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Environmental
Policy
Table 21.1: Major Federal Environmental Laws
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Environmental Policymaking: all four styles
1.Entrepreneurial Politics (dominant role in most environmental programs):
a.
b.
Unorganized public benefits at the expense of a well-organized group.
To prevent client groups from directing how the laws will be implemented, bills must
be written so that courts can force action
2. Majoritarian Politics
a.
b.
An unorganized public benefits at its own expense (gas taxes, etc.)
Whether proposal wins or loses depends on public acceptance (carpooling)
3. Interest Group Politics
a.
b.
Two organized groups fight over who will pay and who will benefit (Acid rain)
Congress tends to find workable compromises rather than sweeping legislation
4. Client Politics
a.
Organized group gets benefit; unorganized public must pay (ANWAR oil drilling)
Federal government has typically been the pacesetter in environmental policy through
uniform national standards, creating adversarial situations with the chief polluters:
businesses.
Federalism reinforces adversarial nature as Congress allows fights to take place at local
and state levels. Mechanics vary with type above:
1. Global warming 2. Auto pollution 3. Acid rain 4. Timber harvests
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Transportation and The Environment
1.Most of nation’s regulation here: size of nation/individual culture
a.
b.
c.
Cars produce : greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, smog
150 million vehicles in US; rate growing faster than population
Pave the planet: parking lots cover more land in US than Georgia does
2. Situation will get worse before it gets better
a.
b.
c.
Americans are driving more, not less
1991: GHW Bush upgrades highways, cuts funds for mass transit
Clinton (with VP Gore) as “environmental President” maintains policy
3. Majoritarian issue, but tough to regulate
a.
b.
c.
d.
Car owners will be required to finance any policy to address problem
They’ll finance hidden costs (catalytic converters), but not changes requiring
adopting different driving habits
When costs are high, public support can be rallied by linking a tax increase to
a concrete  project, such as a bridge or a highway
Presidential role crucial in the adoption of a proposal
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Map 21.1: The Politics of Energy: Sources of
Fossil Fuels in the United States
Source: Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report (January 20, 1990): 160.
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Figure 21.1: Government Regulation
Source: Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report (January 20,1990): 185, updated with Wirthlin Worldwide Survey.
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