animals. The equilibrium level of the population is generally referred to as "carrying 

 capacity." The densities of some species (r-adapted) appears to be related more to the 

 random variation in environmental factors than to long-term environmental 

 requirements, whereas others (K-adapted) may be regulated by well-developed 

 feedback mechanisms and have equilibrium population densities at or near the 

 carrying capacity. ^ There is evidence that, once transgressed (e.g., by overgrazing), 

 the carrying capacity of a particular region or ecosystem is reduced." 



Renewable and nonrenewable natural resources are currently exploited at rates 

 and managed in ways that threaten man's survival. ^''''^ America, from the earliest 

 days of exploration, has been proclaimed the land of endless resources. To the 

 pioneers, America was limitless — they wanted to make the most of labor, not the 

 land." The economic rationality of American democracy has led toward, among 

 other things, waste of natural resources and environmental degradation."'^^ The 

 history of the forests and the prairies, and the fate of the bison bespeak the limited 

 nature of this country's resources. ^'^ America has generally exploited resources of 

 neighboring countries in lieu of fully recognizing her own limits. s" 



Post-industrialist attitudes, which view the resource base as variable depending on 

 technology, have in many cases prevailed over neo-Malthusian attitudes, which view 

 it as fixed. Among assumptions commonly made in assessing the status of a resource 

 are; (1) that growth of both the human population and the economy of this country 

 will continue, and (2) that there is an acceptable technological solution to 

 environmental problems. These two notions result in continued action directed at 

 symptoms of our predicament rather than at the causes. As stated by Bormann: 



Globally, we are locked into a positive feedback situation involving five 

 principal factors that feed upon and reinforce each other: (1) All govern- 

 ments are committed to policies that emphasize maximal economic 

 growth; (2) growth policies are sustained by ever-increasing consumption. 

 This increase in consumption is brought about by: (3) rising populations of 

 human beings and (4) rising per capita consumption in some countries; 

 and, finally, (5) a rapidly growing technology is required to meet necessary 

 and imagined demands by commitment to policies that will sustain eco- 

 nomic growth.*' 



Events of the past decade, such as the oil crises of the 1970s and the views of earth 

 from the Apollo missions, have provided generally an enhanced sense of the 

 finiteness of this country's resources and of the error in other perceptions. An ever 

 increasing proportion of the population now admits that there is an environmental 

 crisis, that man is not in balance with the natural world, that there may be no 

 acceptable technological solution. ''^-^^ 



Legislation 



The stated purpose of NEPA is: 



To declare a National Policy that will encourage productive and enjoyable 

 harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will 

 prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimu- 

 late the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the 

 ecological system and natural resources important to the nation. . . . 



The decade of the 1970s, with commitment to environmental protection, bore witness 

 to legislation passed in the late 1960s and 1970s focused on controlling pollution 

 insults to air, water, and land. Quality criteria and standards and emissions standards 

 were established to limit releases into the environment (e.g.. Federal Water Pollution 

 Control Act, Water Quality Act, Clean Air Act). More recent legislation (e.g.. Toxic 



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