Politics and the Environment : From Theory to Practice

by Connelly, James; Smith, Graham

• ISBN13: 9780415150682
• ISBN10: 041515068X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-03-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This comprehensive new textbook has been designed to cover all aspects of courses on politics and the environment and environmental ethics. Written by experienced teachers of the subject, it introduces students to the key concepts and issues surrounding environmental problems and political solutions. Its starting point is the complex background which inform environmental policies, such as moral beliefs and attitudes towards the environment. It then investigates the people, movements, and organizations that form and implement these policies and explores the impediments to the successful implementation and adoption of environmental policies.Features and benefits of Politics and the Environment :* Comprehensive coverage: chapters on environmental philosophy and ideology, environmental movements, collective action, environment and economics, international dimensions, European integration, and national and local responses.* International case studies: each chapter includes useful sections exploring real life examples of pressing environmental problems such as animal rights, anti-road movements, air pollution, global warming, and many more.* Further reading: bibliographies including key texts are provided at the end of each chapter.

Table of Contents

List of tables	ix
Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	1	(1)
Why environmental politics?	1	(1)
Sustainable development	2	(2)
The structure of the book	4	(1)
PART I Environmental thought and political action	5	(98)
Environmental philosophy	7	(32)
Reasoning about nature and the environment	7	(3)
Three moral traditions and the environment	10	(8)
The nature of value and the value of nature	18	(4)
Duties to the human world	22	(9)
Conclusion	31	(1)
Case study: Animal rights	32	(6)
Suggestions for further reading	38	(1)
Green ideology	39	(29)
Politics, ethics and The Limits to Growth	40	(3)
Green thought and Western political traditions	43	(13)
Sustainable development, democracy and the environment	56	(6)
Conclusion	62	(1)
Case study: Aspects of a green political programme	62	(5)
Suggestions for further reading	67	(1)
The environmental movement	68	(35)
Party politics	70	(5)
Environmental pressure groups	75	(11)
Transforming everyday life: from green consumerism to green communes	86	(6)
Conclusion	92	(1)
Case study: Twyford Down and the formation of an anti--roads movement	93	(8)
Suggestions for further reading	101	(2)
PART II The background to environmental policy	103	(78)
Collective action, power and decision making	105	(25)
Collective action problems	106	(6)
Power	112	(5)
Taking precautions: anticipation and reaction in environmental policy	117	(5)
Conclusion	122	(2)
Case study: Air pollution in the United States	124	(5)
Suggestions for further reading	129	(1)
Valuation of the environment	130	(28)
Economic valuation of environmental interventions	131	(13)
Environmental impact assessment	144	(3)
Measuring sustainable development	147	(5)
Conclusion	152	(1)
Case Study: Weak and strong sustainability	153	(4)
Suggestions for further reading	157	(1)
Choosing the means	158	(23)
Voluntary means	158	(1)
Regulations and enforcement	159	(3)
Economic instruments	162	(9)
Regulation or market--based instruments?	171	(3)
Conclusion	174	(1)
Case study: Policy instruments	175	(4)
Suggestions for further reading	179	(2)
PART III Environmental policy: global to local	181	(127)
International dimensions	183	(34)
The international political and economic systems	184	(12)
Agents of change: international organisations and non--governmental organisations	196	(4)
Rio and beyond: sustainable development and international politics	200	(10)
Conclusion	210	(1)
Case study: The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development	211	(5)
Suggestions for further reading	216	(1)
European integration	217	(31)
The structure and operation of the European Union	218	(7)
Development of an environmental policy	225	(2)
Principles of EU environmental policy	227	(6)
Contemporary issues in EU environmental action	233	(3)
Towards sustainability? The EU's Fifth Environmental Action Programme	236	(5)
Conclusion	241	(1)
Case study: The role of the European Environmental Agency	242	(5)
Suggestions for further reading	247	(1)
National responses	248	(29)
Issues affecting national environmental policy making	249	(3)
Towards integrated pollution control	252	(10)
Sustainable development and the nation state	262	(8)
Conclusion	270	(1)
Case Study: The Dutch National Environmental Policy Plan: to choose or to lose?	271	(5)
Suggestions for further reading	276	(1)
Local democracy and local authorities	277	(28)
The case for local democracy	278	(4)
Structure and practice of local government	282	(9)
Local Agenda 21: local authorities and sustainable development	291	(8)
Conclusion	299	(1)
Case study: The Sustainable Seattle project	300	(4)
Suggestions for further reading	304	(1)
Conclusion	305	(3)
Notes	308	(11)
Bibliography	319	(15)
Index	334