Green in Gridlock

Common Goals, Common Ground, and Compromise

Business & Finance, Management & Leadership, Negotiating, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Public Policy, Science & Nature, Nature, Environment, Environmental Conservation & Protection
Cover of the book Green in Gridlock by Paul Walden Hansen, Texas A&M University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Paul Walden Hansen ISBN: 9781623490461
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press Publication: September 1, 2013
Imprint: Texas A&M University Press Language: English
Author: Paul Walden Hansen
ISBN: 9781623490461
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Publication: September 1, 2013
Imprint: Texas A&M University Press
Language: English

Facing one of the most dangerous conservation crises in history—acid rain—lawmakers, industry leaders, and activists embraced an attitude of civil engagement that sought common ground and acceptance of compromise solutions on all sides. As a result, they achieved a spectacular outcome. This approach was also at work when another planet-threatening event—ozone depletion—was reversed.

In Green in Gridlock, Paul Walden Hansen, the former head of the Izaak Walton League, takes stock of what has been accomplished and what has been squandered in the many environmental contests in which he was involved during his forty-year career as a conservationist. In seeking to identify the strategies that worked and to pinpoint why progress on so many important issues never materialized, Hansen realized that the most important predictor of success or failure was the willingness of opposing interests to find common ground and to compromise in order to attain mutually important goals.

Polling demonstrates that, overwhelmingly, Americans care about the environment but are less enthusiastic about environmentalists. Accordingly, Hansen issues a pointed critique for activism of the “rather fight than win” variety. But he is also critical of conservative interests that oppose environmental legislation as a matter of principle while forgetting that a long string of cost-effective environmental legislation from the Clean Air Act to the Wilderness Act—was passed by overwhelming bipartisan margins and signed into law by Republican presidents in the 1970s. Hansen makes a convincing case that thinking and acting ideologically rather than strategically is ultimately bad for the environment.

More than a simplistic call for civility or yet another admonition that we all “work together,” this book offers practical lessons and a positive vision from a seasoned veteran on how to create support instead of opposition, how to recognize natural allies, and how to acknowledge common purpose in the name of progress.

To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Facing one of the most dangerous conservation crises in history—acid rain—lawmakers, industry leaders, and activists embraced an attitude of civil engagement that sought common ground and acceptance of compromise solutions on all sides. As a result, they achieved a spectacular outcome. This approach was also at work when another planet-threatening event—ozone depletion—was reversed.

In Green in Gridlock, Paul Walden Hansen, the former head of the Izaak Walton League, takes stock of what has been accomplished and what has been squandered in the many environmental contests in which he was involved during his forty-year career as a conservationist. In seeking to identify the strategies that worked and to pinpoint why progress on so many important issues never materialized, Hansen realized that the most important predictor of success or failure was the willingness of opposing interests to find common ground and to compromise in order to attain mutually important goals.

Polling demonstrates that, overwhelmingly, Americans care about the environment but are less enthusiastic about environmentalists. Accordingly, Hansen issues a pointed critique for activism of the “rather fight than win” variety. But he is also critical of conservative interests that oppose environmental legislation as a matter of principle while forgetting that a long string of cost-effective environmental legislation from the Clean Air Act to the Wilderness Act—was passed by overwhelming bipartisan margins and signed into law by Republican presidents in the 1970s. Hansen makes a convincing case that thinking and acting ideologically rather than strategically is ultimately bad for the environment.

More than a simplistic call for civility or yet another admonition that we all “work together,” this book offers practical lessons and a positive vision from a seasoned veteran on how to create support instead of opposition, how to recognize natural allies, and how to acknowledge common purpose in the name of progress.

To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

More books from Texas A&M University Press

Cover of the book Bulwark Against the Bay by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Democratic Renewal and the Mutual Aid Legacy of US Mexicans by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Benthic Foraminifera of the Gulf of Mexico by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Texas State Parks and the CCC by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book From Winston with Love and Kisses by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Wiki at War by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book African Americans in Central Texas History by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Telling Border Life Stories by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Caligula's Barges and the Renaissance Origins of Nautical Archaeology Under Water by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book The Blanco River by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Delbert McClinton by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book The Perfect Fence by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book The Blues Come to Texas by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Eleventh Hour by Paul Walden Hansen
Cover of the book Famous Trees of Texas by Paul Walden Hansen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy