First Name:
Megan
Last Name:
Perdue
Major Department:
Political Science/Sustainable Development
Thesis Director:
Brian Ellison
Date of Thesis:
Dec 2010
Environmental policy is not a new topic to American politics. The necessary incorporation of a myriad of disciplines, ever-evolving toolbox of policy strategies, and blurring of political boundaries to solve environmental issues affecting the United States of America makes this category of policy unique. Environmental policy's complexity expands beyond implementation to its definition. Environmental policy is typically "made to protect human health as much as it is to further [issues like] species conservation or biodiversity" (Birkland 7). Vital to this kind of policy is the research and dissection of information from the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the private and public sectors. Only the full utilization of these subjects can result in policies that consider the environmental, ethical, and economic perspectives of an issue.