Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries

292 Pages·2013·13.802 MB·English

by  David Howard Davis

Public Administration D Comparing Environmental
a
v
Based on the author’s 39 years of teaching environmental policy, working in
i
s
Washington, and traveling, Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries
offers a complete primer in environmental dilemmas and policies from a Policies in 16 Countries
comparative perspective. The book covers 16 countries according to five themes: C
participation, interest groups, political parties, governmental structures, and the o
diplomatic agenda. The author has visited all of the 16 countries and offers original m
insights on the dynamics of their policies. p
a
The author balances theory and practical solutions, comparing policies, highlighting r
successes and failures, and suggesting best practices. He looks for common features in
such as the Environmental Decade or response to the Kyoto Protocol. He finds many g
cases of diffusion such as the impact of Rachel Carson or Jacques Cousteau. The
analysis ranges from advanced industrial countries to developing ones. The tone is E
n
positive, with facts and ideas conveyed through vignettes. Each chapter concludes
v
with highlights of what that country received from others, such as the popularity of
i
Carson’s book or Cousteau’s films, and innovations, such as the idea of a national r
o
park or of a green political party.
n
m
Features
• Discusses the strong environmental program in the United States e
n
• Explores leading policies in Europe, highlighting Germany, the Netherlands,
t
Denmark, and Sweden a
• Covers the policies of Britain, France, and the European Union l
P
• Groups together countries with similar issues, such as Canada/Australia
o
and India/Brazil
l
i
• Highlights countries that balance economic development with environmental c
i
protection such as Kenya/Costa Rica e
s
• Describes how in Russia the environmental movement contributed to the

end of Communism i
n
• Analyzes China, informed by the author holding a Fulbright Professorship
1
at Nanjing University
6

From the theoretical perspective, comparing environmental issues can illuminate
C
other policy areas. Over all, the book demonstrates rapid diffusion among the o
Western democracies and slower diffusion to Russia and China. u
n
t
r
K21761 i
6000 Broken Sound Parkway, NW e
Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487 ISBN: 978-1-4822-1458-1 s David Howard Davis
711 Third Avenue 90000
New York, NY 10017
an informa business
2 Park Square, Milton Park
www.crcpress.com Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK
9 781482 214581
w w w. c r c p r e s s . c o m
K21761 cvr mech.indd 1 11/14/13 10:37 AM
Comparing Environmental
Policies in 16 Countries

Comparing Environmental
Policies in 16 Countries
David Howard Davis
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2014 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20131023
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4822-1459-8 (eBook - PDF)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and
publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication
and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any
copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any
future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information stor-
age or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copy-
right.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222
Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that pro-
vides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a pho-
tocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
Dedicated to
David S. Wilson, PhD
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Contents
Preface ....................................................................................................ix
Acknowledgments ..............................................................................xiii
Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................1
Chapter 2 The United States .............................................................15
Chapter 3 Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden ..........53
Germany .....................................................................................53
The Netherlands .........................................................................70
Denmark .....................................................................................75
Sweden ........................................................................................79
Chapter 4 Britain, France, and the European Union ......................89
Britain .........................................................................................89
France ........................................................................................103
The European Union ...............................................................112
Chapter 5 Canada and Australia ....................................................125
Canada ......................................................................................125
Australia ...................................................................................142
Chapter 6 India and Brazil ..............................................................163
India ..........................................................................................163
Brazil .........................................................................................174
Chapter 7 Kenya and Costa Rica ....................................................189
Kenya .........................................................................................189
Costa Rica .................................................................................201
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC vii
viii • Contents
Chapter 8 Russia and Its Neighbors ...............................................213
Russia ........................................................................................213
Czechoslovakia ........................................................................232
Chapter 9 China ...............................................................................239
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Preface
Teaching at Nanjing University in China as a Fulbright professor shaped
this book into its final form. I spent the spring semester of 2009 there at
the School of the Environment. My manuscript was half done, and I used
those chapters as a textbook. At the time I had not written a chapter on
China because I was waiting to learn about it firsthand.
Having published American Environmental Politics in 1998 and Ignoring
the Apocalypse in 2007, the next step for me seemed to be to look at other
countries. I was aware, of course, that many countries had policies simi-
lar to the American ones. I was interested in their common features and
their differences. Furthermore, I was interested in how the United States
learned from others, and how the United States sent its ideas abroad. Soon
I learned that the interchange has been extensive. All around the globe,
democratic countries had had an “Environmental Decade” in the 1970s,
and had emulated one another. They had copied laws on water pollution
control, sometimes word for word, and had copied techniques like popu-
lar mass demonstrations. This was less true for the Communist world, yet
even there, the ideas spread, if not as fast.
The worldwide diffusion of ideas could be fast. After Rachel Carson
published Silent Spring in 1962, her book was soon translated into
German and other languages. A decade before that books and films by
Jacques Cousteau like Eighteen Meters Deep and Silent World had won an
inter national audience. Back in the 19th century, the idea of a national
park like Yellowstone had spread to Canada and Australia. The technique
of mass public demonstrations, with roots in India for its independence
movement and in the United States for its civil rights movement, was
adapted against nuclear power plants in Denmark in 1962. Indeed, the
roots are even deeper in that Gandhi and the Indian leaders were inspired
by the nonviolent techniques advocated by 19th-century American envi-
ronmentalist Henry David Thoreau. Interest groups like the Sierra Club
and Greenpeace, originating in the United States and Canada, respec-
tively, first grew in their home countries and then spread internationally.
Some groups like World Wildlife Fund (WWF) were international from
their inception, founded in Switzerland to protect tigers and lions in India
and Africa.
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ix