It is well known that American businesses make an effort to influence environmental policy by attempting to set the political agenda and to influence regulations and legislation. This book examines what is not so well known: the extent to which business succeeds in its policy interventions. In Business and Environmental Policy, a team of distinguished scholars systematically analyzes corporate influence at all stages of the policy process, focusing on the factors that determine the success or failure of business lobbying in Congress, state legislatures, local governments, federal and state agencies, and the courts. These experts consider whether business influence is effectively counterbalanced by the efforts of environmental groups, public opinion, and other forces.
The book also examines the use of the media to influence public opinion--as in the battle over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--and corporations' efforts to sway elections by making campaign contributions. Because the book goes well beyond the existing literature--much of which is narrow, descriptive, and anecdotal--to provide broad-based empirical evidence of corporate influence on environmental policy, it makes an original and important contribution and is appropriate for a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses.
Michael E. Kraft is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Herbert Fisk Johnson Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He is the coeditor of Toward Sustainable Communities: Transition and Transformations in Environmental Policy (MIT Press, 1999) and the author or editor of many other books. Sheldon Kamieniecki is Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the coeditor of Strategic Planning in Environmental Regulation: A Policy Approach That Works (MIT Press, 2005) and the author or editor of many other books.
A sophisticated, comprehensive, and informative analysis of the role of business in shaping American environmental policy. This collection of essays makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex political, legal, and institutional dynamics that underlie the making and implementation of environmental regulation, as well as the political role and influence of business in American politics. --David Vogel, Haas School of Business and Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley "There is relatively little scholarship on the roles that business and industry play in shaping environmental and resource policy. The editors and authors of this volume have put together a remarkably good contribution to this field. This is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental policy and in business schools. It is pitched at the right level, the writing is very engaging, it's well organized, and the length is just fine. As an instructor, I can't wait to use it." --Daniel Press, Professor and Chair, Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz "Business and Environmental Policy offers a lucid, timely, and insightful analysis of the complex and varied roles that business can play in environmental policy making. These essays provide a refreshing look at a subject to which conventional wisdom does not always apply. It is an outstanding contribution to the literature on environmental politics, as well as that on business and government more generally." --Daniel J. Fiorino, American University