U.S. Environmental Policy

The first edition of Public Policies for Environmental Protection contributed significantly to the incorporation of economic analysis in the study of environmental policy. Fully revised to account for changes in the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework of environmental policy, the second edition includes extensively updated chapters on federal regulation, air and water pollution policy, and hazardous and toxic substances. It includes coverage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and entirely new chapters on market-based environmental policies, global climate change, and the reduction and handling of solid waste. Portney, Stavins, and their contributors provide an invaluable resource for researchers, policymakers, industry professionals, and journalistsàanyone who needs up-to-date information on U.S. environmental policy. With their generous supply of background information, and careful explanation of policy alternatives, the authors provide an ideal book for students in courses about environmental economics or environmental politics. Praise for the first edition: "An admirably balanced, succinct analysis of the economic rationale, history, and performance of major federal pollution legislation--should be considered a standard reference work and essential reading for scholars, policy specialists, and lay readers--a superior book." --Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy"Perhaps the best available summary and assessment of the main EPA regulatory programs: It is an excellent book for teaching purposes as well as for a wide range of readers interested in understanding these programs." --American Scientist

What are the challenges facing public interest groups as a result of their transformation from the small, grassroots groups of the 1960s into the large, professionalized, multi-billion dollar industry of the '90s? How might public interest groups meet these challenges as they move into the next century? Focusing on national environmental organizations, including Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, and Environmental Defense Fund, Voices and Echoes for the Environment demonstrates how the demands of organizational maintenance encroach on the goal of effective policy influence.

This book is a practical reference and guide to compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The author presents a comprehensive legal analysis of the statute itself, its implementing regulations, and the hundreds of interpretive judicial decisions, drawing them together in a clear, organized and readable format. The volume also includes an analysis of issues frequently raised in NEPA litigation, a review of every aspect of NEPA law developed during the years since its enactment, and a comparison of key state statutes with NEPA.

With contributions by experts in economics, geography, marketing, agriculture, business, international affairs, and more, this book addresses the extent and gravity of the current environmental situation. From toxic industrial and medical waste to acid rain and radioactive waste, from the Alaskan oil spill to the continuing destruction of the rain forests, McKee's focus is on economic welfare. He points out that public and private issues regarding environmental problems have been limited to crisis response. The contributions he has chosen for this volume clarify key issues for formulating policy options toward long-range economic welfare.

A comprehensive survey of environmental crisis, as it has been understood during the last four decades, this book recounts the growing number of ecological and social problems critical for the environment and the impact that growing experience and understanding of them has had on American politics, society and culture.

In an increasingly interdependent world, marked by growing numbers of non-governmental organizations and international institutions, American Foreign Environmental Policy presents a powerful argument for the continued relevance of the state to our understanding of international relations. Drawing on detailed primary research, the author examines the key role central state officials have played in formulating American foreign environmental policy, and concludes that claims for the diminishing domestic-international divide, and the erosion of state sovereignty are overstated. Nonetheless, in arguing forcefully that the focus for explanation should lie with politics inside the institutions of state, Hopgood rejects Realist, Pluralist, and Marxist accounts of foreign-policy making. His state-centric focus allows for domestic and international factors to play a role at the same time as stressing that, in foreign environmental politics at least, the state remains the dominant policy-making institution. This pathbreaking study represents a major contribution to International Relations theory, whilst at the same time, offering a wealth of fascinating, original, empirical research which will be of interest to all those working in the field of environmental studies.

The rise of social regulation and the advent of public interest movements during the 1960s and 1970s led to a significant change in policy outcomes as the influence of governmental actors and political activists increased at the expense of business. Recently, this policy system has come under harsh attack as a result of changing economic conditions, extensive lobbying by business, and the election of presidents openly hostile to the American regulatory state. By focusing on two specific areas, pesticide regulation and air pollution control, this study describes and explains policy changes by examining recent controversies in the context of empirical political theory.

This study examines the administrative tools and techniques that U.S. presidents have used to influence environmental policy and legislation through the years. A major portion of the book assesses current techniques and recent administrations, particularly Reagan, Carter, and Bush strategies. This unique study of the flow of information, gathering of data, executive orders, risk assessment and how they affect agency action and legislation outlines the powers, limitations, and administrative procedures of the presidency.

In Managing the Environmental Crisis William R. Mangun and Daniel H. Henning provide a balanced and comprehensive guide to the management of complex environmental and natural resource policy issues. Taking into account new developments, trends, and issues that have arisen in recent years, the authors begin with the recognition, often overlooked, that it is not the environment that needs to be managed but human action relating to the environment.

The authors review issues associated with a range of environmental policy concerns, including energy considerations, renewable and nonrenewable resource management, pollution control, wilderness management, and urban and regional policy. The history of these issues, recent actions pertaining to their management, difficulties associated with their continued presence, and the consequences of a failure to address these concerns are explored. Though focused on specific political issues, Mangun and Henning direct their attention to two large-scale trends -- globalization and the political polarization of the environmental movement. At the level of the decision-making process, the incorporation of values -- specifically addressed from multicultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives -- is also discussed. International in scope, the book provides descriptions of the roles of both governmental and nongovernmental organizations in the formulations and implementation of national and global environmental policy.

This thoroughly revised second edition discusses various successes in the arenas of environmental cooperation and management strategy while pointing to the new challenges that have emerged in the last decade.