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Saving Our Environment from Washington: How Congress Grabs Power, Shirks Responsibility, and Shortchanges the People (RN)
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Product Description
Congress empowered the Environmental Protection Agency on the theory that only a national agency that is insulated from accountability to voters could produce the scientifically grounded pollution rules needed to save a careless public from its own filth. In this provocative book, David Schoenbrod explains how his experience as an environmental advocate brought him to this startling realization: letting EPA dictate to the nation is a mistake.
Through a series of gripping and illuminating anecdotes from his own career, the author reveals the EPA to be an agency that, under Democrats and Republicans alike, delays good rules, imposes bad ones, and is so big, muscle-bound, and remote that it does unnecessary damage to our society. EPA stays in power, he says, because it enables elected legislators to evade responsibility by hiding behind appointed bureaucrats. The best environmental rules—those that have done the most good—have come when Congress had to take responsibility or from states and localities rather than the EPA.
With the passion of an authentic environmentalist, Schoenbrod makes a sensible plea for “bottom-up” environmental protection now. The responsibility for pollution control belongs not in agencies but in legislatures, and usually not at the federal level but rather closer to home.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1543734 in Books
- Published on: 2005-03-11
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Schoenbrod, of the New York Law School and the Cato Institute, believes that "most people see environmental protection as a struggle between the EPA and big business." But actually, he argues, corporations understand that the Environmental Protection Agency provides them with substantial benefits. In outlining the EPA's rise to power after Nixon established the agency in 1970, Schoenbrod argues that the shift away from state and local governments to the national level was an error because national governmental agencies are more susceptible to pressure from legislators and corporations. A good example is the Clean Air Act--emission limits "begun at the state level" on new motor vehicles helped improve air quality far more than the EPA's efforts. Schoenbrod calls for a renewed appreciation of local knowledge, dismantling of the EPA, and handing over pollution control to the states. Whether readers agree with all of Schoenbrod's assessments or not, his crisp prose and fast pacing make this book a welcome addition to "green" literature. Rebecca Maksel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A scorching brief against the EPA and Congress’s capitulation to it." -- Nicholas Thompson, New York Sun
Review
"This insider's voyage through the history of environmental protection is filled with surprise and human interest. After exposing the failures of this opaque regulatory world, Schoenbrod argues for local input and control to achieve better environmental stewardship."-Philip K. Howard (Philip K. Howard Philip K. Howard )
"A terrific, albeit disturbing, read. Only someone with Schoenbrod's unique combination of legal, political and practical expertise could write so insightfully about environmental politics."-Morris P. Fiorina, Wendt Family Professor of Political Science, Stanford University (Morris P. Fiorina )
"Schoenbrod succeeds admirably in presenting a provocative analysis of the contemporary state of environmental law and policy. He makes a strong challenge to conventional wisdom."-Richard B. Stewart, School of Law, Center on Environment and Land Use Law, New York University and former chairman of the board, Environmental Defense Fund (Richard B. Stewart )
"Schoenbrod argues that power should flow away from environmental regulators in Washington and toward state legislators. Even where I disagree with him, his arguments are elegant and forced me to think hard. This is what good books do, of course!"-Paul Portney, President, Resources for the Future (Paul Portney )
"Schoenbrod fills the void between extreme arguments on both sides of environmental policy debates. His book advances the cause of more reasoned discussion in the nearly empty middle."-James L. Huffman, Dean, Lewis & Clark Law School (James L. Huffman )
"An important and original contribution to the national debate on environmental policy. Schoenbrod's rich and varied personal experience in the field powerfully brings home the policy issues he addresses."-Gary Marchant, Center for the Study of Law, Science, and Technology, Arizona State University (Gary Marchant )
"David Schoenbrod's vivid writing has made a difficult subject come alive. Regardless of your position on the environment-and I am not in total accord with him-his supporting arguments deserve extended discussion."-Edward I. Koch, former mayor, New York City (Edward I. Koch )
"A scorching brief against the EPA and Congress's capitulation to it."-Nicholas Thompson, New York Sun (Nicholas Thompson New York Sun )
"A powerful and far-reaching indictment of the nation's efforts at environmental regulation and the protection of the environment. What makes this book so significant and separates it from many critiques of the environmental movement is that author David Schoenbrod is an insider's insider. . . . Simply put, the nation would be better served if every journalist on the environmental beat and every TV talking head were required to read this book before turning the next environmental press release into another breathless scare story about the latest environmental or public health crisis. . . . It also happens to be accessible for anyone interested in the subject."-R.J. Smith, New York Post (R.J. Smith New York Post )
