Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Does the EPA comply with the basic principles embodied in

The passage of Superfund into law on the eve of Ronald Reagan's election as president of the United States set in motion two diametrically opposed forces: a legislative mandate to commit billions of dollars to the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and a White House- interpreted mandate to get government off the backs of people.

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

In the first ever theoretical treatment of the environmental justice movement, David Schlosberg demonstrates the development of a new form of `critical' pluralism, in both theory and practice. Taking into account the evolution of environmentalism and pluralism over the course of the century, the author argues that the environmental justice movement and new pluralist theories now represent a considerable challenge to both conventional pluralist thought and the practices of the major groups in the US environmental movement. Much of recent political theory has been aimed at how to acknowledge and recognize, rather than deny, the diversity inherent in contemporary life. In practice, the myriad ways people define and experience the `environment' has given credence to a form of environmentalism that takes difference seriously. The environmental justice movement, with its base in diversity, its networked structure, and its communicative practices and demands, exemplifies the attempt to design political practices beyond those one would expect from a standard interest group in the conventional pluralist model.

Doyle, who has been a consultant to the President's Council on Environmental Quality, details how the U.S. auto industry--particularly the Detroit big three auto makers: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler--misled the American people and Congress about cars' harmful emissions. Illustrations.