Making Environmental Laws Work Book

Considering the political context in which environmental laws emerge, this book explores ways in which ideas from America could be used to improve the effectiveness of environmental laws in Europe. Making environmental laws effective demands more than passage through the legislature and executive approval. Successful implementation of these laws requires wide public support and consistent enforcement. Environmental policies must adapt to the ways that technologies and industries are continually progressing. Britain has traditionally used criminal law sanctions to enforce its environmental laws. America uses the criminal process more selectively but makes much more effective use of civil and administrative enforcement. America is currently developing highly operative approaches to pollution prevention. This book also considers the political context in which environmental laws emerge and the implications for long-term public support of them. The book examines the ways in which the lawmaking processes in Britain and Europe effectively exclude public participation and offers suggestions for ways to change these processes. Furthermore, it considers the tension between science - the foundation for much environmental policy - and public opinion. The author recently spent a year's Harkness Fellowship in America, where he forged the views set forth in this book.