Environmental Choices: Policy Responses to Green Demands by Lawrence S. Rothenberg

Author:Lawrence S. Rothenberg [Rothenberg, Lawrence S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Science, Environmental Science, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781483371153
Google: 8wmmAwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 1822485
Publisher: CQ Press
Published: 2002-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Local governments cite examples where failure to devise better ways to protect the environment affordably may result in just the opposite of the intended effect. In the Southwest, one city reports an increase in desert dumping of solid waste by citizens because of a refusal by the citizenry to pay to expand the local landfill in accordance with federal regulations, which require installation of double liners and a leachate collection system to comply with RCRA groundwater laws. The city questions whether the requirements are necessary in this case because of its geology and arid climatic conditions. (National Performance Review 1993, 5–6)

Finally, the lack of integration between programs is consistent with the fragmented political system and the choice process, which produces the structure for policy implementation.

The federated structure’s inability to deal with interstate externalities is an especially damning criticism against national authority in environmental affairs. Yet, for instance, neither air nor water pollution regulations provide enough incentive for upwind and upstream polluters to behave appropriately; that is, there is often insufficient punishment or incentive for those upstream or upwind not to export their pollution (Revesz 1996). A market-oriented solution might solve the problem here, but it is hard to believe that the failure by politicians to deal with externalities is accidental rather than purposeful, as politicians are certainly aware of the environmental implications of their choices.

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