Economics

Economics is a social science that is applied to the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. Economists focus on the way in which individuals, groups, businesses, and governments seek to efficiently achieve economic objectives.

Ecoterrorism

Ecoterrorism refers to the use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property for environmental-political reasons. Often of a symbolic nature, acts of ecoterrorism are usually committed by individuals who believe that the exploitation of natural resources and despoliation of the environment are becoming so severe that action outside of conventional legal and environmental channels is required.

Education

Environmental regulatory organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have historically dealt with pollution problems through control or remediation, as opposed to the pollution prevention (commonly called "P2") approach.

Ehrlich, Paul American Writer, Professor of Entomology and Human Ecology (1932–)

In 1968, Paul Ehrlich wrote The Population Bomb, which argued that human population growth was the root cause of society's environmental problems. Written in just three weeks, the book was a modern redefinition of the Malthusian hypothesis.

Electric Power

Power is defined as the energy that is consumed or converted in a certain amount of time. In a simple electrical circuit, the power is found by multiplying the voltage and current.

Electromagnetic Fields

The potential health effects of human-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have been a topic of scientific interest since the late 1800s, particularly in the last twenty years. Electromagnetic fields are natural phenomena that have always been present on earth.

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) is also known as SARA Title III since it was enacted as a freestanding law included in the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). This law obligates facilities to provide local, state, and federal agencies with information on hazardous materials stored or in use at the premises.

Emissions Trading

Emissions trading brings the rules of the marketplace to environmental regulation. For example, a government trying to control acid rain might set a limit of ten metric tons on emissions of sulfur dioxide SO2 (which causes acid rain) in a particular year.

Endocrine Disruption

In 1971 doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital reported high rates of unusual cancers of the vagina in teenage girls. Researchers traced the problem to a medicine their mothers were given during pregnancy intended to help prevent miscarriage—a synthetic estrogen called diethylstilbestrol (DES).

Energy, Nuclear

Nuclear energy is produced during reactions in the nucleus of an atom. Atoms can be thought of as miniature solar systems with the nucleus at the center like a sun and electrons orbiting around it like planets.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is a ratio of energy input to useful energy output, often expressed as a percentage. It measures how much energy of one kind is converted into usable energy of another kind.

Enforcement

Both within the United States and other countries, enforcement by government agencies and individual private citizens is widely viewed as a crucial aspect of the implementation of environmental laws. It is critical as a legal control on individuals and companies who violate pollution control standards and serves as a negative incentive for those who might otherwise violate the law.

Environment Canada

Canada's Department of the Environment, commonly known as Environment Canada, was founded in 1971. It was created to bring the different aspects of Canadian environmental policy, which had until then been split between several different departments, under the control of one main body.

Environmental Crime

Environmental crime is a relatively new concept in U.S. and international law; thus, it is still being defined.

Environmental Impact Statement

The U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA) requires that all federal agencies prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to making decisions that could have a significant impact on the environment.

Environmental Justice

Environmental justice is broader in scope than environmental equity (equal treatment and protection under statutes, regulations, and practices), emphasizing the right to a safe and healthy environment for all people, and incorporating physical, social, political, and economic under the heading of environments. It is also a less incendiary term than environmental racism, which can be intentional or unintentional, and suggests discrimination in A rally before the march to Laidlaw dump in Buttonwillow, California.

Environmental Movement

History is marked by movements that challenge the dominant political ideology in ways that cannot go unnoticed. Civil rights, women's rights—such movements are often rooted in small beginnings, the passion of few, which becomes the cause of many.

Environmental Racism

Up to the late 1960s, racism was defined as a doctrine, dogma, ideology, or set of beliefs. The central theme of this doctrine was that race determined culture.

Ethics

The term environmental ethics applies to the study of the moral foundation of our relationship with the environment. Questions posed by environmental ethics are varied, but all deal with our responsibility to the environment—what is our responsibility and how far does it go?

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is the principal governmental statute that regulates the use of pesticides to destroy, mitigate, or repel insects, pathogens, weeds, rodents, and other pest organisms. It licenses the use of these pesticides for intentional release into the environment.

Fish Kills

When a number of dead fish are found in one place, the incident is referred to as a fish kill, and there is significant reason to suspect pollution. The three main causes of fish kills are poisoning, disease, and suffocation.