Environmental regionalism and the struggle for California

Abstract

Regionalism has recently become an attractive rubric for advocates of environmental policy reforms. In California, two main versions of “environmental regionalism” are administrative regionalism and bioregionalism. Administrative regionalism seeks to increase policy implementation and effectiveness by extending agency control over land use and resource and pollution management to a regional level. Bioregionalism encourages local control over resources and environmental policy, while seeking to transform citizens through value change and political participation. Although proponents promise far more rational environmental outcomes if their reforms are implemented, neither administrative regionalism nor bioregionalism will be able to address the often conflicting goals of fairness, political democracy, and decisive, effective transboundary environmental management. Thus, until these goals are reconciled, environmental regionalism is unlikely to break political gridlock over environmental policy in California...