Governing the Environment:

This comprehensive overview of US environmental regulation—from the inception of the EPA through the Bush administration—goes beyond traditional texts to consider alternatives to the existing regulatory regime, as well as the challenges posed by the global nature of environmental issues.

Thoughtful and evenhanded, Governing the Environment covers the full range of topics relevant to our understanding of current environmental policy. Clear, concise chapters move from the context of environmental policy to regulatory design, reform efforts, and notable private-sector innovations.

In the process, the author argues that we've taken conventional environmental regulation as far as it can gothat we need to look for alternative ways of governing the environment, involving corporations that have expertise in the areas of technology, products, and markets. But, he cautions, there must be a careful integration of private-sector initiatives and public regulation.

A notable feature of the text is an examination of the difficulties inherent in managing global environmental problems. Exploring recent efforts toward global environmental governance in the face of competing economic demands, the final chapter considers the ways in which a system of governance might compensate for the lack of effective international regulatory institutions.