Valuing Clean Air

Management consultant Halvorson traces the history of the Clean Air Act and the 'regulation of air pollution' in his comprehensive debut....As the author covers shifts in the face of political bickering and attempts to balance economic concerns with environmental ones, he convincingly makes a case that the politicization of science in policymaking finds its roots in the early days of the EPA....Readers willing to stay the course will find a solid introduction on how a single, little-known agency became the epicenter of a fight over regulation and the state's role in protecting the planet. Climate-minded readers with an interest in policy will find this a valuable resource. * Publishers Weekly * The Clean Air Act and its progeny were intended to remedy tractable environmental concerns. However, from its inception, the Environmental Protection Agency (as the enforcer) has been challenged by the business community and others over the means of achieving environmental compliance in light of other priorities, including economic productivity. These challenges are rooted in growing opposition to environmental protection by Republican voters and elected officials, the politicization of science, entrenched belief among some in the efficiency of markets over regulations, and the growing monetization of environmental benefits. Halvorson explicitly discusses his argument's relevance for current debates over climate change. Moreover, he offers cogent overviews of the dominant themes of environmental protection policy...since the 1970s by zeroing in on divergent regulatory styles of presidential administrations spanning Richard Nixon to Donald Trump. * Choice * Protecting the environment has become an essential but thankless responsibility of government, and Charles Halvorson's Valuing Clean Air astutely shows why the Environmental Protection Agency is no one's hero despite considerable success in controlling pollution. * Adam Rome, author of The Genius of Earth Day * In the face of intense opposition to regulation during the Reagan Administration and beyond, dedicated EPA staff employed economic theory-especially market-based solutions and monetary approach to environmental value-to salvage their agency's mission and improve environmental quality. Charles Halvorson takes us inside the EPA, providing the finest analysis yet of its administrative policymaking and the politics of the possible. Valuing Clean Air is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand how the United States created environmental regulation in the neoliberal era. * David Stradling, author of Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland * Valuing Clean Air sets aside the usual focus on partisan politics to provide a lucid and compelling explanation for how the rising tide of market-based environmental policy transformed the work of the Environmental Protection Agency, contributing to the successful fight against acid rain, but also undercutting the agency's ability to tackle the largest challenge of all-climate change. * James Morton Turner, Wellesley College * As the United States is poised to reengage with the imperative of tackling climate change, Charles Halvorson brings forward a vital history of American efforts to curb air pollution since the 1960s. Halvorson brilliantly shows how an initial bipartisan coalition to improve air quality splintered amid the economic stagnation of the 1970s and waxing critiques of technocratic regulation from both the right and the left. The resulting experimentation with market-based regulatory approaches has continued to divide environmental activists and business interests alike, and Halvorson's analysis of those evolving conflicts is a must-read for historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and policy-makers. * Edward J. Balleisen, co-editor of Policy Shock: Recalibrating Risk and Regulation after Oil Spills, Nuclear Accidents, and Financial Crises *