Is Religion the Environment's Last Best Hope? Targeting Change in Individual Behavior Through Personal Norm Activation

Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation

Volumn 24, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 119-164

  Johnson, Stephen M ^a  

^a MERCER UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION; GLOBAL WARMING; HUMAN ACTIVITY; HUMAN BEHAVIOR; PARTNERSHIP APPROACH; POLLUTION CONTROL; RELIGION;

NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 69249233598     PISSN: 10490280     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (294)

1. See infra p. 122-23 and notes 12-18.
2. See infra p. 124-26 and notes 22-35.
3. See infra p. 137-38 and notes 36-37.
4. Under the command-and-control approach, the federal government establishes uniform national pollution limits or commands that the federal or state governments impose on individual polluters through a system of permits or other controls. See Bruce A. Ackerman & Richard B. Stewart, Reforming Environmental Law, 37 STAN. L. REV. 1333, 1334-35 (1985) (describing command-and-control regulation).
5. See ROBERT C. ELLICKSON, ORDER WITHOUT LAW: HOW NEIGHBORS SETTLE DISPUTES (1991).
6. Michael P. Vandenbergh, Order Without Social Norms: How Personal Norm Activation Can Protect the Environment, 99 Nw. U. L. REV. 1101, 1107 (2005).
7. Id.
8. Id. at 1121-25.
9. Id. at 1103-07.
10. See infra p. 150-61 and notes 148-91.
11. See infra p. 147-48 and note 142.
12. See ROBERT V. PERCIVAL ET AL., ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION 129 (5th ed. 2006);
13. Michael P. Vandenbergh, From Smokestack to SUV: The Individual as Regulated Entity in the New Era of Environmental Law, 57 VAND. L. REV. 515, 517-18, 524-26 (2004).
14. E.g., Clean Water Act § 301, 33 U.S.C. § 1311 (2006) (establishing effluent limits for point sources);
15. id. § 306, 33 U.S.C. § 1316 (establishing new source performance standards for point sources);
16. id. § 307, 33 U.S.C. § 1317 (establishing toxic and pretreatment effluent standards for point sources);
17. id. § 402, 33 U.S.C. § 1342 (establishing national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program for point source discharges).
18. E.g., 42 U.S.C. § 7411 (2006) (establishing new source performance standards for stationary sources);
19. id. § 7412 (establishing standards for emissions of hazardous air pollutants by stationary sources);
20. id. § 7503 (establishing a permit program for stationary sources in "non-attainment" areas);
21. id. § 7661a (establishing a permit program for stationary sources).
22. E.g., 42 U.S.C. § 6925 (2006) (establishing a permit program for treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste).
23. See, e.g., Clean Water Act § 319, 33 U.S.C. § 1329 (providing for nonpoint source management programs under the Clean Water Act);
24. U.S.C. §§ 6941-6969 (providing for nonhazardous waste management under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act). The major provisions in the federal environmental laws that target individual behavior are limits on wetlands development in section 1344 of the Clean Water Act and protections for endangered and threatened species in the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1538 (2006).
25. Even in those laws, though, Congress took steps to reduce the impact of the law on individuals. Both the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act allow individuals to proceed with activities that harm the environment as long as they obtain a permit from the government and mitigate that harm. See id. § 1539 ("incidental take" permits);
26. Clean Water Act § 404, 33 U.S.C. § 1344 (wetlands permits). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers generally approves more than ninety percent of the applications for permits to develop wetlands.
27. See, e.g., U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, FY 2003 REGULATORY STATISTICS, http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Documents/cecwo/reg/2003webcharts.pdf (last visited May 5, 2009).
28. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651, 7651a-o (2006) (sulfur dioxide trading program).
29. See 42 U.S.C. § 11023 (2006) (involving toxic release inventory reporting requirements at section 116 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act);
30. U.S.C. § 13106 (2006) (reporting requirements of chapter 133 of the Pollution Prevention Act).
31. See Christopher D. Stone, Is Environmental Dead?, 38 ENVTL. L. 19, 32 (2008);
32. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 521. To the extent that Congress has regulated individual behavior in the wetlands and endangered species context, it focused on activities where a smaller number of individuals engaged in the activities and the impacts of their actions were more direct and dramatic than in other contexts like household hazardous waste disposal or nonpoint source pollution.
33. PERCIVAL ET AL., supra note 12, at 129. Although the cumulative impacts of individual behavior are significant, the separate impacts of each individual's actions are often minimal.
34. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 518.
35. PERCIVAL ET AL., supra note 12, at 129. For instance, regulatory limits on development to protect wetlands and endangered species are frequently challenged as violating private property rights.
36. Although it was published more than twenty years ago, the EPA's Unfinished Business report identified many environmental problems that remain unresolved today, including nonpoint source pollution, nonhazardous waste, hazardous air pollutants, criteria air pollutants, and the greenhouse effect. EPA, UNFINISHED BUSINESS: A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS (1987). As detailed below, individual behavior contributes significantly to most of those problems.
37. Andrew Green, Self Control, Individual Choice, and Climate Change, 26 VA. ENVTL. L.J. 77, 78 (2008);
38. see also Michael P. Vandenbergh & Anne C. Steinemann, The Carbon-Neutral Individual, 82 N.Y.U. L. REV. 1673, 1677 (2007).
39. Many of the waste, air, and water pollution problems detailed in this section are caused by excessive and inefficient energy use and excessive driving of heavily polluting vehicles. Individuals could greatly reduce pollution emissions caused by excessive and inefficient energy use by switching to more energy efficient appliances, such as hot water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners, dryers, and refrigerators; installing energy efficient lighting, such as compact fluorescent bulbs; improving insulation in their homes; and switching to alternative sources of energy. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra, at 1699-1700.
40. With regard to transportation, Vandenbergh and Steinemann note that a ten percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled by individuals could generate more greenhouse gas emissions reduction than the iron and steel, cement manufacturing, or petrochemical production industries emit each year. Id. at 1698.
41. Such reductions could be accomplished through carpooling or greater reliance on mass transportation. Similarly, if individuals drove more efficient vehicles or properly maintained their vehicles, significant reductions in greenhouse gas and other pollution emissions could be achieved. Vandenbergh and Steinemann note that proper maintenance of tire pressure alone could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by forty-one billion pounds each year. Id. at 1700.
42. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1677.
43. Id.
44. EPA, NATIONAL AIR QUALITY: STATUS AND TRENDS THROUGH 2007, at 26 (2008), available at http://www.epa.gov/air/airtrends/2007/report/toxic.pdf. Professor Michael Vandenbergh points out that, primarily due to motor vehicle emissions, individuals release fifty times more benzene and five times more formaldehyde than all large industrial sources combined. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 519.
45. EPA, AN INVENTORY OF SOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASES OF DIOXINLIKE COMPOUNDS IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEARS 1987, 1995, AND 2000, at 1-42 (2006), available at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/ pdfs/dioxin/2006/dioxin.pdf.
46. In 2000, backyard burning of garbage accounted for thirty-five percent of dioxin emissions in the United States. Id.
47. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 546-49. According to EPA data, in 2002, motor vehicles emitted 8,133,567 tons of nitrogen oxides and 4,660,578 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while industrial sources only emitted 1,158,549 tons of nitrogen oxides and 1,680,541 tons of VOCs. EPA, Air Emission Sources: Nitrogen Oxides, http://www.epa.gov/air/emissions/nox.htm (last visited May 5, 2009); EPA, Air Emission Sources: Volatile Organic Compounds, http://www.epa.gov/air/emissions/voc.htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
48. EPA, An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality, http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia- intro.html (last visited May 5, 2009).
49. EPA, Challenges Facing Our Estuaries, http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/ pivot/ overview/cf.htm (last visited May 5, 2009);
50. see also Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 573.
51. EPA, supra note 30;
52. see also Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 543, 564, 576-77.
53. Households release as much mercury to wastewater as all large industrial sources. Id. at 564.
54. In addition, on average, approximately a pound of pesticides is applied to each private lawn per year. Id. at 577.
55. EPA, supra note 30.
56. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 542-43.
57. Significant quantities of mercury are disposed of in household hazardous waste, in products such as batteries, fluorescent lighting, thermostats, and discarded electrical equipment. Id. at 564.
58. According to the EPA, in 2005, Americans generated approximately 1.9 to 2.2 million tons of e-waste and recycled only about 345,000 to 379,000 tons. EPA, FACT SHEET: MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN THE UNITED STATES 1 (2008), available at http://www.epa .gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/fact7-08. pdf.
59. The EPA estimates that 33.4% of household waste is currently, being recycled. EPA, MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE GENERATION, RECYCLING, AND DISPOSAL IN THE UNITED STATES: FACTS AND FIGURES FOR 2007, at 1 (2008), available at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/ pubs/msw07-fs.pdf. Recycling rates vary from state to state however.
60. In Delaware, for instance, only about twelve percent of household waste is recycled. DEL. SOLID WASTE AUTH., ASSESSMENT OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL RECYCLING ACTIVITIES 16 (2006) available at http://www.dswa.com/pdfs/dsmreport.pdf.
61. Other States have set more aggressive goals for recycling, although not all are meeting those goals. E.g., RES. RECOVERY PROGRAM, STATE OF MINN., OVERVIEW: 2006 RECYCLING RECOVERY RATES OF METROPOLITAN STATE AGENCY OFFICES AND OPERATIONS (2007), available at http://www.rro.state.mn.us/2006%20recycle%20report .pdf (finding that state agencies had met the sixty percent recycling goal for state agencies in the Saint Paul and Minneapolis area set by MINN. STAT. § 115A.15(9) (2008));
62. EP'T OF ENVTL. QUALITY, STATE OF OR., 2007 OREGON MATERIAL RECOVERY AND WASTE GENERATION RATES REPORT 3 (2008), available at http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/pubs/docs/sw/ 2007MRWGRatesReport.pdf (describing failure to meet a statewide fifty percent material recovery goal set by OR. REV. STAT. §459.010 (2008)).
63. The U.S. population has grown by between nine and eighteen percent every decade from 1950 through the present. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, POPULATION AND HOUSING UNIT COUNTS: 2000 CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING 2 (2004), available at http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc3-us-pt1.pdf.
64. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 518.
65. STEPHEN M. JOHNSON, ECONOMICS, EQUITY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT 2 (2004) [hereinafter JOHNSON, ECONOMICS, EQUITY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT] (describing the trend from command-and-control regulation to market-based alternatives, such as pollution trading, taxes, subsidies, and information disclosure programs);
66. Stephen M. Johnson, Economics v. Equity: Do Market-Based Environmental Reforms Exacerbate Environmental Injustice?, 56 WASH. & LEE L. REV. 111, 112-19 (1999) [hereinafter Johnson, Economics v. Equity].
67. For reasons outlined in this section, in most cases, command-and-control regulation is not the optimal tool to require or encourage individuals to reduce environmentally harmful behavior. However, that does not mean that command-and-control regulation should play no role in influencing individual behavior. Professor Michael Vandenbergh suggests that command-and-control laws could play an important role in creating or influencing personal or social norms against environmentally harmful behavior. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 599-600.
68. In addition, he notes that command-and-control requirements have been successful in addressing some individual behavior when combined with information disclosure or economic incentives, as in jurisdictions that ban the disposal of household hazardous waste or motor oil. Id. at 599.
69. See PERCIVAL ET AL., supra note 12, at 129;
70. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 598.
71. See Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1105.
72. Id.;
73. see also Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 598-99.
74. See PERCIVAL ET AL., supra note 12, at 129;
75. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1105.
76. Michael P. Vandenbergh & Brooke A. Ackerly, Climate Change: The Equity Problem, 26 VA. ENVTL. L.J. 55, 56 (2008). At the same time, though, low-income communities are often disproportionately impacted by the pollution that such programs would be designed to prevent.
77. Johnson, Economics v. Equity, supra note 38, at 117 n.40 (describing studies that demonstrate disproportionate impacts in air pollution, siting of hazardous waste facilities, and enforcement of environmental laws);
78. see also INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, U.N., CLIMATE CHANGE 2007: SYNTHESIS REPORT 65 (2007), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4-syr.pdf ("[T]hose in the weakest economic position are often the most vulnerable to climate change.").
79. Similarly, while energy efficiency standards for appliances and more stringent building codes for homes and apartments could save money in the long term, they can impose initial costs that are outside the reach of low-income individuals. Vandenbergh & Ackerly, supra note 44, at 56.
80. Id. at 57.
81. See Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 601;
82. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1105.
83. See supra note 47.
84. See supra note 47.
85. See Vandenbergh & Ackerly, supra note 44, at 56.
86. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 601-02.
87. Id. at 604-05;
88. see also Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1105.
89. See Vandenbergh & Ackerly, supra note 44, at 55-56.
90. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 606;
91. see also John C. Dernbach, Harnessing Individual Behavior to Address Climate Change: Options for Congress, 26 VA. ENVTL. L.J. 107, 152-53 (2008).
92. Vandenbergh & Ackerly, supra note 44, at 65-68.
93. Id. at 67-69.
94. Id. at 69-70.
95. Professors Vandenbergh and Ackerly believe that individuals will be motivated by personal norms to purchase equity offsets that provide benefits to low-income individuals. They posit that [t]he individual-to-individual offset scheme may enable individuals who are aware of their disproportionately high consumption patterns to act in a way that is consistent with their concern for the socioeconomic inequality that enables them to have a disproportionate impact on the environment in the first place. Both the more conservative norm of altruism for the poor and the more liberal norm of concern about the injustice of socioeconomic differences may be activated by these offset schemes. Id. at 72.
96. Id. at 73-75. While Professors Vandenbergh and Ackerly suggest that only non-low-income individuals should be allowed to create offsets to participate in a national cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases, Professor John Dernbach proposes a program where any individual who reduces their greenhouse gas emissions could create and market pollution rights in a national cap-and-trade program.
97. Dernbach, supra note 54, at 154.
98. Vandenbergh & Ackerly, supra note 44, at 64. It is often necessary to couple taxes with subsidies to provide the funding for subsidies. For instance, Professor Dernbach proposes a small increase in the federal gasoline tax or a comparable energy or carbon tax to fund subsidies for activities by individuals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
99. Dernbach, supra note 54, at 153. Political and public opposition to taxes, though, limits the extent to which they can function as a viable funding source for subsidies.
100. Andrew Green, You Can't Pay Them Enough: Subsidies, Environmental Law, and Social Norms, 30 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 407, 436 (2006).
101. Id. at 408.
102. Id.
103. Id.
104. See JOHNSON, ECONOMICS, EQUITY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, supra note 38, at 187;
105. Dennis D. Hirsch, Second Generation Policy and the New Economy, 29 CAP. U. L. REV. 1 (2001);
106. Bradley C. Karkkainen, Information as Environmental Regulation: TRI and Performance Benchmarking, Precursor to a New Paradigm?, 89 GEO. L.J. 257 (2001);
107. Peter S. Menell, Structuring a Market-Oriented Federal Eco-Information Policy, 54 MD. L. REV. 1435 (1995);
108. William F. Pedersen, Regulation and Information Disclosure: Parallel Universes and Beyond, 25 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 151 (2001);
109. Richard B. Stewart, A New Generation of Environmental Regulation, 29 CAP. U. L. REV. 21 (2001).
110. Pub. L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613, 1728-58 (1986) (codified as amended 42 U.S.C. §§ 11001-11050 (2006)). The law requires companies that produce, store, or use certain substances to file annual pollution discharge reports and requires the EPA to make mose reports accessible to the public in an Internet database. 42 U.S.C. § 11023;
111. see also EPA, Tri Explorer, http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/ (last visited May 5, 2009).
112. The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act require facilities that produce, process, handle, or store hazardous substances covered by the act to prepare risk management plans that assess the potential effects of an accidental release of the substances. 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(1) (2006). Those plans are accessible to the public. See 40 C.F.R. § 68.165 (2007).
113. In 1996, Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act to require drinking water suppliers to notify consumers within twenty-four hours of certain violations of the law and to send consumers an annual "consumer confidence report" that describes the source and quality of their drinking water, the health and environmental effects of contaminants in their drinking water, and the compliance history of the drinking water supplier. Safe Drinking Water Amendments of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-182, sec. 114, § 300g-3(c), 110 Stat. 1613, 1636-41. The law also requires the EPA to establish a national database to track the occurrence of contaminants in drinking water. 42 U.S.C. § 300j-4(g) (2006);
114. see also EPA, National Contamination Occurrence Database, http://epa.gov/safewater/databases/ncod/index.html (last visited May 5, 2009).
115. In 2000, Congress enacted the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act, which amended the Clean Water Act to require states to provide notice to the public when beaches are unsafe for swimming, surfing, or other recreational activities. Pub. L. No. 106-284, secs. 4, 7, §§ 1346, 1375a, 114 Stat. 870, 872-76 (2000).
116. E.g., CAL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE §§ 25249.5-. 13 (West 2006) (requiring labeling of products containing carcinogenic substances or reproductive toxicants);
117. AL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE §§ 44300-44394 (West 2006) (outlining California's Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Information and Assessment Act);
118. ASS. ANN. LAWS ch. 211, §§ 1-23 (LexisNexis 2007) (outlining Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act);
119. N.J. STAT. ANN. § 34:5A (West 2000 & Supp. 2008) (outlining New Jersey's Worker and Community Right to Know Act);
120. Pollution in Your Community, Scorecard, http://www.scorecard.org (last visited May 5, 2009);
121. Right-to-Know Network, http://www.rtknet.org (last visited May 5, 2009).
122. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 609-12;
123. see also Dernbach, supra note 54, at 123-24.
124. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 609-10.
125. Id. at 610-12. Persuasive information could range from simple brochures to elaborate public information campaigns.
126. Id. Industries frequently objected when the EPA attempted to transform the descriptive information provided under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, or other information disclosure laws, into persuasive information by integrating information about the risks created by releases of pollutants, violations of environmental standards, or the presence of chemicals in products.
127. Johnson, Economics v. Equity, supra note 38, at 153-54 n.244 (describing the EPA's efforts to integrate risk information into their databases and industry reaction to those efforts). However, industries objected in those cases because the disclosure of the information would likely motivate individuals to encourage the businesses to change their environmentally harmful practices. It is less likely that businesses will object to government efforts to persuade individuals to alter their environmentally harmful practices, except to the extent that those practices include purchasing environmentally harmful products created by those businesses.
128. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 610. Professor Vandenbergh notes, though, that skeptics may argue that agencies are abdicating their appropriate role as regulators when they attempt to influence individual behavior through education rather than regulation.
129. Id. at 612.
130. Id. at 613-14.
131. ELLICKSON, supra note 5, at 1-11.
132. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1101-02;
133. see also Cass R. Sunstein, Social Norms and Social Roles, 96 COLUM. L. REV. 903, 914 (1996).
134. ELLICKSON, supra note 5, at 123-36.
135. Sunstein, supra note 76, at 909-10. Professors Vandenbergh and Steinemann note, for instance, that "one might avoid a behavior with an immediate positive monetary payoff that violates a social norm out of concern that social sanctioning will lead to future monetary costs or lost social opportunities."
136. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1706.
137. Sunstein, supra note 76, at 908. Sunstein argued that governments could act as "norm entrepreneurs" to change social norms and thereby influence individual action.
138. Id. at 909.
139. See Dernbach, supra note 54, at 119-25;
140. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1105.
141. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1706;
142. see also Green, supra note 60, at 418-19 (describing the reasons why individuals often act in ways that would not be predicted by a narrow version of rational choice theory).
143. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1112-14.
144. Id. at 1106-12;
145. see also Green, supra note 60, at 411, 422-23 (discussing externally conferred norms versus internalized norms). Professor Ann Carlson's review of the success or failure of recycling programs also illustrated the limited role that social norms can play in negative payoff, loose-knit group situations, although she calls them "large-number, small-payoff collective action problems."
146. Ann E. Carlson, Recycling Norms, 89 CAL. L. REV. 1231, 1233-34 (2001). She concluded that "people are inclined to resolve collective action problems, but they only do so on a sustained basis if they have face-to-face contact with other potential cooperators."
147. Id. at 1245.
148. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1114.
149. Id. at 1114-15.
150. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1678. Vandenbergh and Steinemann describe their carbon-neutrality norm as "a perceived obligation to achieve zero net carbon emissions through a combination of reductions in carbon emissions and purchases of carbon offsets."
151. Id. at 1717.
152. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1114-16.
153. Id. at 1116-22.
154. Id. at 1115-16;
155. see also Paul C. Stern et al., A Value-Belief-Norm Theory of Support for Social Movements: The Case of Environmentalism, 6 HUM. ECOLOGY REV. 81(1999).
156. Stern, supra note 89, at 83-85.
157. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1120-21.
158. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1696-97.
159. Id.;
160. see also Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1123.
161. See Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1122-23. Consequently, Vandenbergh and others argue that norm activation often needs to be coupled with financial incentives or other programs.
162. Professor Andrew Green suggests that "[u]sing information to attempt to 'activate' existing norms or even to 'de-bias' individuals does not seem particularly intrusive of autonomy. Purposeful norm or value management, however, seems more intrusive, inducing individuals to act on internalized norms without thought." Green, supra note 60, at 439.
163. Id. at 1107;
164. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1712. Professor Andrew Green also suggests that there is a widely held environmental-protection norm but that it is tied closely to preventing harm to the environment that harms human health and welfare, and it may not influence individuals to avoid actions that harm the environment when those actions do not harm human health or welfare.
165. Green, supra note 60, at 414-15.
166. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1678, 1712.
167. Id. at 1715-16. Just as Professor Green noted with regard to the environmental-protection norm, the personal-responsibility norm is limited in the extent to which it can influence individuals to change environmentally harmful behavior because it focuses on avoiding harm to others. It would not motivate individuals to change behaviors that harm the environment where the harm to the environment cannot be shown to harm other persons.
168. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1107, 1117. Vandenbergh notes, though, that once individuals believe that others are not reciprocating, they will stop cooperating.
169. Id. at 1118.
170. Id.;
171. see also Dernbach, supra note 54, at 125.
172. Dernbach, supra note 54, at 125.
173. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1124.
174. Id. at 1124, 1127.
175. Id. at 1124.
176. Id. at 1106-07, 1124. The reciprocity norm is activated by information that demonstrates that each individual is responsible for a meaningful share of environmental problems as compared to other individuals and industrial sources and that changes in the individual's actions, in addition to changes by other individuals and industrial sources, are necessary to reduce or eliminate the environmental problem.
177. Id. at 1125. Vandenbergh suggests that individuals greatly underestimate the extent to which they contribute to environmental problems relative to industrial sources and the extent to which changes in individual behavior can reduce or eliminate those problems.
178. Id. at 1131-32.
179. Id. at 1148-51.
180. Id. at 1151-53.
181. Id. at 1108.
182. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1728.
183. Id. at 1730-31.
184. Id.
185. In addition to his ITRI and ICRI proposals, Vandenbergh discusses several programs where information disclosure has been successfully used to activate norms and to encourage individuals to recycle, reduce their personal car use, and take various actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
186. Id. at 1710-11.
187. Dernbach, supra note 54, at 144, 147-50 (proposing that greenhouse gas legislation should include requirements for detailed information disclosure regarding the health and environmental effects of climate change and ways to reduce energy use);
188. see also Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1731-33. Vandenbergh notes that disclosure of additional information facilitates activation of additional norms. For instance, while disclosure of information regarding the extent to which individual activities cause environmental problems might activate an environmental-protection norm, the information might not activate a personal-responsibility norm. However, if the government also discloses information to demonstrate the extent to which those individual activities harm the health and welfare of other persons, the information disclosure could activate a personal-responsibility norm.
189. Id. at 1732-33.
190. Carlson, supra note 83, at 1236, 1295-96.
191. E.g., EPA, STATUS REPORT ON THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LABELS WORLDWIDE 30-31 (1993);
192. see also James Salzman, Informing the Green Consumer: The Debate Over the Use and Abuse of Environmental Labels, 1 J. INDUS. ECOLOGY 11, 13 (1997).
193. Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1133, 1137-38.
194. Id. at 1108.
195. Id. at 1136.
196. Vandenbergh & Steinemann, supra note 23, at 1737-38.
197. Id.
198. Vandenbergh, supra note 12, at 522.
199. 44 U.S.C. § 3516 (2006).
200. Information Quality Act, Pub. L. No. 106-554, § 515, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-153 to -154 (2000) (codified as amended 44 U.S.C. § 3516).
201. Id. § 515(a).
202. Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, 67 Fed. Reg. 8452, 8460 (Feb. 22, 2002). OMB's guidelines define dissemination to include agency-initiated and agency-sponsored information. Agency-initiated information includes information that the agency prepared as well as information prepared by an outside party that the agency distributes "in a manner that reasonably suggests that the agency agrees with the information."
203. Id. at 8454. Agency-sponsored information includes "situations where an agency has directed a third-party to disseminate information, or where the agency has the authority to review and approve the information before release."
204. Id.
205. Information Quality Act, § 515(a)-(b), 114 Stat. at 2763A-153 to -154.
206. Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, 67 Fed. Reg. at 8459.
207. Id. at 8460.
208. 42 U.S.C. § 300g-1(b)(3)(A)(i) (2006).
209. See., e.g., Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. § 655(b)(5) (2006);
210. Clean Water Act § 304, 33 U.S.C. § 1314(a)(1) (2006);
211. Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7408(a)(2) (2006).
212. Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review, 70 Fed. Reg. 2664-02 (Jan. 14, 2005).
213. See Stephen M. Johnson, Junking the "Junk Science" Law: Reforming the Information Quality Act, 58 ADMIN. L. REV. 37, 78-80 (2006).
214. See id.
215. Information Quality Act, Pub. L. No. 106-554, § 515(b), 114 Stat 2763, 2763A-154 (2000) (codified as amended 44 U.S.C. § 3516 (2006)).
216. Id.
217. Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, 67 Fed. Reg. 8452, 8459 (Feb. 22, 2002).
218. Johnson, supra note 132, at 65-66.
219. Id.
220. See In re Mo. River Litig., 363 F. Supp. 2d 1145, 1174-75 (D. Minn. 2004) (concluding that the "language of the IQA indicates that the Court may not review an agency's decision to deny a party's information quality complaint" and finding that a "guiding principle" behind the APA was to prevent judicial interference with agency decisions);
221. Salt Inst. v. Thompson, 345 F. Supp. 2d 589, 601-03 (E.D. Va. 2004).
222. Johnson, supra note 132, at 66-67.
223. Id. at 67.
224. Lisa A. Binder, Religion, Race, and Rights: A Rhetorical Overview of Environmental Justice Disputes, 6 WIS. ENVTL. L.J. 1, 13 (1999) (exploring the role that religion and religious organizations play in hazardous facility siting disputes and the similar role that religion and religious organizations played in the civil rights movement). Binder explains that [t]he rhetoric used by people debating the environmental justice issues implicated by the siting of facilities in their communities thus reveals how people think about environmental justice, not as an abstract theory but as a concept that may have real effects on their everyday lives and livelihoods. ... Siting opponents often view the issue in profoundly moral terms and adopt a passionate rhetoric rich with references to religion, racism, and substantive and procedural rights. ... Such rhetoric is prevalent throughout the movement, from individual debates at siting hearings, to media interviews of facility opponents, to the names of grassroots environmental justice groups such as Jesus People Against Pollution.
225. Id. at 3, 15.
226. Since the environmental justice movement derives from a marriage of the civil rights and environmental movements, it is not surprising that religion has played a pivotal role in both the environmental justice and civil rights movements. For a brief exploration of the roots of the environmental justice movement, see Clifford Rechtschaffen, Advancing Environmental Justice Norms, 31 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 95, 96 (2003).
227. Daryl Fisher-Ogden & Shelly Ross Saxer, World Religions and Clean Water Laws, 17 DUKE ENVTL. L. & POL'Y F. 63 (2006). Fisher-Ogden and Saxer argue that "the environmental movement today continues to draw much of its strength from a religious inspiration. . . . Perhaps if our environmental laws could be designed and implemented with a greater acceptance of religious values in the public debate, they might be less susceptible to constant challenge."
228. Id. at 66, 71 (internal quotation omitted).
229. See Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, 67 Fed. Reg. 8452, 8454 (Feb. 22, 2002) (explaining that since agencies neither "initiate" the information disclosure by churches or religious organizations nor "sponsor" it, the information provided by churches and religious organizations to their members is not "disseminated" by agencies, so it is not governed by the Information Quality Act).
230. See Shalom H. Schwartz, Are There Universal Aspects in the Structure and Contents of Human Values?, 50 J. SOC. ISSUES 19, 27-31 (2004) (stating that social justice is one of the fifty-six "universal values" identified by psychologist Shalom Schwartz based on surveys of more than twenty-five thousand people in forty-four countries). Although Schwartz did not identify "stewardship" as a universal value, it seems closely related to two other values that he identified: unity with nature and protecting the environment.
231. See id.
232. See Vandenbergh, supra note 6, at 1120-22.
233. Vandenbergh & Ackerly, supra note 44, at 60-64.
234. Pope John Paul II, Common Declaration of Environmental Ethics, L'OSSERV ATORE ROMANO, June 10, 2002, available at http://www.vatican.va/holy-father/john-paul-ii/speeches/2002/june/ documents/hf-jp-ii-spe-20020610-venice-declaration-en.html.
235. Id.
236. Id.
237. Tracy Wilkinson, Thou Shalt Honor Thy Mother Earth: Vatican Tells Catholics that Pollution Is a Modern-Day Sin Requiring Urgent Attention, L.A. TIMES, Mar. 14, 2008, at A7.
238. Id.
239. U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS, RENEWING THE EARTH: AN INVITATION TO REFLECTION AND ACTION ON ENVIRONMENT IN LIGHT OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING 2, 3, 13, 14 (1992), available at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/bishopsstatement.shtml.
240. U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS, GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: A PLEA FOR DIALOGUE, PRUDENCE, AND THE COMMON GOOD 1-3, 8, 14 (2001) (citation omitted), available at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ international/globalclimate.shtml. For additional discussion regarding Catholic theology and social teaching on the environment, see Robert W. Lannan, Catholic Tradition, and the New Catholic Theology and Social Teaching on the Environment, 39 CATH. LAW. 353 (2000).
241. National Association of Evangelicals, Current NAE Members, http://www.nae.net/index.cfm?FUSEACTION=nae.members (last visited May 5, 2009).
242. NAT'L ASSOC. OF EVANGELICALS, FOR THE HEALTH OF THE NATION: AN EVANGELICAL CALL TO CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY (2004) (citation omitted), http://www.nae.net/images/civic-responsibility2.pdf.
243. Id. at 11.
244. Id. at 8, 12.
245. Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, A Jewish Response to the Environmental Crisis, http://www.coejl.org/about/founding.php (last visited May 5, 2009) [hereinafter COEJL, A Jewish Response]. The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life was established in 1993 by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, About COEJL, http://www.coejl.org/-coejlor/about (last visited May 5, 2009).
246. COEJL, A Jewish Response, supra note 159.
247. National Council of Churches of Christ, Faith Principles on Global Warming, http://www.nccecojustice.org/climateprinciples.html (last visited May 5, 2009).
248. Id.
249. See Fisher-Ogden & Saxer, supra note 143, at 84-96.
250. Southern Baptist Convention, Resolution on Global Warming, June 2007, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1171 (last visited May 5, 2009).
251. Id.
252. Id. There is, however, a sharp division within the evangelical community regarding climate change.
253. See EVANGELICAL CLIMATE INITIATIVE, CLIMATE CHANGE: AN EVANGELICAL CALL TO ACTION (2006), available at http://pub. christiansandclimate.org/pub/statement-booklet.pdf. The authors of that report concluded that "Christian moral convictions demand our response to the climate change problem."
254. Id. at 7. Further, the report stated that the "[t]he need to act now is urgent. Governments, businesses, churches, and individuals all have a role to play in addressing climate change-starting now."
255. Id. at 8.
256. Southern Baptist Convention, Resolution on Global Warming, June 2006, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1159 (last visited May 5, 2009).
257. Id. (emphasis added).
258. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Climate Change Justice and Health Initiative, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/climate/index.shtml (last visited May 5, 2009).
259. Id. (select "What We Can Do"; follow "Personal Reflection," "Take Action in My State," "Take Action Nationally," or "Take Action Globally" hyperlinks).
260. U.S. Conference, of Catholic Bishops, What Catholics Are Doing, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/climate/wcd.shtml (last visited May 5, 2009).
261. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, supra note 169 (select "Prayer Resources"; follow "Special Occasions Prayers," "Homily Suggestions," or "Bulletin Quotes and Clip Art" hyperlinks).
262. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Making a CASE for Children's Health, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/case/index.shtml (last visited May 5, 2009).
263. Id. More generally, the Environmental Justice Program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a website that includes educational materials, information about regional environmental projects of parishes and dioceses, models for local environmental programs, and information about grants that are available from the Conference for environmental projects. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Justice, Peace and Human Development: Useful Resources for Dioceses and Parishes, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/resources/ index.shtml (last visited May 5, 2009).
264. Wilkinson, supra note 151.
265. The National Council of Churches of Christ is an organization that includes fortyfive million people in more than one hundred thousand congregations from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American, and Living Peace churches. National Council of Churches of Christ, About the National Council of Churches, http://www.ncccusa.org/about/about-ncc. htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
266. National Council of Churches of Christ, Campaigns and Initiatives, http://www.nccecojustice.org/campaigns.html (last visited May 5, 2009).
267. Id.
268. National Council of Churches of Christ, Adamah Congregations, http://www.nccecojustice.org/adamah.htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
269. National Council of Churches of Christ, Faithful Harvest Campaign, http://www.nccecojustice.org/faithharvesthome.html (last visited May 5, 2009).
270. National Council of Churches of Christ, Chesapeake Covenant Congregations, http://www.nccecojustice.org/cheshome.htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
271. See Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, Four-Part Climate Change Campaign, http://www.coejl.org/-coejlor/climatechange/cc-4part. php (last visited May 5, 2009).
272. Id.
273. National Religious Partnership for the Environment, What Is the Partnership?, http://www.nrpe.org/whatisthepartnership/partners-intro01.htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
274. National Religious Partnership for the Environment, How Can I Become Involved?, http://www.nrpe.org/howcani/index.html (last visited May 5, 2009). The Partnership's website provides resources for individuals and families, educators, and congregations. See id.
275. Eviana Hartman, The Faithfully Green Try a 'Carbon-Fast'for Lent, WASH. POST, Feb. 24, 2008, at N04.
276. Tearfund, Carbon Fast, http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/Website/Churches/ Carbon%20Fast.pdf (last visited May 5, 2009).
277. See generally Tearfund, Campaigning: Carbon Fast, http://www.tearfund.org/Campaigning/Carbon+Fast.htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
278. The Regeneration Project, About Us, http://www.theregenerationproject. org/About.htm (last visited May 5, 2009).
279. Id.
280. Id.
281. See EPA, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT POLICY 15, 16 (2003), available at http://www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement/policy2003/ finalpolicy.pdf.
282. It is possible that the Public Involvement Policy might apply directly to information campaigns designed by the EPA, since the policy applies to the development of "significant information produces]," which are defined as products that use "national or regional data to describe environmental conditions, trends, and/or the performance of companies, facilities, and communities."
283. Id. at 31. Even if the policy does not apply on its face to agency information campaigns, the policy states that "the agency should approach all decision making with a bias in favor of significant and meaningful public involvement" and "this policy can serve as a model for building public involvement into new programs as they are developed."
284. Id. at 9, 10. Partnering with churches and religious organizations on information campaigns is consistent with that goal.
285. See Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, 67 Fed. Reg. 8452, 8454 (Feb. 22, 2002) (explaining that information that an agency prepares is "disseminated" and governed by the IQA even though it may be distributed through a third party because it is "agency-initiated" information).
286. While agencies could take advantage of the expertise of churches and religious organizations by working with them to develop an informational campaign, that might raise some First Amendment concerns regarding "excessive entanglement" between church and state. See Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 602 (1971).
287. The federal government has expanded direct funding of religious organizations for secular programs over the past decade through President George W. Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative. See Exec. Order No. 13,279, 67 Fed. Reg. 17,141 (Dec. 12, 2002) (requiring equal protection for faith-based and community organizations);
288. Exec. Order No. 13,199, 66 Fed. Reg: 8499 (Jan. 29, 2001) (creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives);
289. Exec. Order No. 13,198, 66 Fed. Reg. 8497 (Jan. 29, 2001) (creating five centers for faith-based and community initiatives).
290. The EPA's Public Involvement Policy urges EPA staff to budget for public involvement activities and to consider providing technical or financial assistance to the public to facilitate public involvement. EPA, supra note 192, at 6. While the information campaigns of religious organizations may motivate individuals to reduce their environmentally harmful activities, they can also motivate individuals to take civic action to spur government to address environmental problems. To that extent, providing funding for such information campaigns is consistent with the goal of the EPA's public involvement policy to improve public involvement in agency decision making.
291. See Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, 67 Fed. Reg. at 8454. OMB's guidelines define dissemination to include agency-initiated and agency-sponsored information. Agency-sponsored information includes "situations where an agency has directed a third-party to disseminate information, or where the agency has authority to review and approve the information before release."
292. Id. While the guidelines might be read to require application of the IQA when agencies provide funding for information campaigns of religious organizations, there is a strong counterargument that the law should not apply because the agency is not "directing" the organization to disseminate the information and the agency may not have authority to review or approve the information before it is disseminated.
293. See Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819 (1995) (upholding funding of a religiously oriented student publication by a state university since aid was available to all bona fide student groups). Even if the funding were made available to nonreligious organizations, though, it might be impermissible for religious organizations to use the funding for purely religious, as opposed to secular, purposes, such as the preparation and distribution of prayer resources regarding environmental issues.
294. See Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U.S. 793, 840-41 (2000) (O'Connor, J., concurring) ("[W]e have long been concerned that secular government aid not be diverted to the advancement of religion.").