Deck 7: Soil, Agriculture, and the Future of Food

Question 1

The Supreme Court and lower courts are important for environmental policy because .

A) they preside over lawsuits and complaints filed by grassroots organizations, businesses, and individuals regarding interpretation and constitutionality of environmental laws
B) the courts mandate that environmental law preempt all other federal laws
C) they allow corporations in the United States to disregard the environmental laws of other countries
D) they regulate administrative agencies at various levels of government, including the EPA
E) their purpose is to assist corporations to negotiate with the legislative branch

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following regulates the discharge of wastes into rivers and streams?

A) Toxic Substances Control Act
B) Soil and Water Conservation Act
C) Clean Rivers Act
D) Safe Drinking Water Act
E) Clean Water Act

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The World Bank was established in 1944 to .

A) help weak governments by loaning money to heads of state for military infrastructure
B) fund economic development such as dams and irrigation projects in developing nations
C) fund international environmental studies of issues such as pollution and global warming
D) provide ease of banking for multinational corporations
E) fund international projects for developed nations, including dams on international rivers, multinational irrigation projects, and the spraying of herbicides and insecticides

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, published in the 1960s, _ .

A) awakened the American public to negative effects of artificial hormones and GMOs
B) was concerned with birth defects in humans
C) focused on the dangers of pesticides and industrial chemicals
D) warned of the loss of bees and other insect pollinators from pesticide use
E) was the beginning of the first wave of U.S. environmental policy

Question 5

How does the EPA affect environmental policy?

A) The EPA funds ecological studies that inform the executive branch about what environmental laws are needed.
B) The EPA develops rules and regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
C) The EPA passes laws that control environmental regulations.
D) The EPA determines which laws passed by the judicial branch apply to environmental policy.
E) The EPA has no jurisdiction over environmental policy.

Question 6

Fracking is used in the extraction of _ _.

A) petroleum from tar sands
B) organic pollutants from freshwater aquifers
C) natural gas trapped in shale
D) petroleum from coal deposits
E) natural gas trapped in granite and sand

Question 7

Fires on the Cuyahoga River raised concerns that contributed to .

A) the formation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
B) the passage of the federal Water Pollution Control Act
C) a regulatory taking of many of the industries along the river and its tributaries
D) the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Acts and the Clean Water Act
E) laws requiring the separation of sewage and storm water in cities

Question 8

One solution to address the problems caused by the pollution being emitted by the factory would be for the federal government to institute a command -and -control policy to set limits on the amount of pollution that the factory can discharge. What federal regulating agency would be responsible for instituting such a command -and -control policy?

A) Congress
B) OSHA
C) USFS
D) EPA
E) Office of Management and Budget

Question 9

Implementation and enforcement of statutory law is given to .

A) administrative agencies
B) the legislative branch
C) oversight committees and private citizens
D) the judicial branch
E) watchdog groups

Question 10

The first laws in U.S. environmental policy .

A) protected endangered species
B) were passed as early as 1980
C) promoted settlement of the West and resource extraction
D) dealt primarily with management of private land
E) reduced pollution caused by early industrial efforts

Question 11

Conventional law arises from _ _.

A) treaties between or among nations
B) the distribution and use of pollution permits
C) cultural customs
D) democratic voting procedures
E) informal agreements reached by multinational corporations

Question 12

The "revolving door" .

A) pairs environmental causes with lobbyists already working on other causes
B) is the movement of influential individuals between the private sector and government agencies
C) is illegal in most states
D) allows lobbyists to work for many political entities at the same time
E) allows corporate heads to work together on political legislation

Question 13

Statutory laws are created by _ _.

A) the court system
B) Congress
C) the EPA and other federal agencies
D) local law enforcement
E) the executive branch

Question 14

The General Mining Act of 1872 _.

A) ensures that mining operations repair and restore an area when they are done mining
B) provides no governmental oversight to mining in the United States
C) was repealed in the 1970s
D) allows mining companies to mine land held by private citizens without compensating them
E) provides free equipment to promote mining in the West

Question 15

The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that .

A) state entities can take private property for less than market value
B) the government can cause environmental damage without compensation
C) private citizens can take value from public land by mining, timbering, or similar activities
D) private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation
E) natural resources cannot be taken without payment

Question 16

To control pollution, industry has been given limits and been threatened with punishment if these limits are violated. This approach is called _ .

A) limit -and -manage
B) carrot -and -stick
C) command -and -control
D) end -of -the -alley
E) TBSS

Question 17

The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had been so polluted that it caught fire repeatedly from 1868 -1969, including a 1952 fire that resulted in nearly $1.5 million in damages. Amazingly, other rivers in the United States also caught fire during this period. Why didn't federal laws limiting pollution of rivers and streams prevent this pollution and these fires?

A) This pollution went undetected by agents overwhelmed by the amount of work.
B) The federal laws preventing water pollution did not apply to Ohio, where this occurred.
C) The industries that polluted the water had been repeatedly fined for polluting and simply continued to ignore the laws.
D) There were no federal regulations of water pollution at that time.

Question 18

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) .

A) required compensation to be given to anyone harmed by deliberate pollution from any business or corporate entity
B) required environmental impact statements for any projects funded by the U.S. government
C) put all federal land under stringent environmental protection
D) was signed into law by Bill Clinton
E) altered the amount of chemicals allowed in water as a result of industrial pollution

Question 19

The first national park in the world was .

A) Grand Canyon
B) Yellowstone
C) Glacier
D) Death Valley
E) Yosemite

Question 20

Decisions rendered by the courts make up a body of law known as .

A) statutory law
B) mandatory law
C) case law
D) utilitarian law
E) environmental law

Question 21

Green taxes .

A) may affect consumers if the companies paying the taxes raise the price of their product
B) are taxes instituted on landscaping plants and trees to raise funds for projects promoting sustainable development
C) have been rejected by the European Union as being too costly to enforce
D) are paid by golfers in areas where sensitive habitat has been converted to golf courses
E) are widely supported and instituted in the United States

Question 22

Wetlands in the United States .

A) have stayed about the same over the past 40 years
B) have decreased due to human development
C) have decreased due to natural causes, such as floods and hurricanes
D) have increased due to human development
E) have increased due to natural causes, such as floods and hurricanes

Question 23

According to the scenario, if the United States continues to lose wetlands at current rates, in approximately what year would the country run out of wetlands?

A) 2100
B) 2180
C) 2800
D) 3800
E) 4522

Question 24

In 2009, the G -20 nations agreed to _ .

A) increase subsidies to fossil fuel industries by 10 -12%
B) double the subsidies to fossil fuel companies
C) postpone developing renewable energy resources until 2050
D) set a goal to produce 60% of their energy from clean, renewable sources by 2030
E) gradually phase out their fossil fuel subsidies

Question 25

The creation of our National Wildlife Refuge system has been credited to what U.S. president?

A) Rutherford B. Hayes
B) Dwight Eisenhower
C) Richard Nixon
D) Theodore Roosevelt
E) Barack Obama

Question 26

This figure shows the results of inspections of gas drilling sites in Pennsylvania. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the data shown?

A) Most inspected wells do not have integrity issues.
B) The number of wells with integrity issues peaked in 2008.
C) Environmentalists and inspectors have underestimated the number of wells that have integrity issues.
D) The more wells being inspected, the more likely the wells are to have integrity issues.
E) The number of wells inspected peaked in 2010.

Question 27

The Montreal Protocol was an international environmental treaty .

A) that banned the sale and export of products made of ivory
B) that banned the sale and export of invasive species
C) whose goal was to protect the ozone layer
D) whose goal was to ban the proliferation of nuclear weapons
E) that was not approved by the U.S. because many lawmakers did not believe in global climate change

Question 28

Sustainable economic and environmental policies will shift the focus from .

A) national economic growth to global economic growth
B) productivity to economic growth
C) productivity to profits
D) economic growth to the well -being of humans
E) sustainability to productivity

Question 29

NGOs exert some influence over U.S. environmental policy. Which one of the following is an NGO?

A) Canadian government
B) Greenpeace
C) Democratic Party
D) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
E) Democratic Republic of the Congo

Question 30

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is a governmental agency within which branch of the federal government?

A) executive
B) legislative
C) prejudicial
D) judicial
E) Administrative agencies are not part of any of the branches of the federal government.

Question 31

Which of the following is TRUE regarding environmental laws and the U.S. Constitution?

A) Fundamental environmental policy is already set forth in the Constitution.
B) In a case of conflict, state laws always take precedence over federal laws and the Constitution.
C) The Constitution can be modified by the judicial branch of the U.S. government.
D) By paying a waiver fee, federal laws can override the Constitution.
E) State laws cannot violate the Constitution.

Question 32

Cap -and -trade is a system that .

A) allows industries that pollute at levels below the federal cap to sell their extra permits to industries that pollute at levels above the cap
B) rapidly brings pollution emissions to near zero for participating industries
C) allows industries to set their own levels for pollution emission so trading can continue
D) has been repealed by Congress as useless in diminishing pollution
E) specifies a certain cap on industrial pollutants that can be traded to other nations