Guide to U.S. Environmental Policy provides the analytical connections showing readers how issues and actions are translated into public policies and persistent institutions for resolving or managing environmental conflict in the U.S. The guide highlights a complex decision-making cycle that requires the cooperation of government, business, and an informed citizenry to achieve a comprehensive approach to environmental protection. The book’s topical, operational, and relational essays address development of U.S. environmental policies, the federal agencies and public and private organizations that frame and administer environmental policies, and the challenges of balancing conservation and preservation against economic development, the ongoing debates related to turning environmental concerns into environmental management, and the role of the U.S. in international organizations that facilitate global environmental governance. Key Features: 30 essays by leading conservationists and scholars in the field investigate the fundamental political, social, and economic processes and forces driving policy decisions about the protection and future of the environment. Essential themes traced through the chapters include natural resource allocation and preservation, human health, rights of indigenous peoples, benefits of recycling, economic and other policy areas impacted by responses to green concerns, international cooperation, and immediate and long-term costs associated with environmental policy. The essays explore the impact made by key environmental policymakers, presidents, and politicians, as well as the topical issues that have influenced U.S. environmental public policy from the colonial period to the present day. A summary of regulatory agencies for environmental policy, a selected bibliography, and a thorough index are included. This must-have reference for political science and public policy students who seek to understand the forces that U.S. environmental policy is suitable for academic, public, high school, government, and professional libraries.

A comprehensive analysis of diverse areas of scholarly research on U.S. environmental policy and politics, this Handbook looks at the key ideas, theoretical frameworks, empirical findings and methodological approaches to the topic. Leading environmental policy scholars emphasize areas of emerging research and opportunities for future enquiry.

Prior to the Nixon administration, environmental policy in the United States was rudimentary at best. Since then, it has evolved into one of the primary concerns of governmental policy from the federal to the local level. As scientific expertise on the environment rapidly developed, Americans became more aware of the growing environmental crisis that surrounded them. Practical solutions for mitigating various aspects of the crisis - air pollution, water pollution, chemical waste dumping, strip mining, and later global warming - became politically popular, and the government responded by gradually erecting a vast regulatory apparatus to address the issue. Today, politicians regard environmental policy as one of the most pressing issues they face. The Obama administration has identified the renewable energy sector as a key driver of economic growth, and Congress is in the process of passing a bill to reduce global warming that will be one of the most important environmental policy acts in decades. The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Environmental Policy is a state-of-the-art work on all aspects of environmental policy in America. Over the past half century, America has been the world's leading emitter of global warming gases. However, environmental policy is not simply a national issue. It is a global issue, and the explosive growth of Asian countries like China and India mean that policy will have to be coordinated at the international level. The book therefore focuses not only on the U.S., but on the increasing importance of global policies and issues on American regulatory efforts. This is a topic that will only grow in importance in the coming years, and this handbook serves as an authoritative guide to any scholar interested in the issue.

The search for 'smarter' ways to prevent or control pollution has generated heated debate on almost every conceivable topic related to setting goals, improving institutional arrangements, and choosing the most effective means for achieving those goals. This last issue choosing the means or policy instruments to meet environmental goals can be a surprisingly complex task for decision makers, given the need to balance other competing concerns. The environmental policy toolbox contains many and varied instruments but lacks a clear set of instructions for their use. This OTA report fills that need. The 'guide' is organized into three major sections: (1) The Environmental Policy Toolbox: a discussion of 12 major policy tools, their frequency of use, and key strengths and weaknesses. (2) The Criteria for Comparing Tools: our evaluation of how effective these instruments are in achieving the values and interests or criteria decision makers are likely to weigh. (3) Choosing Tools: a series of questions for matching a tool or tools to a specific problem. Choosing tools that satisfy several, much less all, of these criteria for a specific problem is the challenge. Unfortunately, no perfect policy tool exists to meet everyone's expectations for every problem.

For more than twenty years, Environmental Policy and Politics has kept instructors and students abreast of the challenges presented by contemporary environmental, energy, and natural resource problems in the United States. Now in its eighth edition, Michael E. Kraft has updated his definitive text to capture the changing nature of environmental problems as well as policy proposals made through 2020. Drawing from work within environmental science, policy analysis, and political science, this text continues to help readers think critically about how best to address problems through a variety of public policy tools and strategies at all levels of government. Important updates to this new edition include: • The latest information about environmental challenges and governmental responses to them, with extensive citation of key sources and websites. • Key political and policy decisions through late 2020, including presidential appointments, budgetary decisions, major legislative initiatives, and congressional actions. • New learning objectives to facilitate student understanding of key concepts and their applications, arguments advanced over environmental challenges and policies, and the goals and methods of environmental policy analysis. • Coverage of new topics that have emerged during the Trump presidency, including the Clean Power Plan repeal and reduction of environmental regulation, climate change, land conservation, changes in natural resources policies, and a comparison of the Republican and Democratic positions on climate change in 2020. • Updated summaries of scientific studies, government reports, and policy analyses. • Revised discussion questions and new suggested readings. Environmental Policy and Politics is an essential resource for upper level undergraduate and graduate students in political science and environmental studies looking for an accessible, well-researched, and up-to-date text, written with style and flair.