A History of Environmental Politics Since 1945Long before public life in America was enlivened with such dramatic sound bites as acid rain, global warming, rain forests and the ozone layer, Samuel P. Hays was well launched on his career of tracking this new phenomenon of environmental affairs. His first foray, a book on the early twentieth-century conservation movement, published in 1958, helped to launch environmental history as a field and his continued writings after coming to the University of Pittsburgh in 1960 helped to bring the field to full flower. Now he has produced another volley which promises to continue to energize this growing and dynamic field of study, A History of Environmental Politics since 1945. Hays provides an overview of environmental politics during the last half century, both its formative and its maturing years, that will be useful to those who are actively engaged in environmental affairs and those who wish to watch and assess it from the sidelines. His themes are both simple and diverse. His overall focus is on the emergence of an environmental culture which has engaged millions of Americans in varied ways of thought and action, on the one hand, and the intense opposition to that drive on the other. Hays explores a wide range of issues such as the role of nature in an urban society; pollution and its causes and effects; the impact of an ever increasing population and its voracious appetite to consume. At the same time he follows these threads through science, technology, economics, management, the structure of politics and the results of policy. A History of Environmental Politics since 1945 provides an introduction to the subject for both the specialist and the lay audience, the general public and the student. It provides a high level of insight that will inform both those who are environmental experts and those who wish to take a first step at grasping the meaning of environmental affairs. It constitutes a formative guide for a subject that promises to engage the nation ever more fully in the years to come. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 5 | |
THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPULSE | 22 |
NATURE IN AN URBANIZED SOCIETY | 36 |
THE WEB OF LIFE | 52 |
LAND DEVELOPMENT | 66 |
PUBLIC RESOURCES AND PRIVATE RESOURCES | 79 |
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGAGEMENT | 94 |
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE | 137 |
THE ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMY | 154 |
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY | 170 |
THE STRUCTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS | 185 |
THE RESULTS OF POLICY | 198 |
ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE | 214 |
PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE | 228 |
FURTHER READING | 235 |
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Common terms and phrases
action activities administrative agencies air pollution amid anti-environmental areas argued arose became cities Clean Air Act Clean Water Act complex consumption context continued controversy costs debate decisions ecological economic effects emissions emphasized envi environment environmental affairs environmental circumstances environmental culture environmental movement environmental objectives environmental opposition environmental organizations environmental politics environmental science environmental values especially established evolved exposures federal focus forest funds growth habitat Hence human ideas identify impact increasing innovation institutions intense interest involved legislative limited major ment mental monitoring movement natural natural environment organic foods pesticides plants population problem production programs protection public lands range recreation reduce regional rivers role ronmental scientific scientists shaped significant sought sources standards strategies sulfur dioxide tion took toxic chemicals twentieth century U.S. Forest Service urban waste wetlands wilderness wildlife World War II