Environmental Heresies

This book systematically deconstructs the pervasive and counter-productive discourse surrounding environmental policy. The authors argue that environmental policy problems are always framed such that conflict is inevitable—a particular project or policy must be accepted versus a specific environmental asset that must be protected. Over the course of 12 chapters, the authors demonstrate that confident yet contradictory assertions by contending interests preclude necessary deliberation and reason giving. They argue that deliberation is an important social process of reflecting upon the reasons for doing something. Their innovative approach allows discourse and collaboration to continue, until—after honest and informed deliberation—the better way forward is arrived at. This approach to environmental policy illustrates just how very constructive and enabling the quest for the reasonable can be.
Juha Hiedanpää is Research Professor in Natural Resource Policy at the Natural Resources Institute Finland. He has published widely on biodiversity policy, institutional change, and policy design from the bottom up. 
Daniel W. Bromley is Anderson-Bascom Professor Emeritus of Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has published extensively on environmental economics, international development, and the institutional foundations of the economy. His recent books include Environment and Economy: Property Rights and Public Policy, and Sufficient Reason: Volitional Pragmatism and the Meaning of Economic Institutions.