Green Giants?: Environmental Policies of the United States and the European Union (American and Comparative Environmental Policy)

The United States in recent years has been abandoning its historical role as a leader in environmental regulation. At the same time, the European Union, spurred by political integration, has enacted many new environmental laws and assumed a leadership role in promoting global environmental sustainability. Green Giants?, one of the most detailed comparisons of the environmental policies of America and Europe yet undertaken, looks at current policy trends in the United States and the European Union--the two largest economic actors in the world--and the implications they have for future transatlantic and global cooperation. The contributors--leading European and American scholars and practitioners--examine similarities and differences in specific policy areas in order to assess whether United States and European Union policies are diverging, pursuing similar goals and methods, or undergoing a "hybridization" through joint learning and exchanges. They find that although European and American policies may parallel each other somewhat in domestic regulation, they are clearly diverging in the "third generation" of environmental concerns, which include such global problems as climate change, international trade, and sustainable development. In the final chapter the editors conclude that transatlantic dialogue and cooperation at the highest level are necessary if these two economic and political giants are to lead the international community toward a stable and secure ecological future. Series Foreword......Page 8 Preface......Page 12 Introduction......Page 18 I Comparing Policy Trends: Divergence or Convergence?......Page 32 1 The Precautionary Principle, Risk Assessment, and the Comparative Role of Science in the European Community and the US Legal Systems......Page 34 2 The Roots of Divergence: A European Perspective......Page 70 3 Convergence, Divergence, and Complexity in US and European Risk Regulation......Page 90 II Regulatory Trends: Institutional and Policy Innovations......Page 128 4 Environmental Federalism in the United States and the European Union......Page 130 5 Implementation of Environmental Policy and Law in the United States and the European Union......Page 152 6 Convergence or Divergence in the Use of “Negotiated Environmental Agreements” in European and US Environmental Policy: An Overview......Page 176 7 What Future for Environmental Liability? The Use of Liability Systems for Environmental Regulation in the Courtrooms of the United States and the European Union......Page 200 III Policy Divergence on Global Issues......Page 222 8 The Climate Change Divide: The European Union, the United States, and the Future of the Kyoto Protocol......Page 224 9 Trade and the Environment in the Global Economy: Contrasting European and American Perspectives......Page 248 10 International Development Assistance and Burden Sharing......Page 270 11 Sustainable Development: Comparative Understandings and Responses......Page 294 IV Transnational Networks and Dialogue......Page 320 12 Emerging Transnational Policy Networks: The European Environmental Advisory Councils......Page 322 13 The Transatlantic Environmental Dialogue......Page 346 V Conclusions......Page 362 14 Conclusion: The Necessary Dialogue......Page 364 About the Editors and Contributors......Page 394 Index......Page 398 The precautionary principle, risk assessment, and the comparative role of science in the European community and the US legal systems / Theofanis Christoforou The roots of divergence: a European perspective / Ludwig Krämer Convergence, divergence, and complexity in US and European risk regulation / Jonathan B. Wiener Environmental federalism in the United States and the European Union / R. Daniel Kelemen Implementation of environmental policy and the law in the United States and the European Union / Christoph Demmke Convergence or divergence in the use of "negotiated environmental agreements" in the European and US environmental policy: an overview / David J. E. Grimeaud What future for environmental liability? The use of liability systems for environmental regulation in the courtrooms of the United States and the European Union / Timothy Swanson and Andreas Kontoleon The climate change divide: the European Union, the United States, and the future of the Kyoto Protocol / Miranda A. Schreurs Trade and the environment in the global economy: contrasting European and American perspectives / David Vogel International development assistance and burden sharing / Paul G. Harris Sustainable development: comparative understandings and responses / Susan Baker and John McCormick Emerging transnational policy networks: the European environmental advisory councils / Richard Macrory and Ingeborg Niestroy The Transatlantic environmental dialogue / Carl Lankowski The necessary dialogue / Michael G. Faure and Norman J. Vig. Annotation. The United States in recent years has been abandoning its historical role as a leader in environmental regulation. At the same time, the European Union, spurred by political integration, has enacted many new environmental laws and assumed a leadership role in promoting global environmental sustainability. Green Giants?, one of the most detailed comparisons of the environmental policies of America and Europe yet undertaken, looks at current policy trends in the United States and the European Union--the two largest economic actors in the world--and the implications they have for future transatlantic and global cooperation. The contributors--leading European and American scholars and practitioners--examine similarities and differences in specific policy areas in order to assess whether United States and European Union policies are diverging, pursuing similar goals and methods, or undergoing a "hybridization" through joint learning and exchanges. They find that although European and American policies may parallel each other somewhat in domestic regulation, they are clearly diverging in the "third generation" of environmental concerns, which include such global problems as climate change, international trade, and sustainable development. In the final chapter the editors conclude that transatlantic dialogue and cooperation at the highest level are necessary if these two economic and political giants are to lead the international community toward a stable and secure ecological future.

The United States in recent years has been abandoning its historical role as a leader in environmental regulation. At the same time, the European Union, spurred by political integration,has enacted many new environmental laws and assumed a leadership role in promoting global environmental sustainability. Green Giants?, one of the most detailed comparisons of the environmental policies of America and Europe yet undertaken, looks at current policy trends in the United States and the European Union—the two largest economic actors in the world—and the implications they have for future transatlantic and global cooperation. The contributors—leading European and American scholars and practitioners—examine similarities and differences in specific policy areas in order to assess whether United States and European Union policies are diverging,pursuing similar goals and methods, or undergoing a "hybridization" through joint learning and exchanges. They find that although European and American policies may parallel each other somewhat in domestic regulation, they are clearly diverging in the "third generation" of environmental concerns, which include such global problems as climate change, international trade, and sustainable development. In the final chapter the editors conclude that transatlantic dialogue and cooperation at the highest level are necessary if these two economic and political giants are to lead the international community toward a stable and secure ecological future.

The basic duty of governments to act cautiously or to err on the side of safety in protecting public health has been a long-standing principle in the legal systems of nearly all major jurisdictions, including those of the United States and the member states of the European Community. Edited By Norman J. Vig And Michael G. Faure. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.