Canada: Protecting the Environment in an Industrialized Nation - Research Paper

Introduction

Canada is one of the developed nations that border the United States. As an industrialized nation, it has a great consideration of the environment. Indeed, environmental policy is one of the public functions that are viewed with the greatest concentration in the country. The nation has enacted numerous legislations aimed, for instance, combating air to protect the environment. There, being an industrialized country just like the United States, Canada faces a great international concern that directs them to be careful in the way that they execute their environmental policy especially at this time when the world fears for climate change. This paper, thus, compares and contrasts how environmental policy is managed in Canada and the United States.

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Background Information

Canada's first concentration on the environment dates when they first created their environmental protection law. The famous Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999 was the hallmark of the nation's consideration of the environment (Smith, 2015). This Act sought to ensure that the government tackles greenhouse gas emissions and ensure more efficient use of fuel. This policy resembles the Environmental Protection Act of 1986 of the United States. The Act sought to implement the decisions of the United Nations Conference on the Human environment where they sought to create a better environment that would not be hazardous to human beings, animals, and other creatures.

Implementation Challenges

Implementing environmental policy in Canada has been a challenge. This is because the main areas of concentration for the government of Canada are in industrial development which is still their best source of revenue. Therefore, ensuring that there are no emissions from industries may force such firms to change their method of production and other close their operations. This, however, may lead to lower revenue for Canadian government which may, in turn, cripple its economy. Thus, implementing the environmental policy becomes hard and challenging for hard the government of Canada to manage (Smith, 2015). Also containing industrial waste is a hard encounter for industries because the waste management systems are not accessible. Similarly, the environmental policy of the United States has been hard to implement. The main hindrances to its implementation are the large industrial sacrifice that it drags and increased politicization of the environment issue (Turin, 2014). Therefore, the Us, just like Canada, needs to create awareness and invest a lot in environmental protection to build systems that are competent to manage industrial wastes and emissions.

Key Stakeholders

Environmental protection in Canada is largely a duty of the federal government, but also provincial and municipal governments have their minimal input. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) works along with some other agencies such as the National Energy Board and the Nuclear Safety Commission (Winfield & Dolter, 2014). The role of CEAA is to ensure that the environment is protected also. It also reports to the federal government if there are legal changes to make. The CEAA in Canada resembles the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States. EPA was created in 1970 under the directions of then-President Richard Nixon. It conducts the duties of policy formation and reports to the national government (Winton, 2019). It also regulates, processing, manufacturing, and distribution of chemicals. Therefore, similar to the CEAA, EPA works alongside industries, state governments, and research institutions to ensure that the environment is maintained at safe levels.

Policy Dynamics

Environmental policy in Canada has undergone various stages and developments. It has also undergone some milestones. The first milestones were the development of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999, later followed by the Fisheries Act, the Species at Risk Act the Nuclear Safety, and ultimately the Control Act among others (Tidball et al., 2019). The policy has undergone major developments, all directed towards ensuring the safety of the environment for the Canadian people and the world at large. Similarly, in the United States, the EPA works on many environmental laws. Among these are the Clean Air Act of 1970 later amended in 1990, the Clean Water Act of 1977, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (Winton, 2019). Therefore, both in Canada and in the United States, the policy has dynamically grown.

Key Planning Issues

The key planning issues in Canada and the United States are similar. The key planning issues that are focused on environmental protection are among others such as fair land use, social-economics, healthy transportation, prevention of air pollution, noise pollution, water pollution, protection of the wetlands, protection of endangered species and taking care of coastal zones that are susceptible to corrosion and flooding (Tidball et al., 2019). These key planning issues are well-displayed in the policy formulation and the development of different Acts. From careful observation, the key planning issues are the basis on which the environmental policies for both countries have been extracted. Therefore, it can be said to be blueprints for the formation of environmental policy in any other part of the world.

Current Events

Both Canada and the United States have shown a huge concentration on current matters that revolve around environmental protection. Their most recent engagement in the protection of the environment is the Paris Agreement where, alongside other nations, they signed a deal to protect the environment (Savaresi, 2016). Thus, this will ensure they will protect the environment and achieve the same results together as neighbors.

Conclusion

There are many similarities and differences in the way environmental policy is managed in both the United States and Canada. They can be seen in the various dimensions such as implementation challenges faced, key stakeholders, policy dynamics, key planning issues, and any current events engaged in by both countries. Therefore, through all these dimensions, environmental protection has now become a serious issue between the United States and Canada which can be attributed as the main reason why they have an almost similar environmental policy.

References

Savaresi, A. (2016). The Paris Agreement: a new beginning?. Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, 34(1), 16-26.

Smith, B. (2015, August 6). Canada: Environmental Issues, Policies, and Clean Technology. Retrieved from https://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=563

Tidball, J., Atcheson, A., Buttgieg, B., Buttgieg, T., Gratton, L., Hansen, S., & Thomson, M. (2019). Environmental law and practice in Canada: an overview. Retrieved from https://ca.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/2-503-2764?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&bhcp=1

Turin, D. R. (2014). Environmental Problems and American Politics: Why is Protecting the Environment so Difficult?. Inquiries Journal, 6(11).

Winfield, M., & Dolter, B. (2014). Energy, economic and environmental discourses and their policy impact: The case of Ontario s Green Energy and Green Economy Act. Energy Policy, 68, 423-435.

Winton, K. (2019, August 2). Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/environmental-protection-agency.asp\