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Environmental politics is an academic field of study focused on three core components:〔Carter, Neil. 2007. ''The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy'', 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-68745-4〕 * The study of political theories and ideas related to the environment; * The examination of the environmental stances of both mainstream political parties and environmental social movements; and * The analysis of public policymaking and implementation affecting the environment, at multiple geo-political levels. Neil Carter, in his foundational text ''Politics of the Environment'' (2009), suggests that ''environmental'' politics is distinct in at least two ways: first, "it has a primary concern with the relationship between human society and the natural world" (p. 3); and second, "unlike most other single issues, it comes replete with its own ideology and political movement" (p. 5, drawing on Michael Jacobs, ed., ''Greening the Millenium?'', 1997).〔 Further, he distinguishes between modern and earlier forms of environmental politics, in particular conservationism and preservationism. Contemporary environmental politics "was driven by the idea of a global ecological crisis that threatened the very existence of humanity." And "modern environmentalism was a political and activist mass movement which demanded a radical transforamtion in the values and structures of society."〔 Environmental concerns were rooted in the vast social changes that took place in the United States after World War II. Although environmentalism can be identified in earlier years, only after the war did it become widely shared social priority. This began with outdoor recreation in the 1950s, extended into the wider field of the protection of natural environments, and then became infused with attempts to cope with air and water pollution and still later with toxic chemical pollutants. After World War II, environmental politics became a major public concern.〔Hays, Samuel P., and Barbara D. Hays. Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1987. Print.〕 This is reflected by the emergence of Green politics in the Western world beginning in the 1970s. == Democratic Challenges == Climate change is slow relative to political cycles of leadership in electoral democracies, which impedes responses by politicians who are elected and re-elected on much shorter timescales. Effectively responding to global warming necessitates some form of international environmental governance to achieve shared targets related to energy consumption and environmental usage. Climate change complicates political ideology and practice, affecting conceptions of responsibility for future societies as well as economic systems.〔 Material inequality between nations make technological solutions insufficient for climate change mitigation.〔 Rather, political solutions can navigate the particularities of various facets of environmental crisis. Climate change mitigation strategies can be at odds with democratic priorities of prosperity, progress, and state sovereignty, and instead underscore a collective relationship with the environment. The international political community is presently based on liberal principles that prioritize individual freedoms and capitalist systems that make quick and ambitious climate responses difficult.〔 Interest-group liberalism is guided by individual human priorities. Groups unable to voice their self-interest, such as minorities without suffrage, or non-humans, are not included in the political compromise. Addressing environmental crises can be impeded when citizens of liberal democracies do not see environmental problems as impacting their lives, or when they lack the education to evaluate the importance of the problem. The human benefits from environmental exploitation and protection compete.〔 Considering the implications of ecological degradation for future human generations can give environmental concerns a basis in anthropocentric liberal democratic politics. William Ophuls posits that liberal democracies are unfit to address environmental problems, and that the prioritization of these challenges would involve a transition to more authoritarian forms of government. Others counter this by pointing to the past successes of environmental reform movements to improve water and air quality in liberal societies.〔 In practice, environmentalism can improve democracy rather than necessitate its end, by expanding democratic participation and promoting political innovations. The tensions between liberal democracy and environmental goals raise questions about the possible limitations of democracy (or at least democracy as we know it): in its responsiveness to subtle but large-scale problems, its ability to work from a holistic societal perspective, its aptness in coping with environmental crisis relative to other forms of government.〔 Democracies do not have the provisions to make environmental reforms that are not mandated by voters, and many voters lack incentives or desire to demand policies that could compromise immediate prosperity. The question arises as to whether the foundation of politics is morality or practicality.〔 A scheme that conceives of and values the environment beyond its human utility, an environmental ethics, could be crucial for democracies to respond to climate change.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Environmental politics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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