Wilson 21ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Who Governs?Why have

environmental issues become so important in American politics and policy-making?

Does the public get the environmental laws it wants?

To What Ends?If we wish to have

cleaner air and water, how far should we go in making them cleaner when the cost of each additional gain goes up?

What is the best way for the government to achieve an environmental goal: by issuing orders or offering incentives?

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

Policies create winners and losersEnmeshed in scientific uncertaintyMobilizes decision-makers with strong, emotional

appealsPolicies affect states and other nations

Majoritarian appeal Entrepreneurial pressure Client benefits Interest group fights

CONTROVERSY

Policy is much more adversarial than it is in most European nations Conflicts, lawsuits, antagonistic – US Business and politics work together, flexible – GB

Local politics plays larger roleDependent on states to enforce rules

“science” plays larger role elsewhere

AMERICAN CONTEXT

Global Warming Earth Day, 4/22/1970 Public ground swell

Cuyahoga River EPA Clean Air Act Water Quality Improvement Act

Endangered Species Act Modern arguments

Conflicts between elites over ideologies

ENTREPRENEURIAL

Pollution Started as entrepreneurial Became majoritarian when localities had to meet air

quality standards Local rules Smog control Export competition

More targeted since the 1990s NEPA – environmental impact studies, low cost Gas tax – public push back when costs too high

MAJORITARIAN

Acid Rain High sulfur, coal burning power plants Natural resources and tourism

2 powerful lobbies Scientific uncertainty

Scrubbers added to smokestacks Carbon tax and offset market

Political stalemates More groups Less fervent than entrepreneurial Less deep than majoritarian

INTEREST GROUP

Pesticides Organized farmers

Balance costs and benefits Too many to test them all

DDT as example of winning entrepreneurial public campaign

EPA challenges Affects not clear cut Public opinion changes Strategies to reach goals

Command-and-control Offering incentives

CLIENT POLITICS

What is the problem?What are the goals?How do we achieve our goals?

Offsets – close a polluting factory to open another Bubble Standard – meeting total pollution goals Allowances or Banks – saving or selling credits

Superfund example and shift away from rules Tax and sue toxic waste dumpers Who is responsible Expensive clean-up Expansion of sites and standards

UNCERTAIN SOLUTIONS

High support for environmentGeneral agreement over degenerationDisagreement over problems and solutions

Considerable improvements in air qualitySome improvements in water qualityLittle gains in hazardous waste and pesticide use

RESULTS