Environmental Deceptions
The Tension Between Liberalism and Environmental Policymaking in the United States
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This book explores the tensions between American political culture, which is predicated on self-interest, and environmental regulation, which restricts individual property rights.
Description
Environmental Deceptions brings together normative analysis and empirical data to explain the structural limitations liberal society places on environmental improvement. Whereas liberal society is predicated on individual self-interest, environmental legislation is predicated on communal regulation of individual property rights. Cahn's aim is to expose the tensions between American political culture and environmental regulation in an effort to make environmental policy discourse more effective. By analyzing such areas as air policy, water policy, waste policy, and energy policy, he exposes the subtle tensions that often lead to failure and explains why traditional models of environmental legislation are insufficient to resolve existing environmental dilemmas.
Matthew Alan Cahn is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at California State University, Northridge.
Reviews
"While many authors have touched upon this topic, few have been daring enough to take on the issue of liberalism and environmental policy head on as this author has done. Cahn's study is timely and is likely to be widely adopted by instructors teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses on environmental politics. " — Sheldon Kamieniecki, University of Southern California
"The most appealing aspect of this book is the detailed coverage provided of changes in environmental policy and administration in the U. S. since the late 1960s, including the general environmental policy changes by the new Clinton/Gore administration. It contains a wealth of environmental law and policy information that will serve as a useful source book. Environmentalists and community groups would benefit from this wealth of detail. " -- Robyn Eckersley, Monash University, Australia