Chapter Summary

Although “policy” can have multiple meanings, environmental policy, in this chapter, is taken to mean both public opinion as well as official rules and regulations concerning our environment. Although we would like to think that fairness or rational choice and science characterize our political system, power often is the most important factor. The policy cycle describes the steps by which problems are identified and defined, and solutions are proposed, debated, enacted into law, and monitored.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) forms the cornerstone of both environmental policy and law in the United States. One of its most important provisions is the requirement of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for all major federal projects and programs. Laws are rules established through legislation (statutes), judicial decisions (case law), custom (common law), or administrative decisions (administrative law). Over the past century, U.S. policy and law has shifted from a hands-off attitude toward industry and private property, to end-of-the-pipe command and control, to more collaborative, pragmatic approaches.

Passage of bills in Congress is a convoluted process with many opportunities for amendments and riders to be added. Competing interests “lobby” throughout this process to try to change the outcome. Over the past 30 years, litigation has often been the most effective route for environmental protection. Understanding the differences between civil, criminal, and administrative courts is important in our quest for environmental quality. Establishing standing or the right to be heard in court may be the crucial stumbling block in this effort. SLAPP suits, while often baseless, are intended to intimidate or inactivate environmental groups.

Although many international treaties and conventions have been passed to protect our global environment, most are vague or toothless. Some innovative measures have been devised to compel compliance. Some alternatives to adversarial litigation include arbitration, mediation, and community-based planning. These techniques are useful in complex, unpredictable, multistakeholder, multivalue issues. We call these wicked problems. Learning from ecological systems, we see that some of the main goals for environmental policy and planning should be ecological and institutional resilience and adaptive management. The Netherlands has done one of the best jobs of any nation in using these approaches to formulate a comprehensive “green plan.”