Introduction
What is the issue/problem? Finding alternative means to reduce municipal solid waste in the U.S.
What current legislation has been proposed to address this? H.R.5856: Waste-to-Energy Technology Act of 2010.
Who is affected by the issue?
Who is affected the most? Tax payers and landfill workers in the U.S. are affected most
Who loses, and what do they lose? Tax payers lose more money due to the tax increase. Landfill workers may lose jobs due to less waste.
Who gains, and what do they gain? Landfills gain most space to work with with less waste. The environment also gains with hopes that global warming decreases.
What are the consequences of the issue?
For the individuals mostly affected? Increase in taxes for tax payers and loss of jobs for landfill workers.
For their families? Less money to support their families.
For society? Less money for consumers to spend, which may lead to a depression.
What is the economic impact of the issue?
What are the economic costs of the issue, and who bears these costs? Tax increase for tax payers all across the U.S.
What are the economic benefits of the issue, and who benefits? Increase of new jobs, which allows more people to work in U.S. and have more income.
What is the social impact of the issue?
What are the social costs of the issue, and who bears these costs? Increase of taxes can lead to stress and overworked citizens.
Whare the the social benefits of the issue, and who benefits? Feeling good about helping the environment and doing something to help impact it.
What are the barriers?
What are the barriers addressing this issue? Convincing tax payers for the tax increase.
How can they be overcome? Educating the public on environmental problems and it's future.
What are the resources?
What resources will we need to address the issues? Environmental educators to educate congressmen and taxpayers, lobbyists to move the bill, governemntal support and money is required to do all of these things.
Where and how can they be tapped? Money will can come from dontators, governmental agencies like the EPA. Volunteers can lobby time and educate people.
What is the history of the issue?
What is the history of the issue in the community? Individuals and communities have found ways such as recycling, composting, etc. to reduce municiple solid waste in communities.
What past efforts have been made to address it? More efforst such as waste combustors and transfer stations have been used to address this issue as well.
What were the results? Waste has been reduced but still has a long way to go.
Allies & Opponents
Who would support this issue? The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), environmentalists, President Obama (very into environmental issues).
Who would oppose this issue? Tax payers and landfill workers because of layoffs
How can you involve allies and opponents in advocacy efforts? Most people want to help the environment and improve future lives of their children and grandchildren so playing off that point would be huge.
Your Recommendation
How do you want policy-makers to vote on this proposed policy? Vote Yes for H.R.5856.
I believe this is a very important issue. I do agree that one of the biggest barriers to getting taxpayers to pay the extra. I believe a lot more issues would be solved if there were a way to solve them without taking more money from people because no one wants to give up any extra, especially with the economy as of recently.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to determine if this will be a successfully passed bill. A lot of taxpayers want nothing to do with having to pay more money, and simply don't care about the issue of waste. Though I personally would vote yes, it will take a lot of persuasion and clear evidence to get more people on my side
ReplyDeleteIt seems like raising taxes is what a lot of these bills need. It makes sense because everything requires money and obviously all of these are good causes but I think we should find another way to support all our important bills without taxing people to death. I think maybe corporations, since they have more money than people and the government should be taxed more. After all they are creating most of this waste.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the more waste people create, the more they should be taxed (as in the big companies spilling waste into the rivers)! It would take a lot of advocacy to persuade people to vote yes, especially since lowering taxes has been the theme for most politicians the last few years. It is a worthwhile cause though, and change needs to start somewhere!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a lot of the video we watched in class yesterday. If you do actually advocate this project I feel that video would be a helpful tool to utilize to open the eyes of the community.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of the more waste you create, the more you will be taxed, what a great incentive. I definitely see barriers with people not wanting to pay taxes, though. I like Sarah's idea of hitting the corporations instead of individuals.
ReplyDeleteThis is an important issue that needs to be done in an effective way because the history of ways to get rid of wastes is still just a few options. I think that landfill workers probably won't lose their jobs entirely because we need people like them to manage the new alternative ways to disposal waste. It is a hard one because everything does come down to the tax payers but everyone needs to contribute one way or another, right? What's wrong about being part of a good cause for our earth.
ReplyDelete