Bulletin n. 1/2017 | ||
June 2017 | ||
Heikkila Tanya, Weible Christopher M., Olofsson Kristin |
||
Lessons From State-Level and National-Level Policy Conflicts Over U.S. Shale Development | ||
in Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development , May-June , 2017 | ||
Sustainable governance of the environment requires that people and decision makers are capable of learning and adapting to new and emerging environmental issues. Yet our ability to learn and adapt can be hindered when conflicts arise over the nature of environmental issues or the appropriate policy solutions for addressing these issues. At the same time, conflicts over environmental issues often raise awareness among the media and general public, spur research or data collection, and engage competing interests to solve problems. The intensity of conflicts and how people engage in them therefore play a key role in environmental sustainability. However, the nature of environmental conflicts varies widely across issues and across levels of policymaking. How can policymakers, managers, and other interested stakeholders understand the sources, characteristics, and effects of environmental conflicts? What strategies can they use to navigate environmental conflicts toward sustainable governance? This article explores these questions within the context of policy conflicts over shale oil and gas development at both state and federal levels. | ||