The inability, or unwillingness, of the US government to address climate change in a meaningful way is a source of puzzlement and frustration for those who see climate change as the central human problem of our time. Nowlin offers students, scholars, and practitioners an insightful and readable framework for understanding our failure to act. His appraisal of contemporary environmental policymaking is both well-grounded and sobering.
Megan Mullin, Duke University, USA
This is a great book! It offers a framework for understanding policymaking and climate change, integrates theoretical insights, and brings to bear rich empirical data to ground its comprehensive coverage. Readers will leave this book with a structured way of thinking about the political challenges associated with climate change and what the future might hold.
Christopher M. Weible, University of Colorado, USA
Invoking the language of markets, Nowlins volume provides a comprehensive framework for understanding environmental policymaking. This work is rare in its comprehensiveness, thoughtfully mapping the interrelated roles of policy actors within varied institutions and across levels of government, while also providing ample empirical evidence showing how agendas are constructed and why polarization is occurring, among a plethora of other findings. One of the most complete pictures of US environmental policy I have seen and a must for the bookshelves of both academics and advocates.
Michael Jones, Oregon State University, USA
Environmental Policymaking in an Era of Climate Change
As the world considers how to deal with the impacts of a changing climate, its vital that we understand the ways in which the United States policymaking process addresses environmental issues. A mix of existing theory and original analysis, Environmental Policymaking in an Era of Climate Change applies recent policy scholarship to questions of environmental governance, with a particular focus on climate change. The book examines how competing political actors influence policies within and across institutions, focusing on both a macro-level, where formal bodies set the agenda, and a meso-level, where issues are contained within policy subsystems.
Divided into two sections, the book incorporates insights from political science and public policy to provide the reader with a better understanding of how environmental policy decisions are made. applies the framework to the issue of climate change, focusing on agenda-setting and the role of formal institutions in the policymaking process, covering topics that include Congress, the Executive and Judicial branches, and how climate change cuts across policy subsystem boundaries. By placing specific climate change case studies in a broader context, Environmental Policymaking in an Era of Climate Change will help students enrolled in political science, public administration, public policy, and environmental studies courses as well as all those interested in the impacts of policy on climate change to understand what is, and will likely continue to be, one of the most pressing policy issues of our time.
Matthew C. Nowlin is an assistant professor of political science at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, USA. He holds a PhD in political science with an emphasis in public policy and public administration from the University of Oklahoma. Matthews research interests include environmental and energy policy and politics. His work has appeared in Policy Studies Journal; Public Administration; Review of Policy Research; Risk Analysis; Politics, Groups, and Identities; Social Science Quarterly; and Weather, Climate, and Society.
Politics of American Public Policy
General Editor
Matt Grossmann
Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and
Associate Professor of Political Science,
Michigan State University, USA
The Politics of American Public Policy, edited by Matt Grossmann, provides insightful and integrated approaches to policymaking in particular issue areas. Each book applies scholarly lessons to the politics of a contemporary policy controversy, with attention to currently-debated policy options over ideal formulations. The books guide students to important theories of policymaking and research on American governance while capitalizing on their interests in specific substantive areas. Instead of becoming bogged down in policy details or historical narrative, the books offer lessons on the key actors, ideas, institutions, and trends driving policymaking. For more information about the series, or to submit a book proposal, please contact series editor Matt Grossmann at matt@mattg.org
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Matthew C. Nowlin
First published 2019
by Routledge
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2019 Matthew Nowlin
The right of Matthew Nowlin to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him 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.
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A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-21672-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-21693-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-44172-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
To Robin, whose love and support make everything possible
To Brandon and Alexis, who give me hope for the future
Contents
First, I would like to thank several friends, colleagues, and collaborators whose thoughtful comments and conversations over the years very much influenced every aspect of this book, including Tad Conner, Kuhika Gupta, Tyler Hughes, Walt Jatkowski, Hank Jenkins-Smith, Mike Jones, Phil Jos, Gibbs Knotts, Glen Krutz, Tom Rabovsky, Jordan Ragusa, Joe Ripberger, Carol Silva, Geoboo Song, and Annette Watson. In addition, I would like to thank the students that have suffered through my public policy and environmental policy courses, whose comments, questions, and insights informed much of my thinking on these issues.
Much of the data used in this book comes from congressional hearings about climate change. I would like to thank several students that assisted in the collection, organizing, and coding of the hearings data, including Catherine Alexander, Dominique Awis, Victoria Davis, and Virginia Whorley. I would also like to thank Catherine Hutchison for her assistance with the index. In addition, an extra thanks to Presley Leopard for her help in coding the hearing topics and Nicole Popp for her work on climate policy at the state level. I also rely quite a bit on data from the
