Book Reviews 399

Marc Allen Eisner, Governing the Environment: Th e

Transformation of Environmental Regulation

(Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2007). 322 pp. $24.50

(paper), ISBN: 9781588264855.

As the 21st century develops, introspection and

reevaluation challenge current understanding

of environmental policy. Marc Allen Eisner’s

Governing the Environment argues that environmental

governance through command and control should be

modifi ed to allow greater access by business, associa-

tional, and citizen groups. Th is is not an easy goal, but

Eisner sets out a comprehensive (if not forward think-

ing) approach to the question of eff ective environ-

mental management and policy, both in the United

States and in the international arena.

Eisner begins with domestic policy and the role of the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Th e EPA is

the largest federal regulatory agency, with a budget in

fi scal year 2005 of nearly $8 billion. More critically, it

carries out its policies predominantly through com-

mand and control. In fact, Eisner notes that between

1970 and 2000, there were only two instances in

which the EPA did not implement command and

control policy.

Yet while Eisner searches for alternative solutions to

command and control policy, he approaches his quest

in an even-handed manner. For example, he demon-

strates that early environmental policy development

allowed for greater citizen participation. He notes that

standing found its clearest legislative expression in the

Clean Air Act of 1970, the fi rst environmental statute

to authorize citizens to bring suits.

Furthermore, Eisner shows that signifi cant environ-

mental goals have been achieved under command and

control. For example, between 1971 and 2001, the six

criteria pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act

(ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitro-

gen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and lead) fell by 25 percent.

Th e acid rain program created under Title IV of the

Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 also has been

successful. In 1990, sulfur dioxide emissions stood at

15.9 million tons. Without regulatory policy, emis-

sions were projected to increase to 18.7 million tons

by 2010, but in fact, emissions have fallen to

10.6 million tons, on track to meet a 2010 goal of

9 million tons. He could have developed a deeper

assessment of water policy by emphasizing the

complications of managing non-point source

pollution. But the message, however subtle, is that the

federal government has been eff ective in managing

freshwater drinking sources.

It is also encouraging that Eisner dedicates a chapter

to cost – benefi t analysis. Th is is a widely misunder-

stood concept. Environmental policies are at a distinct

disadvantage when using cost – benefi t analysis. Most

environmental policies require large initial costs, such

as the expensive infi ltration systems required today to

reduce the concentrations of arsenic in public drink-

ing water. If future benefi ts are expressed in today’s

dollars, the impact of time may severely compromise

the justifi cation for such a policy.

In turning to alternatives to command and control,

Eisner notes that some are already being imple-

mented, although they are limited in scope. Th is is

quite apparent with Project XL, which stands for

“eXcellence and Leadership.” Th is is a national pilot

program that allows state and local governments,

businesses, and federal facilities to develop with the

EPA innovative strategies to test better or more cost-

eff ective ways of achieving environmental and public

health. In other words, this program emphasizes gov-

ernmental partnerships with industry, universities,

and research institutions. However, because of bureau-

cratic delays, policy implementation has been mini-

mal. Eisner’s sobering analysis of green consumerism

demonstrates that even though environmentalism has

become popular through well-known companies such

as Ben & Jerry’s and the Body Shop, it does not trans-

late into purchase decisions for most of the

population.

Frederick Gordon California State University, Los Angeles

At the Crossroads: Understanding the Challenges and

Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship

Frederick Gordon holds a master’s

degree in public and international affairs

from the University of Pittsburgh and a

doctorate in political science from the

University of Southern California. His book,

Freshwater Resources and Interstate Cooperation, will be published by SUNY

Press in 2008. He teaches at California

State University, Los Angeles, and California

Lutheran University.

E-mail: fgordon2@yahoo.com

400 Public Administration Review • March | April 2008

Although there is no defi nitive cause for policy stagna-

tion, Eisner believes that corporate environmentalism

carries serious problems of information asymmetry.

Consumers, communities, and citizens have only as

much information about environmental practices as

companies wish to release. Th ere is no Freedom of

Information Act that can be used to mandate the

disclosure of corporate information.

Eisner also devotes considerable time to evaluating

global environmental governance. He depicts the

uneasy relationship between less developed countries,

globalization, and the environment: Less developed

countries have neglected environmental protection

because of intense poverty and a desperate need to

attract foreign direct investment. It is encouraging

that he brings in the Kuznets curve, which substanti-

ates a postindustrial perspective that income increases

over time will actually reduce environmental degrada-

tion and even produce positive environmental ben-

efi ts. However, closer evaluation reveals that this is not

a simple linear process; rather, environmental im-

provement is dependent on relative policies and

institutions.

Some institutions and environmental policies have

been successful. Eisner’s overview of the Montreal

Protocol suggests that collective action problems can

be overcome. In this case, the production and con-

sumption of fully halogenated chlorofl uorocarbons

exhibited a 20 percent reduction in 1994 and a

50 percent reduction in 1999. Eisner’s analysis reveals

that both the U.S. government and industry sup-

ported this global environmental initiative. He

expounds on how DuPont declared that it could

produce viable marketable substitutes to chlorofl uoro-

carbons within fi ve years of the Montreal Protocol.

However, global warming is a much more problematic

issue. Global climate change has been at the center of

environmental policy debates for several decades,

giving rise to an ambitious international regulatory

initiative. Yet while scientists and social scientists may

be used to working with uncertainty and probabilistic

statements, elected offi cials crave certainty. Th is gap

between science and policy, combined with the view

that global climate change is not a pure “public bad,”

means that eff ective global environmental policy

coordination remains incomplete.

Th is situation is clearest in the experience with the

Kyoto Protocol. After several years of intense discus-

sions, the Th ird Conference of the Parties adopted the

Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Th e Kyoto Protocol required

signifi cant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,

with the goal of stabilizing atmospheric concentra-

tions. Industrialized countries were assigned primary

responsibility for greenhouse gas reductions. Nations

were assigned binding emission reduction targets

(using a 1990 baseline) that required them to achieve

the reductions by 2008 – 12. Despite general interna-

tional agreement in 1997, the U.S. Senate passed the

Byrd-Hagel resolution 95 – 0, informing the president

that the United States should not be a signatory to

any protocol that would result in serious harm to the

U.S. economy. However, without the participation of

the number one greenhouse gas emitter, global warm-

ing policies and goals will remain unmet.

Th us, Eisner presents a paradox of global governance:

On one hand, nation-states have the capacity to solve

pressing international environmental problems. On

the other hand, economic pressures can easily inhibit

eff ective collective action. Th is problem, though not

explicit, transcends political party diff erences in the

United States. Th e fi nal issue addressed in the book is

sustainability. Th e argument is fairly straightforward.

Th e ecosystem has a limited carrying capacity, though

it is capable of assimilation, regeneration, and resil-

ience. As noted in Agenda 21 (Section 5.2), created by

the United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development in 1992, “Th e growth of the world

population and production combined with unsustain-

able consumption patterns places increasingly severe

stress on the life supporting capacities of our planet”

(245). Eisner recognizes the daunting nature of popu-

lation growth but sees this as only part of the prob-

lem. Yes, the world population will exceed 8 billion

people by 2020, but the real problem is aggregate

resource consumption, which is the product of popu-

lation multiplied by per capita consumption.

Th e United States has had a diffi cult time balancing

economic and environmental needs. On one hand, it

was among the 179 signatory nations that in 1992

called for a decentralized process to manage the envi-

ronment. On the other hand, a year later, President

Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12852, which

defi ned sustainable development as “economic growth

that will benefi t present and future generations with-

out detrimentally aff ecting the resources or biological

systems of the planet” (249).

Eisner concludes with the same pragmatism that is

emblematic of the book, but with some surprising

conclusions. He recognizes that institutions are quite

complex and rarely either wholly private or public

(i.e., market or state). Many successful common pool

resource institutions are rich mixtures of private-like

and public-like institutions that defy classifi cation.

But how that translates into eff ective environmental

policy remains to be determined.

What does seem clear is that simple property rights

are not an eff ective means for achieving environmen-

tal management. For example, it is very diffi cult to

assign rights to clean air and exceedingly diffi cult to

protect those rights. Eisner volleys through diff erent

Book Reviews 401

approaches to achieving better environmental man-

agement. He believes that far more could be accom-

plished by adopting regulatory policies, particularly if

they are redesigned to reinforce rather than obviate

private sector initiatives. Whenever possible, he argues

that policies could be reconfi gured to minimize reli-

ance on command and control initiatives and maxi-

mize the cap and trade instruments that have a proven

track record of attaining higher levels of environmen-

tal quality at lower costs. However, the latter point

still needs to be substantiated. Cap and trade pro-

grams regarding mercury and nitrogen have been

criticized because they often weaken the Clean Air

Act, which is the cornerstone of American environ-

mental policy.

Overall, Governing the Environment is an ambitious

endeavor to challenge the current nature of environ-

mental governance. However, as Eisner discovers,

many good ideas have severe structural limitations.

Th ese impediments may be overcome and possibly

produce positive results. If greater environmental

decentralization is the answer, it ultimately depends

on key stakeholders who possess long-term vision.