Book Summary of Environmental Risk, Environmental Values, and Political Choices: Beyond Efficiency Trade-offs in Public Policy Analysis by John Martin Gillroy

Environmental Risk, Environmental Values, and Political Choices: Beyond Efficiency Trade-offs in Public Policy Analysis, ed. John Martin Gillroy, (Colorado: Westview Press, 1993), 180 pp.

Environmental Risk, Environmental Values, and Political Choices: Beyond Efficiency Trade-offs in Public Policy Analysis is a collection of the work of multiple authors divided into three sections, each with a separate overarching topic. It will be of interest to those who seek an understanding of how values, affect risk assessments and political choices. The first section is concerned with value domains, integrity, and policy argument. The editor begins the chapter with a discussion of the relationship between the analysis of environmental risk, and integrity and intrinsic value. This is followed by Steve Kelman's consideration of moral domains, economic instrumentalism, and the roots of environmental values. Robert C. Paehlke closes the chapter with an examination of the progress from values, to politics, to policy.

Section two concerns value conflicts, domain trade-offs, and political coöperation. The first chapter in this section examines the nature of environmental values. Christopher J. Bosso examines the relationship between environmental values and democratic institutions. The chapter closes with a consideration of the interplay between science, environmental values and policy prescriptions. The final section addresses the environmental values and the NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) syndrome. William C. Gunderson discusses partisan politics, economic growth, and the roots of NIMBY through an examination of the case of Montpellier, France. This is followed by a similar discussion (with the addition of consideration of economic ethos) through an examination of the Rhode Island case. The section closes with consideration of intrinsic value and public policy choice examined through the Alberta case. The book closes with a discussion of conflict and compromise in both environmental values and economic trade-offs.

Environmental Risk, Environmental Values, and Political Choices: Beyond Efficiency Trade-offs in Public Policy Analysis is a careful selection of the work of authors who give focused consideration to the topic at hand.