The Political and Economic Aspect of Environmental Control in the U . S . A .

Abstract

In a very short time pollution seems to have become one of America's major political issues. The mass media devotes large amounts of time both in newspaper, stories and on television program to the problems created by air and water pollution and the harm being done the environment. The economist tends to view the problem as the result of the divergence of social and private benefits and costs, or what economist call external diseconomies. The destruction of the environment occurs because no attempt has been made to impose the direct and indirect costs of this distruction on the polluters. To the student of Public Administration the problem can be studied in both it's political and a bureaucratic aspects. Attempts to prevent pollution show how economics and politics along with science can be utilized in dealing with what the public and the scientists now believe to be a serious problem. Other papers presented here have dealt with air and water pollution in a scientific sense. In this paper I will attempt to look at the problem from a political and economic point of view. We will look first at why pollution has become such a large issue in America; then at the costs of pollution to the public; go on to present programs and efforts, both governmental and private, to control pollution; and lastly we briefly look over a few possible courses of action for the future. The concern over pollution now being expressed by Americans was caused by a number of developments. First, and generally conceded as most important, the population after world warⅡ began to increase sharply. This population growth together with the development of a means of quick transportation spread the city outward, absorbing more and more countryside into the city.