Are we environmentally victimizing, perhaps even poisoning, our minority and low-income citizens? Proponents of "environmental justice" assert that environmental decisionmaking pays insufficient heed to the interests of those citizens, disproportionately burdens their neighborhoods with hazardous toxins, and perpetuates an insidious "environmental racism." In the first book-length critique of environmental justice advocacy, Christopher Foreman argues that it has cleared significant political hurdles but displays substantial limitations and drawbacks. Activism has yielded a presidential executive order, management reforms at the Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous local political victories. Yet the environmental justice movement is structurally and ideologically unable to generate a focused policy agenda. The movement refuses to confront the need for environmental priorities and trade-offs, politically inconvenient facts about environmental health risks, and the limits of an environmental approach to social justice. Ironically, environmental justice advocacy may also threaten the very constituencies it aspires to serve--distracting attention from the many significant health hazards challenging minority and disadvantaged populations. Foreman recommends specific institutional reforms intended to recast the national dialogue about the stakes of these populations in environmental protection.
Does Congress do a good job of overseeing the work of the important legislative agencies--the EPA, FDA, OSHA, and others--that it has established to protect the public from some of the risks of modern technology? Combining analysis and anecdote, Christopher H. Foreman, Jr. looks into the oversight tools available to Congress, the variety of interest groups involved, the kinds of issues that arise between agencies and congressional committees, and the personal networks that affect relations between them; and he suggests what Congress can and should do to improve the process of social regulation. "Foreman adds substantially to our understanding of the role played by oversight. . . . A solid contribution toward understanding the nature of day-to-day congressional oversight."--Burdett Loomis, Journal of Politics " This book] is presented clearly, free from jargon, whether academic or governmental. . . . A solid discussion of oversight."--Jan P. Vermeer, Perspective "This is a thoughtful, effectively organized, and well-written book. Those concerned with legislative oversight will find it highly useful."--Morris S. Ogul, University of Pittsburgh Winner of the 1989 D. B. Hardeman Prize given by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library for the best book on Congress in the twentieth century
Despite enduring limitations and flaws, public health in the United States today enjoys impressive successes compared with both earlier eras and less developed countries. Yet a recurrent, often harrowing feature of the public health landscape has been the sudden emergence of a potentially widespread threat that promises serious harm, and perhaps death, to its victims. These threats include both infectious diseases and product-related hazards. This book examines the U.S. government's handling of such threats to public health and assesses its capacity to respond effectively. The complex and vitally important political and institutional side of such problems has received less frequent attention than it deserves. Focusing on activity devoted to the discovery, investigation, containment, and prevention of disease in the population at large, Christopher Foreman shows how uncertainty and politics complicate crucial stages of policy response, and why that response is easily misinterpreted. Although AIDS is a prominent case study, this is not a book about AIDS alone. Other public health hazards discussed are Lyme disease, swine flu, Legionnaires' disease, Reye's syndrome, silicone breast implants, cyanide-laced Tylenol, toxic shock syndrome, and vaccine injury. Taken together, such hazards are distinctive for their relatively sudden emergence on the public health agenda and their propensity to generate visible victims quickly. Foreman explores the important policy tasks associated with each of these threats and discusses the national government's multiple roles as investigator, educator, regulator, researcher, and funder for these health problems. He calls for a stronger overall regime of public health and a more energetic program of surveillance to identify problems quickly and respond appropriately.
Are we environmentally victimizing, perhaps even poisoning, our minority and low-income citizens? Proponents of "environmental justice" assert that environmental decisionmaking pays insufficient heed to the interests of those citizens, disproportionately burdens their neighborhoods with hazardous toxins, and perpetuates an insidious "environmental racism." In the first book-length critique of environmental justice advocacy, Christopher Foreman argues that it has cleared significant political hurdles but displays substantial limitations and drawbacks. Activism has yielded a presidential executive order, management reforms at the Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous local political victories. Yet the environmental justice movement is structurally and ideologically unable to generate a focused policy agenda. The movement refuses to confront the need for environmental priorities and trade-offs, politically inconvenient facts about environmental health risks, and the limits of an environmental approach to social justice. Ironically, environmental justice advocacy may also threaten the very constituencies it aspires to serve--distracting attention from the many significant health hazards challenging minority and disadvantaged populations. Foreman recommends specific institutional reforms intended to recast the national dialogue about the stakes of these populations in environmental protection.
Does Congress do a good job of overseeing the work of the important legislative agencies--the EPA, FDA, OSHA, and others--that it has established to protect the public from some of the risks of modern technology? Combining analysis and anecdote, Christopher H. Foreman, Jr. looks into the oversight tools available to Congress, the variety of interest groups involved, the kinds of issues that arise between agencies and congressional committees, and the personal networks that affect relations between them; and he suggests what Congress can and should do to improve the process of social regulation. "Foreman adds substantially to our understanding of the role played by oversight. . . . A solid contribution toward understanding the nature of day-to-day congressional oversight."--Burdett Loomis, Journal of Politics " This book] is presented clearly, free from jargon, whether academic or governmental. . . . A solid discussion of oversight."--Jan P. Vermeer, Perspective "This is a thoughtful, effectively organized, and well-written book. Those concerned with legislative oversight will find it highly useful."--Morris S. Ogul, University of Pittsburgh Winner of the 1989 D. B. Hardeman Prize given by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library for the best book on Congress in the twentieth century
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