Corporate Power and the Environment: The Political Economy of U.S. Environmental Policy

Environmental policy is broadly viewed as an oasis of democracy, unspoiled by crass capitalism and undominated by corporate interests. This book counters that view. The focus of Corporate Power and the Environment focuses on how U.S. economic elites--corporate decisionmakers and other individuals of substantial wealth--shape the content and implementation of U.S. environmental policy to their economic and political benefit. The author uses the management of the national forests and national parks, as well as wilderness preservation policies and federal clean air policies, as case studies to show corporate power in action in even the "purest" of policy arenas.

George A. Gonzalez is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami at Coral Gables, and coeditor of Flashpoints in Environmental Policymaking: Controversies in Achieving Sustainability.