Steven Cohen 
Understanding Environmental Policy 

In
Understanding Environmental Policy, Steven Cohen introduces an innovative, multidimensional framework for developing effective environmental policy within the United States and around the world. He demonstrates his approach through an analysis of four case studies representing current local, national, and international environmental challenges: New York City’s garbage crisis; the problem of leaks from underground storage units; toxic waste contamination and the Superfund program; and global climate change. He analyzes the political, scientific, technological, organizational, and moral import of these environmental issues and the nature of the policy surrounding them. He also places a specific focus on the response from the George W. Bush administration. Cohen considers how our current environmental policy and problems reflect the value we place on our ecosystems; whether science and technology can solve the environmental problems they create; and what policy is necessary to reduce environmentally damaging behaviors. Cohen’s multifaceted approach is essential reading for analysts, managers, activists, students, and scholars of environmental policy.

Table of Content

Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. Developing a Framework
1. Understanding Environmental Policy
2. A Framework for Understanding Environmental Policy
Part II. Applying the Framework
3. Why New York City Can’t Take Out the Garbage
4. Why Companies Let Valuable Gasoline Leak Out of Underground Tanks
5. Have We Learned How to Clean Up Toxic Waste Sites, and Can We Afford It?
6. Have We Made the Planet Warmer, and If We Have, How Can We Stop?
Part III. Critiquing the Framework
7. What Have We Learned from the Framework About Environmental Problems, and What Else Do We Need to Know?
8. Conclusions: Improving Environmental Policy
References
Index

About the author

Steven Cohen is executive director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and professor in the practice of public affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He is also director of the masters program in sustainability management at Columbia’s School of Continuing Education. At SIPA, Cohen directs the MPA in environmental science and policy, as well as the concentration in energy and environmental policy. He has served as a policy analyst and consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies. His books include
Sustainability Management: Lessons from and for New York City, America, and the Planet and
The Effective Public Manager, now in its fourth edition. Cohen is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.