Environment and Natural Resources Administration:
Reflecting on Paris Climate Change in 2015 through Charlevoix, Quebec (Canada) in 2018
Julie Ann Racino
Cornell and Syracuse University Alumni
American Society for Public Administration Proposed Panel
Submitted September 18, 2018
In 2015, the Climate Change Conference in Paris, France resulted in over 100 Nations agreeing to abide by the accord which followed the passage of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (Racino, 2015). ASPA (under the Leadership of Allan Rosenbaum, Past President) endorsed the SDGs in its International Assembly in March 2017 in Denver, Colorado.
Subsequent to the historic US Presidential Race of 2016 (Hillary Clinton, Democrat vs. Trump, Republican) (e.g., Clinton, 2017, Wolff, 2018), the new US President began a campaign against the environmental regulations and international treaties signed by the US. These treaties include historic trade agreements, such as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and security agreements such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Strategically, "the US" supported NATO "shoulder to shoulder" with American troops and for peace and security in Europe in a meeting in Belgium, Brussels in May 2017.
By 2017, the controversial new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt was ousted from his new position together with the highest turnover rates of any President during his first years in office. These actions occurred concurrently with the Democratic Governors led by Andrew M. Cuomo organizing on "climate" which is a hallmark of Al Gore, Vice President and the William J. Clinton Administration.
In addition, developments on "political fracking" (water, land, community and local services impacts), "epidemiological research in public health" (e.g., radioactivity), and modernized regional (state regions, and regions within states) environmental projects (e.g., Hudson River Valley) mark Executive actions in 2014-2018 (e.g., New New York State Health Commissioner, and historic Lt. Governor Appointment -Kathy Hochul from the County Executive groups, NYS Governor's Cabinet Meeting, December 17, 2014).
However, the world leadership remains undaunted by the "US challenges" (major world power) with the Government of Canada promoting its environmental policy prior to the G-7 Summit in Charlevoix (Quebec, Canada). The Summit in 2018 was hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, and G-7 Information Centre shared early environmental declarations (e.g., 1997 Declaration of the Environmental Leaders of the Eight on Children's Environmental Health). The G-7 Summit in Taorina, Italy on July 7-8, 2017 had closed with G7 leaders divided on climate change; Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Canada, and Japan supported the 2015 Climate Change Agreement against efforts by "the US" to seek a fairer agreement under its new Republican administration.
This paper will address the current scientific controversies on the environment ("debunking" at university education), the environmental justice and its role in American and global politics (e.g., economics of the public health-criminal justice complex), the future of new energy from solar to wind and water (e.g., polarization of solar grids internationally; bioterrorism at water infrastructure), the political world of global, national and state environmental policies, and the future of inclusion, sustainability and equity in today and tomorrow's worlds.
References:
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. (2017). What Happened? NY, NY, London , and Toronto, Canada (CAN): Simon and Schuster.
Cuomo, Andrew M. (2014, December 17). Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Cabinet Meeting, Post-Election. Albany, NY: New York State Governor's Office. Viewed, YouTube, 6/15/2018.
G7/8 Ministers. (1997, May 5-6). 1997 Declaration of the Environmental Leaders of the Eight on Children's Environmental Health. Miami, FL: G7 Information Centre.
Racino, Julie Ann. (2015, December). Environment and Climate Change: From Earth Summit World Leadership to Today's Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. SENRA Newsletter, American Society for Public Administration. Washington, DC: ASPA.
Racino, Julie Ann, Rolandi, Stephen R., Huston, Andrea, J., & Bergman, Allan I. (2017, March). Expanding Theories in Community and Disability: From Community Integration to Equity, Sustainability, and Inclusion in Era of Terrorism. Atlanta, GA: American Society for Public Administration, Public Administration and Disability.
Rosenbaum, Allan. (2018, March). Assembly Moderator. Sustainable Developmental Goals. International Assembly, Annual ASPA Conference: Mission-Focused and Service First, American Society for Public Administration, Denver, CO.
Trudeau, Justin Prime Minister. (2018, June). Closing Press Conference, G7 Summit. Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada: G7 Information Centre. Livestream and YouTube, Viewed 6/12/2018.
US White House. (2017, May). NATO Meeting between US President Trump and Secretary General Stoltenberg. Belgium, Brussels, NATO Meeting. Released by the US White House Press Conference via You Tube on 5/22/2017.
Wolff, Michael. (2018). Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. San Francisco, CA and NY, NY: Thorndike Press.
The submission is being released post the Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi heading a US delegation to the conference which also featured the King of Spain. The new US President (Trump) has also entered into trade negotiations with Canada and Mexico for the US to replace the NAFTA agreement "amid a tariff war with China". NATO held its Summit in London, England in December 2019. American Society for Public Administration will hold its next Annual Conference in Anaheim, California in March 2020.
Update (1/23/2021) Newly elected US President Joseph R. Biden Jr., as his first Executive Order on January, 20, 2021, reinstated his signature (as the US Executive in charge today) to the Paris Climate Accord of 2015. From the White House, Oval Office.
Julie Ann Racino can also discuss "know your ASPA". We enjoyed meeting Paul J. Blake (District IV Representative, ASPA National Council, 2018) and Jane Pisano who is also a Past President of ASPA. Both conducted the closing plenary for the 2018 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. Then, Jane Pisano is from Sol Price School of Public Policy, Los Angeles, California which we found last week (Dec 2019) has a Public Policy Institute associated with, according to wikipedia, former CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (former husband of CA First Lady Maria Shriver). That brings us to the 2020 campaign for US Presidency and Michael Bloomberg of New York. Julie Ann Racino, ASPA International, 2019
ReplyDeleteUN Climate Change Conferences in 2008, 2013 and 2018 were all held in the nation of Poland, respectively in Poznan, Warsaw and Katowice. The press for the latter (COP24) indicated Katowice is the largest city of the Silesian Voivodship and is part of the Zaglebie Metropolis of 41 cities. In 2018, the Poland Minister of Finance and Development and Environment was Mateusz Morawiecki working with Professor Jan Szysko. Twenty thousand (20,000) people from 190 countries were expected to attend. Now, yesterday the 2018 conference speaker, 15 year old Scandinavian Greta Thurnberg became Time Magazine Person of the Year. Julie Ann Racino, ASPA International, 2019 Section on the Environment and Natural Resources Administration (SENRA).
ReplyDeletePress indicates that Greta "took out" Nancy Pelosi, historic US Speaker of the House, for the Time Magazine cover (among other candidates). Now, we did see the press also showing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of NY, John Kerry at the 2015 Paris Climate, and Nancy Pelosi in the US Congress all handing pens or podiums with "12 year olds in US" at "complaints of US Senior Executive Women". Yes, back to research gates only! Julie Ann Racino, ASPA, 2019
DeleteFor a retrospective on the greening of the market as "the polluter pays", see the book Mandate for Change (Chapter 10) on the 1992 Election of Bill Clinton to the White House. The public policies were preceeded by "command and control" of our natural resources in the US. Mandate for Change was edited by Will Marshall and Martin Schram of the Progressive Policy Institute. The global context was US Global Leadership for Democracy (Chapter 13). Julie Ann Racino, American Society for Public Administration, Section on the Environment and Natural Resources Administration, 2020
ReplyDeleteWe support a review of "American and global corporate sectors" in the context of bilateral and multilateral public policies which have changed substantially during the course of the past 4-5 decades. We support a strong corporate-US government relationship as opposed to the current frameworks of "anti-trust" and disinvestment or foreign control related to "our companies" and the future of American industry in the global economy. In particular, we support a new transparency on the NGO-business sector relationships both in this Nation and around the world and a recognition of the "American role in Big Tech". We demand that wealth that has been taken from American citizens be a new priority for America and its future policies. Julie Ann Racino, ASPA, 2021
DeleteOctober 7, 2020 marked the Vice Presidential Debate for the 2020 US Presidential Elections (See, ABC News, CSPAN, Spectrum 10), and Susan Page of USA Today (moderator) during the Covid-19 pandemic assured that climate change and the environment were centered as one of 9 major topics for the Democratic Candidate Senator Kamala Harris (CA) and current Vice President Republican Michael Pence. Discussion included the Green New Deal (and its cost), status of fracking ban and increasing environmental concerns (also See, The Contender, NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo biography), hurricanes, fires and national disasters, carbon emission targets, economy and the environment, Paris Climate Accords (signed by President Obama), and the role of science in public policymaking. VP Pence charged the Democrats with having a radical agenda on the environment, and no mention was made by either debating party regarding the world meetings post-Paris Climate Accords. Julie Ann Racino, ASPA, SENRA, 2020
ReplyDeleteThe "radical agenda" was confirmed in the academic arena (reference to legislation by Democrats Ocasio-Cortez and Markey) as "anything goes" on budget control regarding climate at the world gates. In addition, as mentioned earlier, tracing the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicated: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on the oceans at the G-7 Summit ("above and below the water"), UN's on climate and terrorism funding by 2018, ASPA's leadership as stressing Goal 16: justice and strong institutions, world governments on natural disasters, private sector on solar and wind energy projects (with governments), and Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals at gender goals (e.g., education of girls; political empowerment of women-generational shifts). The new Biden administration began Day 1 with Executive order reinstating 2015 climate agreement (all provisions), and addressing head on "XL pipeline", representing the "industry and international" challenges for workforces in the US, the "American people" and global climate agendas. Julie Ann Racino, ASPA International, SENRA, 2021
DeleteCornell University Atkinison Center on Sustainability's Climate Change Seminar 2021 (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) will be ending in May 2021 with two more featured Zoom speakers. Thank you to Peter Hess for his moderating and hosting of the events; you tubes from 2018 and 2019 back to 2015 maybe available online. US President Biden's Climate Summit was held virtually April 22 and 23rd, 2021 as a followup to his first Executive Order on Climate Change. The Convention of Parties (COP26) to the Climate Agreements will be held in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021. The Cuomo Administration in New York has continued its commitment to clean energy and clean water, to the environment and "housing energy efficiency", and its climate (green financial infrastructure) plan already operational during the Trump Administration. Julie Ann Racino, Cornell and Syracuse University Alumni, 2021
ReplyDelete