Environmental Policymaking in an Era of Climate Change

Matthew C. Nowlin

May 2019 · Routledge

About this ebook

As the world considers how to deal with the impacts of a changing climate, it’s 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. Part I offers a framework for understanding environmental policymaking, exploring the history of environmental policy, and discussing the importance of values in environmental policy. Part II 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.

About the author

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. Matthew’s 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.