ABSTRACT
This chapter looks first at a major rationale for government intervention in environmental policy: market failure. A study prepared for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discussed eight types of economic instruments employed in environmental policy making, both in the United States and abroad. This chapter has one major theme: policy implementation is absolutely vital because of scientific uncertainty. Perhaps Barack Obama's signature environmental policy efforts are in the area of climate change. The chapter discusses electoral politics that had an impact on environmental policy, especially relating to global warming. Environmental policy faces several challenges from both the conservative and the liberal ends of the political spectrum. Further, the administration demonstrated that it could work with business interests; in other words, the Clinton administration sought a middle ground in environmental policy.
