal, state, and local levels.

13 - Vehicle Emissions and Public Transit

The military's use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a training site is discussed to highlight the challenges involved in identifying and restoring hazardous sites. Political opposition is faced while attempting to get a site recognized as hazardous, deciding how to compensate those affected, and determining an appropriate level of environmental restoration. The recurring theme of government secrecy and its effect on efforts to protect the environment is also covered during this lecture, as the US military is reluctant to allow researchers to examine testing grounds. The reclamation of these sites involves many environmental statutes, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

06 - Marine Food Chains: Mercury

The Best Multi-Part Documentaries, with documentaries on Obama, Federer vs Nadal, the making of Star Wars, Netflix vs Blockbuster and more. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Multi-Part Documentaries

The best podcast episodes on romantic relationships. Episodes talk about the 5 love languages, intimacy, and the taboo topics of sexual desires and infidelity. This topic is a deep dive into the science and complexities that face us in our relationships with others. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!