Environmental Policy and the Pursuit of Sustainability

229 Pages·2018·15.407 MB·English

by  Chelsea Schelly, Aparajita Banerjee

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND THE

PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABILITY
It is increasingly apparent that human activities are not suitable for sustaining a
healthy global environment. From energy development to resource extraction to
use of land and water, humans are having a devastating effect on the earth’s ability
to sustain human societies and quality lives. Many approaches to changing the
negative environmental consequences of human activities focus on one of two
options, emphasizing either technological fixes or individual behavior change to
reduce environmental harms through sustainable consumption habits. This book
takes a different approach, focusing on the role of environmental policy in shaping
the possibilities for and creating hindrances to pursuing more sustainable use of
environmental resources.
This unique compilation examines environmental policy through empirical case
studies, demonstrating through each particular example how environmental policies
are formed, how they operate, what they do in terms of shaping behaviors and
future trajectories, and how they intersect with other social dynamics such as politics,
power, social norms, and social organization. By providing case studies from both the
United States and Mexico, this book provides a cross-n ational perspective on current
environmental policies and their role in creating and limiting sustainable human futures.
Organized around four key parts – Water; Land; Health and Well Being; and
Resilience – and with a central theme of environmental justice and equity, this
book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental policy and
sustainability.
Chelsea Schelly is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social
Sciences and the Environmental and Energy Policy graduate program at Michigan
Technological University, USA.
Aparajita Banerjee recently completed her PhD in Environmental and Energy
Policy from Michigan Technological University, USA.
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Land and Resource Scarcity
Capitalism, Struggle and Well-being in a World without Fossil Fuels
Edited by Andreas Exner, Peter Fleissner, Lukas Kranzl and Werner Zittel
Nuclear Energy Safety and International Cooperation
Closing the World’s Most Dangerous Reactors
Spencer Barrett Meredith, III
The Politics of Carbon Markets
Edited by Benjamin Stephan and Richard Lane
The Limits of the Green Economy
Matthias Lievens and Anneleen Kenis
Public Policy and Land Exchange
Choice, Law and Praxis
Giancarlo Panagia
International Arctic Petroleum Cooperation
Barents Sea Scenarios
Edited by Anatoli Bourmistrov, Frode Mellemvik, Alexei Bambulyak,
Ove Gudmestad, Indra Overland and Anatoly Zolotukhin
Why REDD will Fail
Jessica L. DeShazo, Chandra Lal Pandey and Zachary A. Smith
The European Union in International Climate Change Negotiations
Stavros Afionis
The EU, US and China Tackling Climate Change
Policies and Alliances for the Anthropocene
Sophia Kalantzakos
Environmental Policy and the Pursuit of Sustainability
Edited by Chelsea Schelly and Aparajita Banerjee
ENVIRONMENTAL

POLICY AND
THE PURSUIT OF
SUSTAINABILITY
Edited by Chelsea Schelly and
Aparajita Banerjee
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Chelsea Schelly and Aparajita Banerjee;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Chelsea Schelly and Aparajita Banerjee to be identified as the authors of
the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978- 1- 138- 29650- 3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 138- 29651- 0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 315- 09999- 6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Out of House Publishing
This one’s for Prabha, who made it possible.
–  CS
To Imon, my being.
–  AB
This wide-ranging anthology on environmental policy does much more than the
title suggests. The contributing authors present a selection of case studies that illus-
trate the successes and failures of environmental policies in a number of important
areas including water and land use. This will be a useful supplemental textbook in
courses on environmental policy.
Zachary Smith, Regents’ Professor, Northern Arizona University, USA
There is no single pathway to “sustainability,” but instead – as Julian Agyeman
argues – “sustainabilities.” The illuminating case studies collected by Schelly and
Banerjee allow us to see diverse pathways in practice, to recognize the centrality
of social justice, and to cultivate insights into the crucial policy contexts that both
constrain and enable them.
John M. Meyer, Humboldt State University, USA; author of Engaging the Everyday:
Environmental Social Criticism and the Resonance Dilemma
CONTENTS

List of figures x

List of tables xi

Editors xii

List of contributors xiii

Introduction – when one size does not fit all:
environmental policy, social context, and social justice 1

Aparajita Banerjee and Chelsea Schelly
PART I
Water, water management, and adaptation to
changing water landscapes 15

1 Nutrient trading credits: best management practices and policy
hurdles for non- point source polluters in the Chesapeake Bay 17

M. Dawn King
2 Water management in the Upper Klamath Basin: collaboration
and polarization 30

Patricia Snyder
3 Toward a whole- of- government and whole- of- community
approach for regional adaptation to sea level rise: lessons learned
from the Hampton Roads Intergovernmental Pilot Project 47

Juita- Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Michelle Covi, Carol Considine,
Burton St. John III, Meagan M. Jordan, and J. Gail Nicula
viii Contents
PART II
Land management and land use 63

4 US public lands and a new administration: new and old issues 65

John Freemuth
5 Perceptions of contentiousness: how individual traits shape
environmental policy conflicts 79

Kristin Olofsson
6 Solid waste governance: consumption and culture in the
globalization era 93

Beatriz Adriana Venegas Sahagún
PART III
Human health and well being 109

7 Where is the justice? An examination of the failure of the
US EPA Office of Civil Rights to ensure environmental
justice for poor and minority communities 111

Amelie Simons
8 The power of the talking points: persuasive power and the
challenges of sustainable natural resource development 124

Amanda Kreuze, Roman Sidortsov, and Chelsea Schelly
9 Social and political inequality as challenges in technology
diffusion: evidence from government- funded improved
cookstove program in rural Mexico 137

Aparajita Banerjee and Chelsea Schelly
PART IV
Resilience 151

10 The role of voluntary agreements in a hybrid model of
environmental law enforcement 153

Joice Chang
11 Institutional barriers to managing dynamic landscapes:
lessons learned in Southwestern Colorado 169

Nina Burkardt and Patricia Biddle Orth
Contents ix
12 The long road to sustainability of Mexican oil palm
production 182

Erin C. Pischke
Conclusion – environmental policy and the pursuit
of just sustainability 195

Chelsea Schelly and Aparajita Banerjee
Index 204