DOCSLIB.ORG

Thesis Sub-Federal Ecological Modernization

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Thesis Sub-Federal Ecological Modernization THESIS SUB-FEDERAL ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF COLORADO’S NEW ENERGY ECONOMY Submitted by Stratis Giannakouros Department of Political Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2013 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Dimitris Stevis Sandra Davis Michael Carolan ABSTRACT SUB-FEDERAL ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF COLORADO’S NEW ENERGY ECONOMY European nations have often employed policies of explicit government intervention as a preferred means of addressing environmental and economic challenges. These policies have ranged from grey industrial policies focused solely on industrial growth, competitiveness and innovation to policies of stronger ecological modernization, which seek to align industrial interests with environmental protection. In recent years these policies have been mobilized to address the threat of climate change and promote environmental innovation. While some US Administrations have similarly recognized the need to address these challenges, the particular historical and political institutional dynamics of the US have meant that explicit government intervention has been eschewed in favor of more indirect strategies when dealing with economic and environmental challenges. This is evident in the rise of sub-federal policies at the level of US states. Supported by federal laboratories and public research, US states have adopted policies that look very much like sub-federal versions of industrial or ecological modernization policy. This thesis uses the Colorado case to highlight the importance of sub-federal institutions in addressing environmental and economic challenges in the US and explore its similarities to, and differences from, European approaches. To achieve this goal it first develops an analytical scheme within which to place policy initiatives on a continuum from grey industrial policy to strong ecological modernization policy by identifying key institutions that are influential in each policy type. This analytical scheme is then applied to the transitional renewable energy policy ii period from 2004-2012 in the state of Colorado. This period starts with the adoption of a renewable energy portfolio in 2004 and includes the ‘new energy economy’ period from 2007- 2010 as well as the years since. Looking at three key turning points this paper interprets the ‘new energy economy’ strategy using the analytical scheme developed and identifies the political and social institutions that frame this transition. Drawing upon these findings, the paper analyses the implications of the Colorado case for understanding sub-federal initiatives in the US and concludes with a summary of the broader comparative institutional lessons. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It has been through the love and support of my parents and siblings that I have accomplished anything in my life. In particular, I would like to acknowledge my mother for being an equanimous and stabilizing force in my life and my father for being my ‘rock of Gibraltar’ and an endless sea of unconditional love. I have found that in life you rarely find people who will invest themselves in your personal development. My advisor Dimitris Stevis is one of these. He has been my guide throughout this process, but he has also been my friend, mentor and confidant. I am eternally grateful for the hours of conversation and advice that not only shaped my thesis, but also profoundly affected my intellectual and personal development. Finally, I would like to thank Rachel Schulte for more than I can write here. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Research Design and Methods ........................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Ecological Modernization ............................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Industrial Policy ............................................................................................................................ 37 Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 62 Colorado Energy and Amendment 37 (Origins) ........................................................................... 62 Chapter 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 76 The NEE Period: 2007-2009 ......................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 6 ....................................................................................................................................... 91 ARRA, 30 Percent and the Rise of Natural Gas (2009-2011) ...................................................... 91 Chapter 7 ..................................................................................................................................... 106 Findings and Future Research ..................................................................................................... 106 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 115 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 125 Interview Guide .......................................................................................................................... 125 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... 127 v LIST OF TYPOLOGIES Typology 1 .................................................................................................................................... 30 Typology 2……………………………………………………………………………………….56 Typology 3……………………………………………………………………………………...108 vi Introduction “Instead of using their vastly increased material and technical resources to build a wonder city, the men of the nineteenth century built slums...[which] on the test of private enterprise, 'paid,' whereas the wonder city would, they thought, have been an act of foolish extravagance, which would, in the imbecile idiom of the financial fashion, have 'mortgaged the future'... though how the construction to-day of great and glorious works can impoverish the future, no man can see until his mind is beset by false analogies from an irrelevant accountancy…The same rule of self- destructive calculation governs every walk of life. We destroy the beauty of the countryside because the un- appropriated splendors of nature have no economic value. We are capable of shutting off the sun and the stars because they do not pay a dividend... But once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization” John Maynard Keynes (1933, 760-763) Is Colorado’s New Energy Economy an example of ecological modernization American style? In the last decade there has been a strong recognition in the U.S. that industry has an important, proactive role to play in environmental protection. Many scholars and policymakers have argued that this approach closely resembles the arguments made by proponents of ecological modernization (EM) theory. Although ecological modernization theory has grown up in a European context, its American proponents argue that the foundations of this theoretical perspective can travel well across the Atlantic, resulting in what is referred to as “ecological modernization American style”. While differences in political organization and discourse have caused EM to operate at the sub-national rather than the federal level and within a neo-liberal rather than a corporatist paradigm, the core elements of EM theory remain intact in its American form. In 2007 Bill Ritter’s administration is credited with coining the term “New Energy Economy” or NEE. The NEE provided a branding for the ensuing activities related to clean energy pursued by the Ritter administration during its tenure. On its surface, Ritter’s NEE policies seem to be a manifestation of an American Style EM. 1 My thesis will ask: Is Colorado’s New Energy Economy an example of EM American style? If not, what sort of policy framework would best describe this transition? I will answer these questions through a systematic investigation of the way in which policies were formed, starting with an historical look at Colorado’s energy
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Running Head: ECOLOGICALLY UNEQUAL EXCHANGE & FDI
    Running Head: ECOLOGICALLY UNEQUAL EXCHANGE & FDI Ecologically Unequal Exchange and the Environmental Effects of FDI: Empirical Analyses of Emissions and Consumption in Developing Countries, 1997-2007 Sho Kawashima Wartburg College ECOLOGICALLY UNEQUAL EXCHANGE & FDI 2 Abstract With the current increasing trends of economic liberalization and globalization, the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) has grown substantially over the past three decades. Along with rapid economic development, FDI is often considered to have brought serious environmental consequences to host developing countries. Ecologically unequal exchange theorists argue that the disproportionate export flow of energy and materials from developing to developed countries allows developed countries to improve their environment and increase their consumption of environmental resources, while deteriorating the environment of developing countries and suppressing their levels of environmental consumption. This article presents empirical analyses of ecologically unequal exchange hypotheses, which postulate that the higher the level of FDI intensity, the higher the level of CO2 emissions and the lower the level of environmental consumption within developing countries. To test the hypotheses, the total CO2 emissions and per capita ecological footprint in 1999, 2003, and 2007 were regressed (OLS) on the estimated models consisting of the levels of FDI intensity and other factors supposedly responsible for the respective forms of environmental outcomes. With the results being
    [Show full text]
  • Making Soils a Resource Through Microbial Labor
    This is a repository copy of Nonhuman labor and the making of resources: making soils a resource through microbial labor. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/152381/ Version: Published Version Article: Krzywoszynska, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-8304-0440 (2020) Nonhuman labor and the making of resources: making soils a resource through microbial labor. Environmental Humanities, 12 (1). pp. 227-249. ISSN 2201-1919 https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-8142319 Reuse This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. This licence only allows you to download this work and share it with others as long as you credit the authors, but you can’t change the article in any way or use it commercially. More information and the full terms of the licence here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Nonhuman Labor and the Making of Resources Making Soils a Resource through Microbial Labor ANNA KRZYWOSZYNSKA Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, UK Abstract With soils increasingly seen as living ecosystems, the understanding of the rela- tionship between soils and agricultural labor is changing. A shift from working the soil to working with the soil is hoped to deliver a true ecological modernization of capitalist agri- culture, making the production of ever-growing yields and the maintenance of healthy eco- systems co-constitutive.
    [Show full text]
  • Financial Development and Ecological Footprint: a Global Panel Data Analysis
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Majeed, Muhammad Tariq; Mazhar, Maria Article Financial development and ecological footprint: A global panel data analysis Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences (PJCSS) Provided in Cooperation with: Johar Education Society, Pakistan (JESPK) Suggested Citation: Majeed, Muhammad Tariq; Mazhar, Maria (2019) : Financial development and ecological footprint: A global panel data analysis, Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences (PJCSS), ISSN 2309-8619, Johar Education Society, Pakistan (JESPK), Lahore, Vol. 13, Iss. 2, pp. 487-514 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/201002 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ www.econstor.eu Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences 2019, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Modernization As Social Theory F.H
    Geoforum 31 (2000) 57±65 www.elsevier.com/locate/geoforum Ecological modernization as social theory F.H. Buttel Department of Rural Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1450 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA Received 5 November 1998; in revised form 12 August 1999 Abstract In this paper I examine some of the reasons for and implications of the ascendance of ecological modernization thought. I stress that its rapid rise to prominence is not because it is a well-developed and highly-codi®ed social theory, but rather because it accords particularly well with a number of intellectual and broader political±economic factors, many of which lie outside the realms of sociology and environmental sociology. I suggest that while ecological modernization is indistinct as a social theory its basic logic suggests two points. First, the most sophisticated versions of ecological modernization revolve around the notion that political processes and practices are particularly critical in enabling ecological phenomena to be `` Ômoved intoÕ the modernization process'' (Mol, A.P.J., 1995. The Re®nement of Production. Van Arkel, Utrecht, p. 28). Thus, a full-blown theory of ecological modern- ization must ultimately be a theory of politics and the state. Second, the logic of ecological modernization theory suggests that it has very close anities to several related literatures ± particularly embedded autonomy, civil society, and state-society synergy theories in political sociology ± which have not yet been incorporated into the ecological modernization literature. I conclude by arguing that ecological modernization can bene®t by bringing these related ± and, for that matter, more powerful ± theories into its fold.
    [Show full text]
  • International Handbook of Environmental Sociology, Second Edition
    THE INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY, SECOND EDITION The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology, Second Edition Edited by Michael R. Redclift Professor of International Environmental Policy, King’s College, University of London, UK Graham Woodgate Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sociology, Institute for the Study of the Americas, School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK Edward Elgar Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA © Michael R. Redclift and Graham Woodgate 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited The Lypiatts 15 Lansdown Road Cheltenham Glos GL50 2JA UK Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. William Pratt House 9 Dewey Court Northampton Massachusetts 01060 USA A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938391 ISBN 978 1 84844 088 3 (cased) Printed and bound by MPG Books Group, UK 02 Contents List of fi gures vii List of tables and boxes viii List of contributors ix Introduction 1 Graham Woodgate PART I CONCEPTS AND THEORIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY Editorial commentary 11 Graham Woodgate 1 The maturation and diversifi cation of environmental sociology: from constructivism and realism to agnosticism and pragmatism 15 Riley E. Dunlap 2 Social institutions and environmental change 33 Frederick H. Buttel 3 From environmental sociology to global ecosociology: the Dunlap–Buttel debates 48 Jean- Guy Vaillancourt 4 Ecological modernization as a social theory of environmental reform 63 Arthur P.J.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Integration and the Carbon Intensity of Well
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of Utah: J. Willard Marriott Digital Library QUESTIONING DEVELOPMENT: GLOBAL INTEGRATION AND THE CARBON INTENSITY OF WELL-BEING by Jennifer Elizabeth Givens A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology The University of Utah December 2014 Copyright © Jennifer Elizabeth Givens 2014 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of Jennifer Elizabeth Givens has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Andrew K. Jorgenson , Chair 10/31/2014 Date Approved Brett Clark , Member 10/31/2014 Date Approved Wade M. Cole , Member 10/31/2014 Date Approved Michael F. Timberlake , Member 10/31/2014 Date Approved Ming Wen , Member 10/31/2014 Date Approved Tabitha M. Benney , Member 10/31/2014 Date Approved and by Kim Korinek , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of Sociology and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT I investigate the extent to which sociological theories of global integration help explain variation in countries’ carbon intensity of well-begin (CIWB) over time. The CIWB approach provides a way to simultaneously measure a country’s sustainability in terms of both environmental and human well-being. This is a burgeoning area of inquiry with much focus on the role of economic development; yet, looking at the effects of other aspects of global integration is relatively unexplored for the CIWB.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Modernisation and Its Discontents Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, the University of Tokyo Roberto Orsi
    IFI-SDGs Unit Working Paper No.1 Roberto Orsi, March 2021 UTokyo, Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), SDGs Collaborative Research Unit JSPS Grant Research Project “The nexus of international politics in climate change and water resource, from the perspective of security studies and SDGs” FY2020 Working Paper Series No. 1 Ecological Modernisation and its Discontents Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo Roberto Orsi This working paper sketches the relations between Ecological Modernisation and the main lines of critique which have been moved against it. The paper offers a summary of Ecological Modernisation, its origin and overall trajectory, while touching upon the various counterarguments which ecological sociologists and other scholars have formulated in the past decades, from three different directions: political ecology, eco-Marxism (or post-Marxism), and constructivism/post-modernism. 1. What is Ecological Modernisation and Why Does It Matter? Defining Ecological Modernisation (henceforth: EM) is not an entirely straightforward task. Over the course of the past three decades, different authors have provided slightly but significantly different definitions. One of EM’s most prominent exponents, Arthur P.J. Mol, explicitly refers to EM as a “theory”, defining “[t]he notion of ecological modernization […] as the social scientific interpretation of environmental reform processes at multiple scales in the contemporary world. [...] ecological modernization studies reflect on how various institutions and social actors attempt to integrate environmental concerns into their everyday functioning, development, and relations with others and the natural world”. (Mol et al. 2014:15). The term “theory” is deployed by other authors, but it does not go uncontested.
    [Show full text]
  • Greening Western China: a Critical View
    Geoforum 40 (2009) 884–894 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Geoforum journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geoforum Greening western China: A critical view Emily T. Yeh Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Campus Box 260, Boulder, CO 80309-0260, United States article info abstract Article history: The dominant narrative in a growing literature about China’s environment conceptualizes a series of Received 10 July 2008 recent large-scale ecological construction projects, particularly in western China, as evidence of a teleo- Received in revised form 20 May 2009 logical graduation into eco-rational modernity, in which environmental improvement and economic growth are intertwined in a virtuous, mutually reinforcing circle. Such ecological modernization narra- tives take for granted both a crisis of ecological degradation, and the premise that the ‘‘greening” of Keywords: the state will have environmental improvement as its primary outcome. The article reviews recent China research on ecological construction projects to protect forests and grasslands in China’s west, which have Ecological construction been identified as major components of China’s ecological modernization goals. It demonstrates the lim- Ecological modernization Forestry itations of an ecological modernization framework for analyzing these projects, and argues instead for a Grasslands critical political ecology analysis, which examines the distributive effects of these projects and employs Political ecology an analytic of governmentality. Ecological construction is more productively understood as a set of dis- cursive practices that authorize differential interventions through processes of internal territorialization, rework the relationship between different categories of citizens and the state, and produce subjects, whose desires may or may not align with those desired by state institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • “Living Well, Within the Limits of Our Planet”? Measuring Europe's
    SEI - Africa Institute of Resource Assessment University of Dar es Salaam P. O. Box 35097, Dar es Salaam Tanzania Tel: +255-(0)766079061 SEI - Asia 15th Floor, Witthyakit Building 254 Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn Soi 64 Phyathai Road, Pathumwan Bangkok 10330 Thailand Tel+(66) 22514415 Stockholm Environment Institute, Working Paper 2014-05 SEI - Oxford Suite 193 266 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DL UK Tel+44 1865 426316 SEI - Stockholm Kräftriket 2B SE -106 91 Stockholm Sweden Tel+46 8 674 7070 SEI - Tallinn Lai 34, Box 160 EE-10502, Tallinn Estonia Tel+372 6 276 100 SEI - U.S. 11 Curtis Avenue Somerville, MA 02144 USA Tel+1 617 627-3786 SEI - York University of York Heslington York YO10 5DD UK Tel+44 1904 43 2897 The Stockholm Environment Institute “Living well, within the limits of our planet”? SEI is an independent, international research institute. It has been Measuring Europe’s growing external footprint engaged in environment and development issues at local, national, regional and global policy levels for more than a quarter of a century. SEI supports decision making for sustainable development by Holger Hoff, Björn Nykvist and Marcus Carson bridging science and policy. sei-international.org Stockholm Environment Institute Linnégatan 87D, Box 24218 104 51 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 8 674 7070 Fax: +46 8 674 7020 Web: www.sei-international.org Author contact: Holger Hoff, [email protected] Director of Communications: Robert Watt Editor: Caspar Trimmer Cover photos (clockwise from top): Normandy countryside © Hetx/flickr; Soy harvest- ing, Brazil © Reuters/Paulo Whitaker; Container port © Robert Pratt/flickr; Ship break- ing, Bangladesh © Naquib Hossain/flickr The title of this report refers to the title of the new EU Environment Action Pro- gramme, adopted in 2013: “Living Well within the Limits of Our Planet”.
    [Show full text]
  • Starting from the Ground: the Transformative Potential of Grassroots Movements Towards Sustainability
    Department of Thematic Studies Environmental Change Starting from the ground: the transformative potential of grassroots movements towards sustainability Imagining and practicing permaculture at Kosters Trädgårdar, Sweden Sue Schmit MSc Thesis (30 ECTS credits) Science for Sustainable development Linköpings universitet, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden i Copyright The publishers will keep this document online on the Internet – or its possible replacement – for a period of 25 years starting from the date of publication barring exceptional circumstances. The online availability of the document implies permanent permission for anyone to read, to download, or to print out single copies for his/hers own use and to use it unchanged for non- commercial research and educational purpose. Subsequent transfers of copyright cannot revoke this permission. All other uses of the document are conditional upon the consent of the copyright owner. The publisher has taken technical and administrative measures to assure authenticity, security and accessibility. According to intellectual property law the author has the right to be mentioned when his/her work is accessed as described above and to be protected against infringement. For additional information about the Linköping University Electronic Press and its procedures for publication and for assurance of document integrity, please refer to its www home page: http://www.ep.liu.se/. ii iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Development As a Concept of Ecological Modernization. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 2(4), 1-28
    www.ssoar.info Towards industrial ecology: sustainable development as a concept of ecological modernization Huber, Joseph Postprint / Postprint Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: SSG Sozialwissenschaften, USB Köln Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Huber, J. (2000). Towards industrial ecology: sustainable development as a concept of ecological modernization. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 2(4), 1-28. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-121610 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Modernization Vs Sustainable Development: the Case Of
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Research Commons@Waikato Wright & Kurian Ecological Modernization vs Sustainable Development: The Case of Genetic Modification Regulation in New Zealand Jeanette Wright & Priya Kurian Political Science & Public Policy Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The University of Waikato, Hamilton Email: [email protected] Keywords: Ecological modernization; sustainable development; genetic modification; New Zealand Wright, J. & Kurian, P. (2009). Ecological modernization versus sustainable development: the case of genetic modification regulation in New Zealand. Sustainable Development, published online: 30 Sep 2009. 1 Wright & Kurian Abstract Ecological modernization and sustainable development are the two dominant paradigms in environmental policy. This paper assesses the implications of competing understandings of ecological modernization and sustainable development using the case of genetic modification regulation in New Zealand. Although the New Zealand regulatory framework embraces the symbolic language of sustainability, it ultimately adheres to a narrow notion of ecological modernization. By adopting a technically-driven risk management process and a diluted precautionary approach, alongside limiting public input into decision-making on genetic modification, it undercuts its commitment to sustainable development definitionally and procedurally. Analysis of the New Zealand biotechnology policy regulatory framework, which consists of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act and the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA), shows how institutionalization of a narrow conception of ecological modernization can preempt real commitment to sustainable development. Introduction New Zealand’s assiduously cultivated image of being ‘clean and green’ remains a fragile identity, threatened in large part by a lack of political will to take steps necessary to protect the environment in the face of a ubiquitous pressure for economic growth.
    [Show full text]