The Environmental Case gives readers a unique, first-hand feel for some of the most interesting and illuminating controversies in U.S. environmental policymaking—including the disaster at Love Canal, the dispute over snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, and the global warming debate. Through 16 carefully constructed cases, Layzer covers the spectrum of environmental issues, from habitat conservation, air and water pollution, and overfishing to environmental justice and urban growth management. Each case elucidates various aspects of the U.S. political system but is also linked to the others by two main themes: environmental conflicts are, at heart, conflicts between advocates with fundamentally different values, and the way problems are framed in politics plays a central role in shaping how those values get translated into policies.

This second edition showcases all 12 of the original cases, thoroughly revised and updated. In addition, Layzer has added four new cases:

• Community activism propels the Dudley Street Neighborhood Association to fight for environmental justice and equitable redevelopment of a once-distressed area in the heart of Boston.
• The use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park divides environmentalists into bitterly opposing camps: those who regard parks as playgrounds and support unlimited motorized access, and those who advocate more conservative management that emphasizes protection of the park’s flora, fauna, and quiet serenity.
• In the tuna/dolphin and shrimp/turtle disputes, competing advocates debate whether U.S. environmental protection measures constitute non-tariff barriers to trade and, more broadly, whether trade liberalization is good for the environment.
• Opponents of growth management campaign to undermine the city of Portland’s strict policies curbing urban sprawl, the most stringent in the nation.

Layzer provides maps, tables, figures, questions to consider, recommended readings, and useful websites to help readers think critically and actively about the issues raised in each case and facilitate further research.

Preface

1. Introduction: Defining Problems in U.S. Environmental Politics

Part I. Tackling the Issue of Pollution
2. The Nation Tackles Pollution: The Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air and Water Acts
3. Love Canal: Hazardous Waste and the Politics of Fear
4. Government Secrets at Rocky Flats

Part II. History, Changing Values, and Natural Resource Management
5. Community Activism and Environmental Justice: The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
6. Oil vs. Wilderness in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
7. Federal Grazing Policy: Some Things Never Change
8. Jobs vs. the Environment: Saving the Northern Spotted Owl

Part III. Addressing Commons Problems
9. Recreation vs. Preservation: Snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park
10. The New England Fisheries: Crisis and Renewal
11. Climate Change: The Challenge of Formulating International Environmental Policies
12. Dolphins, Sea Turtles, and the Role of International Trade in Protecting the Global Environment

Part IV. Anti-Environmental Backlash Prompts New Approaches
13. Backlash: Wise Use, Property Rights, and the Anti-Environmental Movement
14. Market-Based Solutions: Acid Rain and the Clean Air Act
15. Ecosystem-Based Solutions: Restoring the Florida Everglades
16. Local Collaboration and Compromise: Using Habitat Conservation Plans to Save Southern California’s Endangered Landscape
17. Urban Sprawl and Challenges to Growth Management in Portland, Oregon
18. Conclusions: Values, Politics, and U.S. Environmental Policy

Index

“Environmental protection regulation is one of the most complex policy areas. It stands at the intersection of science, economics and the policy sciences and is embedded in a host of disputes over competing values and the balance between the state, the market, and the community. Layzer’s The Environmental Case has three great strengths. First, it is remarkably successful in using a series of carefully crafted and theoretically informed case studies to introduce readers to the complexities of environmental policy and politics. Second, readers gain a great appreciation of the forces that have shaped the evolution of environmental protection over the course of the past four decades. Finally, it provides a solid foundation for serious and lively classroom debate. Each chapter invites students to engage a set of core controversies without offering any simple solutions.”

- Marc Eisner, Wesleyan University

"I have long-believed that case studies of this type are of immense value to students, planners, managers, and policy makers, but they are very short in supply. The Environmental Case is a unique and exceptional work. I highly recommend it as a reference for policy makers and as a textbook for all students of environmental policy. It should be on the bookshelf of everyone engaged in, or interested in, environmental policy."

- Warren Viessman, University of Florida

“Judith Layzer’s The Environmental Case examines a compelling mix of case studies of environmental policy and politics that will captivate and enlighten beginning students and seasoned scholars alike. The analyses strongly convey the never ending and dynamic nature of a very complex policy process without getting lost in their abundant and rich historical detail. Salient concepts and theories from the environmental and policy literatures inform thematic frameworks that energize and integrate these fascinating stories of conflict and cooperation.”

- James M. Rogers, Temple University

“Good cases are invaluable tools for students, scholars, and policy makers and advocates to understand how environmental policies are made and what they accomplish. Judith Layzer's case studies in this volume are among the very best available. They cover a wide range of issues, are written in a clear and engaging style, and are carefully constructed to facilitate aggregating their conclusions and lessons.”

- Gary Bryner, Brigham Young University

“Layzer's book is much more than the set of well drawn case studies of its title. The cases reflect the full range of environmental issues facing the U.S., and vividly illustrate the success and perils of political actions taken to address them. The introduction sets the context, and the conclusion clearly demonstrates the clash of values that define the politics of environmental policy making in the U.S. today. I find it both a valuable, well documented resource and a great teaching text.”

- William Moomaw, Tufts University

Judith A. Layzer is assistant professor of environmental policy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on U.S. environmental politics, particularly on the role of science and the use of ecosystem management and other collaborative approaches to environmental policy.