The Edge Books
Navigating Climate Change Policy
Edited by Edella C. Schlager, Kirsten H. Engel, and Sally Rider
This timely volume challenges the notion that because climate change is inherently a global problem, only coordinated actions on a global scale can lead to a solution. It considers the perspective that since climate change itself has both global and local causes and implications, the most effective policies for adapting to and mitigating climate change must involve governments and communities at many different levels.
Federalism -- the system of government in which power is divided among a national government and state and regional governments -- is well-suited to address the challenges of climate change because it permits distinctive policy responses at a variety of scales. The chapters in this book explore questions such as what are appropriate relationships between states, tribes, and the federal government as each actively pursues climate-change policies? How much leeway should states have in designing and implementing climate-change policies, and how extensively should the federal government exercise its preemption powers to constrain state activity? What climate-change strategies are states best suited to pursue, and what role, if any, will regional state-based collaborations and associations play? This book examines these questions from a variety of perspectives, blending legal and policy analyses to provide thought-provoking coverage of how governments in a federal system cooperate, coordinate, and accommodate one another to address this global problem.
Navigating Climate Change Policy is an essential resource for policymakers and judges at all levels of government who deal with questions of climate governance. It will also serve as an important addition to the curriculum on climate change and environmental policy in graduate and undergraduate courses and will be of interest to anyone concerned with how the government addresses environmental issues.
About the Editors
is a professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on western water institutions, law, policy, and governance. She is the co-author of two books: Common Waters, Diverging Streams: Linking Institutions and Water Management in Arizona, California, and Colorado and Embracing Watershed Politics.
has a broad back-ground in environmental law and policy that spans academia and public sector practice. Most recently she has devoted her scholarship and public outreach to issues surrounding global climate change and specifically the response to climate change by subnational units of government. She has held visiting professorships at the Harvard Law School and the Vanderbilt School of Law.
is the Associate Dean for Administration and Chief of Staff for the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law and the Director of the nonpartisan William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government
Conservation of Shared Environments
edited by Laura López-Hoffman, Emily D. McGovern, Robert G. Varady, and Karl W. Flessa
The United States’ and Mexico’s shared environment extends far beyond the political boundary. It comprises the plant and animal species whose natural distributions extend deep into each nation, along with the waters in rivers and aquifers that support ecosystem function far removed from the border. Conservation of Shared Environments presents a broad perspective on the ecological, social, and political challenges of conserving biodiversity across the international border. Covering topics as diverse as wildlife and grassland preservation, water rights, ecosystem services, indigenous peoples, and the ecological consequences of border security, the contributors illustrate collaborative transboundary efforts to overcome cross-border conservation challenges. This book offers scientific analysis as well as insight for bridging gaps between researchers, policymakers, and the public.
- Although restoration ecology is often focused on the science and technical challenges of a particular ecosystem or species, this book is centered on the border as an institution, the environmental problems it creates, and discussions of how people are attempting to find solutions that include both “work-arounds” and holistic approaches. The essays highlight the need for solutions that meet both the economic, political, and social needs of border communities and the broader, linked interests that include state and federal governments. Full review in Restoration Ecology.
- Conservation is a tocsin - it is a collection of essays discussing some of the problems facing shared environments. But on the other hand, Conservation is an armamentarium - well stocked with many prescriptions available to help remedy some of the ills that affect shared environments. Full review in Journal of the American Water Resources Association.
About the Editors
is assistant professor at the School of Natural Resources and assistant research professor at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, University of Arizona. Previously, she was an NSF post-doctoral fellow at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s Center for Ecosystem Studies. Her research focuses on the ecology and policy of managing transboundary systems, in particular those shared by the United States and Mexico.
is a researcher and editor at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona. She has also worked on cooperative projects between the Sonoran Institute and the National Park Service to develop technical reports, monitoring protocols, and outreach publications related to Sonoran Desert ecosystems and adaptive management. In her scholarly writing, she has addressed the politics, culture, media institutions, and water policies of the U.S.-Mexico border region and analyzed the status and significance of global water initiatives.
is deputy director of the University of Arizona’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, where he is research professor of environmental policy. He also is adjunct professor of hydrology and water resources and of arid lands studies; and director of the French CNRS Joint International Unit on Water, Environment and Public Policy. Varady has written on climate and water in the U.S.-Mexico border region, transboundary environmental policy, and global water initiatives.
is professor and head of the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. He studies the environmental consequences of water diversions on the Colorado River delta. Flessa has been president of the Paleontological Society, visiting professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California and at Cornell University, and a visiting scientist at the Sonoran Institute.
Updated: 09/13/2011