Pollution Control Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pollution Control Issues - Es secern ExampleIntroduction to Policy Area Pollution control is a major policy area of not only national but also global importance. We customaryly agree that contaminant of land, water, and air should be controlled. But when it is the head of designing these controls or ascertaining that how much control is sufficient, major disagreements begin to surface. In this regard, Crandall states, In 1970, popular concern about environmental degradation coalesced into a major political force, resulting in President Richard Nixons creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the first of the major federal attempts to regulate pollution directlythe Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970. With the lapse of time, the federal government took several regulatory majors through the EPA. Non government organizations, research organizations, civil activists, and so forth also got involved in the process. The contemporary trend in this policy area is to c onsider market based methods and strategies for pollution control. According to many legislators and lobbyists, the handed-down command and control model is not working effectively enough. Classic Iron Triangle Structure Before describing what the classic iron triangle in the context of pollution control would look like, lets focus on the concept of iron triangle itself. In U.S. politics, iron triangle defines the three times interaction between the congressional committees, the interest groups, and the governmental agencies. Clientele directed executive functionary mechanism is the main characteristic of iron triangle, which may psychic trauma or neglect the greater public interest and provide benefit to the interest groups that are mainly formed of powerful corporate bodies (Hix, 251). The diagram infra represents the iron triangle in the sphere of pollution control policy area. In the case of the policy area of pollution control, at one inlet of the triangle will be the U.S. Congress Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which is a major congressional committee that provides oversight and funds. On the other(a) corner, there will be the EPA, which is a part of bureaucracy, or in other words, the executive of the governmental agencies. At the third corner, there will be the interest groups, which are major corporate bodies, particularly the energy and chemical giants. Significance of Issue Networks Issue networks can be defined as consort structures of several individuals and interest groups that attempt to promote an issue in the federal policy making and think tank. Landy and Milkis think that issue networks are instrumental in balancing rights and democracy vis-a-vis the political tradition and formation of sub-government of iron triangles. Issue networks are a sort of fluid mechanism that would provide the constituency of general public a practical and supple organization, which can accelerate a sustained civil action. In the context o f pollution control we can say that the powerful corporations pursue the Congress members and EPA to loosen the regulations so that less money can be invested to obtain improved pollution controlling technologies that are comparatively costlier or call for industrial unit replacements. Pollution control issue network can become a contextual counterbalancing factor, where people will shake up voice. Research organizations, civil activists, non government agencies, independent observers, social