A conventional wisdom within environmental law scholarship states that rational actor theories of politics cannot explain the major federal environmental laws that were enacted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The reason: large groups of self-interested citizens, each anticipating only modest...

A conventional wisdom within environmental law scholarship states that rational actor theories of politics cannot explain the major federal environmental laws that were enacted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The reason: large groups of self-interested citizens, each anticipating only modest...

The weaknesses of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) are apparent for all to see. The theoretical underpinnings of positivism and rational choice methodologies have been dealt a significant blow in the post-positivist literature in science, political science and policy studies. Likewise, the...

While the United States has of yet not passed meaningful legislation that addresses climate change, several U.S. states are taking steps to reduce the carbon footprints of their industries and citizens. As it has in the past, California is leading the way. But are its actions legal?

This paper is a draft of a chapter for a forthcoming book, Research Handbook in Public Law and Public Choice, edited by Daniel Farber and Anne Joseph O'Connell, to be published by Elgar. It reviews the public choice literature on environmental policy making, first generally and then with respect...