Chapter 24 Politics, Environment, and Sustainability APES

In 2008, the first college level School of Sustainability was opened at ____.

• Berea College

• University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Arizona State University

• Northland College

• Northland College

In the United States, local and national elections are held as often as every two years. An important implication of this is that ____.

• solutions to complex problems are often rapidly implemented after election

• development of policies are left in the hands of experts

• politicians spend much of their time on re-election and deal only with simple, isolated problems

• program administrators often must operate without direction or oversight during and after election

• resolution of difficult, high impact problems are the typical focus during and after election

In the United States, the three branches of government aim to act collectively. What is their primary goal?

• curb rapid and destabilizing change

• establish future priorities

• maintain oversight regulations

• implement detailed budgets

• encourage free enterprise

Committing civilization to storing deadly radioactive wastes for up to 240,000 years is a failure of the ____.

• humility principle

• reversibility principle

• precautionary principle

• prevention principle

• human rights principle

Motor vehicle drivers paying for the full cost of the harmful effects of fossil fuel use is the application of the ____.

• precautionary principle

• public access principle

• human rights principle

• polluter-pays principle

• environmental justice principle

Future reliance on energy technologies such as tar sands, shale oil, and nuclear power, would be a violation of which of the following?

• reversibility principle

• net energy principle

• precautionary principle

• prevention principle

• humility principle

Development of public policy follows a four-stage policy life cycle. Which of the following is the first of those stages?

• recognition

• simplification

• formulation

• implementation

• control

History shows that significant changes to environmental policy usually come from ____.

• grassroots levels

• regulated industries

• elected officials

• appointed officials

• environmental scientists

Which branch of government is responsible for overseeing the agencies that carry out government policies?

• judicial

• executive

• legislative

• administrative

• military

Which of the following is an important principle of inquiry and debate in science?

• Scientists can never establish absolute proof about anything, but rather, a high degree of certainty.

• Scientists use backroom deals and often-changing unwritten rules to exert influence.

• Scientists find it essential to base their arguments on facts as well as intuition and preference.

• Scientists often test rival theories by planting disinformation as a strategic approach.

• Scientists pick and choose facts to support their own claims with little fear of repercussion.