We may be standing at the precipice of a revolution in propulsion not seen since the internal combustion engine replaced the horse and buggy. The proliferation of electric cars will change the daily lives of motorists, boost some regional economies and hurt others, reduce oil insecurity but create new insecurities about raw materials, and impact urban air quality and climate change. If you want to understand how quickly the transition is likely to occur, and the factors shaping the pace of the transition, this book delivers with a candid, illuminating style. The invention of the lithium-ion battery and its adaptation to the auto sector set the stage for the exciting proliferation of electric cars, beginning with California and Norway. This book focuses on the period from the oil crises of the 1970s to the present, tracing the development of this entirely new industry and its critical supply chain. John Graham delves into the major societal concerns, economic rationales, governmental policies and corporate strategies. He emphasizes that consumer concerns slowed the pace of the transition while spurring more innovation and new policies to persuade reluctant consumers. And he explains why the transition is now occurring much faster in China and Europe than in Japan and the United States. More broadly, the book tells the story of many successes and failures in public policy, technological innovation and corporate strategy. This book provides an in-depth understanding of how people on every continent in the world are contributing to the new electric-vehicle industry, including the raw materials, battery components, electric motors and charging stations. Faculty, students and researchers will appreciate the integrated treatment of the technical, economic, political and international issues. For the practitioner in industry, government and civil society, the book is an engaging look at the roles of key decision makers and organizations, both those favoring electric cars and those opposed.

America has struggled for 30 years to resolve controversy about the use of occupant restraint systems in motor vehicles. The book uses the differing perspectives of conflicting interests, democratic pluralism, to explain why it was so difficult to resolve the dispute and how the breakthrough toward resolution was ultimately achieved. Principles governing policymaking and corporate influences are explained and insights are provided for policymakers, corporate executives, lobbyists, consumer activists, attorneys and judges, and legislators who are participants in regulatory processes.

America has struggled for thirty years to resolve controversy about the use of occupant restraint systems in motor vehicles. The book uses the differing perspectives of conflicting interests, democratic pluralism, to explain why it was so difficult to resolve the dispute and how the breakthrough toward resolution was ultimately achieved. Principles governing policymaking and corporate influences are explained and insights are provided for policymakers, corporate executives, lobbyists, consumer activists, attorneys and judges, and legislators who are participants in regulatory processes.

Human exposure to toxic substances that cause cancer, reproductive abnormalities, and other adverse health effects is a topic of increasing interest to scientists, journalists, workers, business executives, advocacy groups, and the public at large. Citizen concern has prompted the government to establish an elaborate regulatory system designed to protect people from chemical exposures. Harnessing Science examines the role of science in toxic chemical regulation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The book postulates that scientific knowledge and advice from experts outside of government is critical to the competence and credibility of regulations designed to protect public health.

This unique volume takes a close look at the contributions of three specific organizations that were designed to improve regulatory science: the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (CIIT), the Science Advisory Board of the EPA, and the Health Effects Institute. Early chapters trace the origins and histories of each of these three organizations. Then regulatory case studies of selected chemical substances (unleaded gasoline, perchloroethylene, formaldehyde, nitrates, and carbon monoxide) are used to assess the contributions of CIIT, SAB, and HEI. The final chapter makes specific recommendations designed to strengthen these organizations. Harnessing Science for Environmental Regulation is essential reading for anyone who is interested in how science influences regulatory decisions about human exposure to toxic chemicals. It will be of special interest to federal and state policy makers, practicing scientists, environmental advocates, risk assessors, corporate managers, and environmental journalists.

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, this book brings together leading scholars and EPA veterans to provide a comprehensive assessment of the agency's key decisions and actions in the various areas of its responsibility. Themes across all chapters include the role of rulemaking, negotiation/compromise, partisan polarization, judicial impacts, relations with the White House and Congress, public opinion, interest group pressures, environmental enforcement, environmental justice, risk assessment, and interagency conflict. As no other book on the market currently discusses EPA with this focus or scope, the authors have set out to provide a comprehensive analysis of the agency's rich 50-year history for academics, students, professional, and the environmental community.

Developed from the efforts of a multiyear, international project examining how persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals are evaluated and managed, Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Chemicals: Technical Aspects, Policies, and Practices focuses on improving the processes that govern PBTs. Incorporating science and policy literature-as well as interviews and panel discussions featuring experts from around the world-this book provides you with an international perspective of PBT policies (centering on Europe, Asia, and North America), and reveals major findings and recommendations for improving PBT science, laws, and policies. It includes case studies of specific chemicals, provides an introduction to the overall subject of toxic chemicals, and weighs in on science and policy expansion for PBTs. It also provides summary tables of important PBTs, and discussions on the number of PBTs in commerce, weight of evidence approaches, market deselection, and international management. The text: Assesses the history, current practice, and future of PBT management Considers the roles scientific data, modeling, and conventions play in identifying and regulating PBTs Explores the number of PBTs in commerce and the growing role of weight of evidence (WOE) in the making of PBT determinations Identifies issues that are likely to come up in WOE judgments Examines international, national, subnational, and regional PBT policies Includes a comprehensive and easy-to-understand analysis of PBT science and policy This book reviews the current science, policies, and practices surrounding the regulation of PBTs. It also provides relevant research, recommendations, and suggestions for improving the management and oversight of PBTs.

Developed from the efforts of a multiyear, international project examining how persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals are evaluated and managed, Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Chemicals: Technical Aspects, Policies, and Practices focuses on improving the processes that govern PBTs. Incorporating science and policy literature-as well as interviews and panel discussions featuring experts from around the world-this book provides you with an international perspective of PBT policies (centering on Europe, Asia, and North America), and reveals major findings and recommendations for improving PBT science, laws, and policies. It includes case studies of specific chemicals, provides an introduction to the overall subject of toxic chemicals, and weighs in on science and policy expansion for PBTs. It also provides summary tables of important PBTs, and discussions on the number of PBTs in commerce, weight of evidence approaches, market deselection, and international management. The text: Assesses the history, current practice, and future of PBT management Considers the roles scientific data, modeling, and conventions play in identifying and regulating PBTs Explores the number of PBTs in commerce and the growing role of weight of evidence (WOE) in the making of PBT determinations Identifies issues that are likely to come up in WOE judgments Examines international, national, subnational, and regional PBT policies Includes a comprehensive and easy-to-understand analysis of PBT science and policy This book reviews the current science, policies, and practices surrounding the regulation of PBTs. It also provides relevant research, recommendations, and suggestions for improving the management and oversight of PBTs.

Millions have entered poverty as a result of the Great Recession's terrible toll of long-term unemployment. Kristin S. Seefeldt and John D. Graham examine recent trends in poverty and assess the performance of America s "safety net" programs. They consider likely scenarios for future developments and conclude that the well-being of low-income Americans, particularly the working poor, the near poor, and the new poor, is at substantial risk despite economic recovery."

The record of any American President attracts attention, but Barack Obama, the first African-American president in the nation's 240-year history, is of special interest. Obama came into office as the economy was careening into the worst downturn since the Great Depression. On the political front, he would be challenged by the intense congressional polarization faced by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, exacerbated by the rise of the Tea Party movement. In this comprehensive assessment of domestic policymaking, John D. Graham considers what we may learn from the Obama presidency about how presidents can best implement their agendas when Congress is evenly divided. What did Obama pledge to do in domestic policy and what did he actually accomplish? Why did some initiatives succeed and others fail? Did Obama's policies contribute to the losses experienced by the Democratic Party in 2010 and 2014? In carefully documented case studies of economic policy, health care reform, energy and environmental policy, and immigration reform, Graham asks whether Obama was effective at accomplishing his agenda. Counterfactuals are analyzed to suggest ways that Obama might have been even more effective than he was and at less political cost to his party. This book builds on Graham's well-received analysis in Bush on the Home Front, elaborating and applying a theory of presidential effectiveness in a polarized political environment.

Millions have entered poverty as a result of the Great Recession's terrible toll of long-term unemployment. Kristin S. Seefeldt and John D. Graham examine recent trends in poverty and assess the performance of America s "safety net" programs. They consider likely scenarios for future developments and conclude that the well-being of low-income Americans, particularly the working poor, the near poor, and the new poor, is at substantial risk despite economic recovery."

Military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq consumed so much attention during his presidency that few people appreciated that George W. Bush was also an activist on the home front. Despite limited public support, and while confronting a deeply divided Congress, Bush engineered and implemented reforms of public policy on a wide range of issues: taxes, education, health care, energy, environment, and regulatory reform. In Bush on the Home Front, former Bush White House official and academic John D. Graham analyzes Bush s successes in these areas and setbacks in other areas such as Social Security and immigration reform. Graham provides valuable insights into how future presidents can shape U.S. domestic policy while facing continuing partisan polarization."

We see the stories in the newspaper nearly every day: a drug hailed as a breakthrough treatment turns out to cause harmful side effects; controls implemented to reduce air pollution are shown to generate hazardous solid waste; bans on dangerous chemicals result in the introduction of even more risky substitutes. Could our efforts to protect our health and the environment actually be making things worse? In "Risk versus Risk," John D. Graham, Jonathan Baert Wiener, and their colleagues at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis marshal an impressive set of case studies which demonstrate that all too often our nation's campaign to reduce risks to our health and the environment is at war with itself.

Most public controversies about the effects of chemicals on human health revolve around the risk of cancer-hardly surprising, considering that it is the second leading cause of death in the United States. People are concerned about the dangers of carcinogens in air, water, and food, and they expect their representatives in government to protect them from such hazards. On the other hand, the economic costs of eliminating every suspected carcinogen from the environment would cause tremendous economic hardship. How should policymakers use science to help strike a balance between the benefits of lowering the risk of cancer and the economic costs of regulation? In this important book the authors squarely address the complex interaction of science and regulatory policy. They begin by clarifying the scientific issues that are central to regulatory decisions, then explain how and why scientists can honestly disagree about these issues. They demonstrate with two cogent case studies: the heated debates about formaldehyde and benzene, both useful but potentially toxic chemicals. By examining how scientists evaluated the risks from these chemicals, and what kinds of legislative, administrative, and judicial decisions emerged from the evaluations, the authors furnish insight into the checks and balances of health-risk regulation. They point out that overselling science in this context is harmful to both science and democracy. Their final chapter proposes creative methods for constructing a bridge between the scientist and the regulator that will be invaluable to anyone concerned about health risks.