Green-lite : Complexity in Fifty Years of Canadian Environmental Policy, Governance, and Democracy

Anchored in the core literature on natural resources, energy production, and environmental analysis, Green-lite is a critical examination of Canadian environmental policy, governance, and politics drawing out key policy and governance patterns to show that the Canadian story is one of complexity and often weak performance. Making a compelling argument for deeper historical analysis of environmental policy and situating environmental concerns within political and fiscal agendas, the authors provide extended discussions on three relatively new features of environmental policy: the federal-cities and urban sustainability regime, the federal-municipal infrastructure regime, and the regime of agreements with NGOs and businesses that often relegate governments to observing participants rather than being policy leaders. They probe the Harper era's muzzling of environmental science and scientists, Canada's oil sands energy and resource economy, and the government's core Alberta and Western Canadian political base. The first book to provide an integrated, historical, and conceptual examination of Canadian environmental policy over many decades, Green-lite captures complex notions of what environmental policy and green agendas seek to achieve in a business-dominated economy of diverse energy producing technologies, and their pollution harms and risks. "Anchored in the core literature on natural resources, energy production, and environmental analysis, Green-lite is a critical examination of Canadian environmental policy, governance, and politics drawing out key policy and governance patterns to show that the Canadian story is one of complexity and often weak performance. Making a compelling argument for deeper historical analysis of environmental policy and situating environmental concerns within political and fiscal agendas, the authors provide extended discussions on three relatively new features of environmental policy: the federal-cities and urban sustainability regime, the federal-municipal infrastructure regime, and the regime of agreements with NGO and businesses that often relegate governments to observing participants rather than being policy leaders. They probe the Harper era's muzzling of environmental science and scientists, Canada's oil sands energy and resource economy, and the government's core Alberta and Western Canadian political base. The first book to provide an integrated, historical, and conceptual examination of Canadian environmental policy over many decades, Green-lite captures complex notions of what environmental policy and green agendas seek to achieve in a business-dominated economy, of diverse energy producing technologies, and pollution harms and risks."-- Provided by publisher Cover Copyright Contents Charts and Tables Abbreviations Preface Introduction and Analytical Framework PART ONE - Conceptual Foundations and Historical Context 1 - Conceptual Foundations 2 - Canadian Environmental Policy and Agendas in Liberal and Conservative Prime Ministerial Eras 3 - International Environmental Policy: Canada-US Relations and Global Agreements PART TWO - Empirical Analysis of Six Environmental Regimes 4 The Environment Canada–Centred Regime 5 - The Energy-Environment Regime 6 - The Natural Resources–Environment Regime 7 - The Federal–Cities and Urban Sustainability Regime 8 - The Federal–Municipal Infrastructure Sustainability Regime 9 - The NGO, Market, and Business–Environment Regime 10 - Green-lite: Complexity in Fifty Years of Canadian Environmental Policy, Governance, and Democracy Glossary of Major Terms References Index