Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Environmental Law Reporter
Publication Date
11-2005
ISSN
0046-2284
Page Number
10723
Keywords
dioxin emissions, ozone, air toxins, pollution, environmental behavior
Disciplines
Environmental Law | Law
Abstract
Individuals are the largest source ofdioxin emissions, contribute almost one-third ofall ozone precursor emissions, and are afar larger source of several other air toxics than all large industrial sources combined. Thus, after more than 30 years ofregulation largely directed at industry, individual behavior has emerged as a leading source ofpollution. Prof Michael P. Vandenbergh argues that treating individual behavior as a discrete source of pollution can lead to the development of viable, innovative regulatory instruments that have the prospect of achieving pollution reductions at a relatively low cost. The creation ofan individual toxic release inventory, for example, is one such tool. Drawing on the work of norms scholars and leading social psychologists, Professor Vandenbergh argues that environmental norm activation theory can identify the information that is most likely to induce changes in environmental behavior and can help policymakers develop new tools for inducing such change.
Recommended Citation
Michael P. Vandenbergh,
The Individual as Polluter, 35 Environmental Law Reporter. 10723
(2005)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1518