Protecting Human Health and the Environment in the Age of Ignorance

The U.S. political framework of environmental institutions, policies, and regulations has been labelled the American Green State. Developed throughout the last five decades, the Green State has considerably contributed to improving the lives of the American people. History has shown that environmental protection is a vital part of ensuring human health. However, due to disagreements on the size of the federal government, the scope of agency authority, and the efficiency of environmental regulations, the American Green State is currently subjected to great challenges. President Trump’s pro-growth and pro-business policies aimed at bolstering the American industrial economy, has brought negative consequences for the environmental policymaking framework in particular. The Environmental Protection Agency is facing its biggest challenge since its establishment. Perhaps most debilitating is the concealment of vital information and the dismantling of science and advisory boards. Substantial links are drawn to the Reagan administration’s deregulatory agenda aimed at reducing environmental regulations and federal overreach. Congressional gridlock and increasing political polarization are further exacerbating the already strained situation. Environmental protection has developed into a highly controversial topic which is reflected in the clear opposition between the Republicans and the Democrats. The future of the Green State is highly uncertain. However, the current administration is facing great opposition from the environmental movement, civil rights advocacy groups, scholars, scientists, and the Democratic Party, which can potentially mitigate future attempts to reduce environmental protection. Moreover, environmental policy is still enacted outside of the federal policymaking apparatus through innovative local state actions and private sector initiatives in particular, which have proven very effective in addressing complex issues like climate change. While these alternative pathways cannot replace the framework of the American Green State, in the future they could support innovative development of the Green bureaucracy. To effectively address the environmental issues of the twenty-first century, the Green State must restructure along the lines of state and private sector initiatives and collaborative, cross media approaches, only then can a progressive system of environmental governance be reestablished