ABSTRACT
Environmental planning covers a wide range of concerns having to do, generally, with minimizing the damage that human activity does to the natural environment. In general the approach to environmental problems has been piecemeal, one pollutant or one source of emissions or one land-use question at a time. Climate change is likely to be the overarching environmental problem, and the great majority if not virtually all other environmental problems will have to be addressed within its framework. Much of the attack on environmental problems must be made at the federal level, and indeed, the federal government has been very active in this area. The US commitment to environmental quality, as indicated by pollution-control expenditures, has grown substantially since the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). One program initiated under President Clinton that is familiar to millions of Americans is the Energy Star program, which promotes energy efficiency in refrigerators and other electric appliances.
