Environmental Politics: Interest Groups, the Media, and the Making of Policy

by Miller; Norman

• ISBN13: 9781566705523
• ISBN10: 1566705525
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-08-31
• Publisher: CRC Press

Summary

At every stage, environmental policy is the result of the combat of stakeholders interested in, and affected by, the problem being addressed and the range of possible solutions. The combatants include any or all of the following: the federal government, environmental advocacy groups, and business, the media, the scientific community, think tanks, NGOs of every stripe, trade associations and professional organizations, and even state and local governments, each of whom have their own interests in the resulting policy. Environmental Politics: Interest Groups, the Media, and the Making of Policy discusses political battles over the environment from ground level - as they are fought in legislative chambers, the daily newspaper, on television, and, increasingly, on the Internet. The text explores environmental politics as a clash of interests, not ideologies, and environmental policy as a result of the reconciliation of those interests. The author covers not only the conventional aspects of the policymaking process but more recent and less recognized elements and developments such as: Proliferation of legislative riders and monument designations as major environmental strategies Evolving role of the media, from science popularizer to agenda setter Growing influence on both Congress and the public of conservative and libertarian foundations and think tanks Devolution of environmental power from the Federal to state governments Metamorphosis of EPA in a business-driven regulatory revolution Effect of globalization on US environmental policy Newly emerging role of the precautionary principle in marrying science and politics Increasing role of the Internet in promoting populist issues and promoting the decentralization of the environmental power structure No other book covers the politics of the environment the way this one does. Written by an expert with 25 years of experience in environmental policymaking, Environmental Politics: Interest Groups, the Media, and the Making of Policy gives you an insider's view of how policies are forged. By examining these issues through an interest group lens, this book not only accounts for what policies have been adopted but also shows how you can influence policy and effect change.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
The Author	xvii
The Changing Landscape of Environmental Politics	1	(12)
Legislation: Leveling the Playing Field and Leveraging the Process	13	(18)
Environmental Regulation and the Reinvention of the EPA	31	(22)
The Media Business and Environmental Politics	53	(12)
Uncertain Science---Uncertain Politics	65	(16)
State and Local Governments: The ``Other'' Interest Groups	81	(10)
The Shifting Tides of Environmental Advocacy	91	(20)
The Greening of Business: Politics for Profits	111	(18)
Global Pressures and Domestic Environmental Politics	129	(8)
On-Line Activism and the New Environmental Politics	137	(16)
Bibliography	153	(10)
Index	163