Environmental Issues

A plan is a purposeful, forward looking scheme or design, often with coordinated priorities, options and measures that elaborates and implements policy (Stabile, Donald R. 1986, 45(1) 43-44). Planning involves setting goals or targets, refining policies, setting minimum standards, allocating resources and providing funds for measures to achieve the stated aims and objectives. Environmental planning are activities with the objective of preserving or enhancing environmental values or resources.
       
The emergence of global and national environmental degradation of an unprecedented scale has triggered a belief that past planning approaches were too narrow and shortsighted. Complex intertwining of economic factors, natural resources, and environment protection is no longer adequately handled by traditional planning techniques. Development planners and decision makers are now expected to integrate social, economic, and environmental factors at all levels of planning.  Planning alone, no matter how integrated, will not be sufficient for sustainable development to emerge. The fruits of integrated economic and environmental planning are only likely to be enjoyed in a social, cultural, and political milieu that is fully supportive.
         
Economic, social and environmental factors must be thoroughly integrated at all levels of society, to avoid the unintended consequences of unilateral development in any one factor and to contribute to sustainable development (Ortolano, L. 1984, 13-18). Excessive emphasis on economic development tends to lead to major pollution problems, which tend to have greatest impact on poor communities. Excessive attention to nature conservation at the expense of economic development would not generate enough national income to protect natural ecosystems. Environmental planning is a field of study that is concerned with a specified societys joint stewardship over its resources that ultimately includes those of the entire globe(Stabile, Donald R. 1986, 45(1) 43-44) . The aims of environmental planning are to put together the   Public sector public sector  Urban planning urban planning with the concerns of   Environmentalism environmentalism to guarantee   Sustainable development sustainable development, particularly of air, water, soil and rock resources. Environmental planners seeks to put into consideration the future social growth of society,   Economic development economic development, such as Transportation transportation,  Sanitation sanitation, and other services in legislator decisions, by targeting additional sustainable (social, ecological and equity) outcomes as important factors in the decision-making process.
   
The principal concerns among environmental planners includes the encouragement of Sustainable development sustainable development, equity,   Environmental justice environmental justice, Green building green building technologies, and the preservation of environmentally sensitive areas. An Integrated environmental planning assessments covers areas such as Land use land use,  Socio-economics socio-economics,  Transportation transportation,   Environmental economics economic and  H House housing characteristics,  Air pollution air pollution, Noise pollution noise pollution, the Wetlands wetlands, habitat of the  Endangered species endangered species, Flood zone (page does not exist) flood zones susceptibility,  Coastal zone (page does not exist) coastal zones Erosion erosion, and Visual study (page does not exist) visual studies among others. Environmental planners finds this assessment an important tool in planning their activities since it gives an objective view of the natural resources, the environment as a system, the scientific perception and the social scientific outlook.
     
Economic factors in environmental planning incorporate the increase in the amount of people in a nations population with sustained growth from a simple, low-income Economy economy to a modern, high-income economy (Maureen L. Cropper and Wallace E. 1992, 30(2). Its scope includes the process and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of people within its environment. Economic development embraces sociological explore on business organization and enterprise development from a historical and comparative perspective specific processes of the evolution (growth, transformation) of markets and management-employee relations and culturally related cross-national similarities and differences in patterns of industrial organization (Allen K. Kneese and Clifford S. Russell, 1987, 159-64)

Environmental social ethics is the part of Environmental philosophy environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of principles from solely including humans to including the non-human world (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). There are many social-ethical planning and decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. For instance Should we carry on to Clear cut clear cut forests for the sake of human use Should we persist to construct Internal combustion engine gasoline powered vehicles What environmental obligations do we require to maintain for the future generations Is it correct for humans to deliberately cause the Extinction extinction of a species for their convenience Planning in relation to environmental ethics grew up in response to the work of scientists when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems.

Environmental degradation is strategic challenge confronting the glob today. Demand to showing corporate citizenship, the health, safety and security of both the people and the natural environment have become a litmus test for a good community. Successful organizations today are not only measured by how much profit they make but also how well they respond to the call to protect the natural environment.

Environmental planners should realize that the issues concerning the environment are not purely scientific but rely also on planning and management Paul Hawken (not yet started) Hawken, Paul. The environment should be part of everyones vision, mission, and strategy which need to be effectively planned to remain competitive. Environmental burden is an issue that affects world citizens and they have the right to demand that corporate responsibility be properly defined to take into consideration these concerns. For instance, for any project to be implemented in the United States of America, environmental planners contracts with a full range of environmental regulations for all levels, administered federally by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency.  A rigorous environmental process has to be undertaken to examine social, economic and environmental, impacts and their related possible mitigation of any construction project. Depending on the size and impact of the project, a broad environmental appraisal known as an Environmental Impact Statement Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is developed, and Environmental Assessment Environmental Assessment (EA) which is a less extensive version of the later is developed for a relatively small projects. Procedures follow guidelines from approved published regulations. Today, environmental planners should ensure that every individual is adapting strategies in response to these concerns. World communities should react by adopting international and national laws to ensure compliance to environmental standards. It should be clear that green products may in fact, provide competitive advantage (Ortolano, L. 1984).

Environmental impact assessment is, in its simplest form, a planning tool that is now generally regarded as an integral component of sound decision making. Environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making are crucial as required in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It enables environmental planners to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers. By using EIA both environmental and economic benefits can be achieved, such as reduced cost and time of project implementation and design, avoided treatmentclean-up costs and impacts of laws and regulations. As a planning tool, it has both an information gathering and decision making component which provides the decision maker with an objective basis for granting or denying approval for a proposed development. The purpose of the environmental assessment process  in planning are  to support the goals of environmental protection and sustainable development,  integrate environmental protection and economic decisions at the earliest stages of planning an activity,  predict environmental, social, economic, and cultural consequences of a proposed activity and to assess plans to mitigate any adverse impacts resulting from the proposed activity, and to provide for the involvement of the public, department of the Government and Government agencies in the review of the proposed activities.