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California Greenin': How the Golden State Became an Environmental Leader
Over the course of its 150-year history, California has successfully protected its scenic wilderness areas, restricted coastal oil drilling, regulated automobile emissions, preserved coastal access, improved energy efficiency, and, most recently, addressed global climate change. How has this state, more than any other, enacted so many innovative and stringent environmental regulations over such a long period of time? The first comprehensive look at California's history of environmental leadership, California Greenin' shows why the Golden State has been at the forefront in setting new environmental standards, often leading the rest of the nation.
From the establishment of Yosemite, America's first protected wilderness, and the prohibition of dumping gold-mining debris in the nineteenth century to sweeping climate- change legislation in the twenty-first, David Vogel traces California's remarkable environmental policy trajectory. He explains that this pathbreaking role developed because California had more to lose from environmental deterioration and more to gain from preserving its stunning natural geography. As a result, citizens and civic groups effectively mobilized to protect and restore their state's natural beauty and, importantly, were often backed both by business interests and strong regulatory authorities. Business support for environmental regulation in California reveals that strict standards are not only compatible with economic growth but can also contribute to it. Vogel also examines areas where California has fallen short, particularly in water management and the state's dependence on automobile transportation.
As environmental policy debates continue to grow more heated, California Greenin' demonstrates that the Golden State's impressive record of environmental accomplishments holds lessons not just for the country but for the world.
From the establishment of Yosemite, America's first protected wilderness, and the prohibition of dumping gold-mining debris in the nineteenth century to sweeping climate- change legislation in the twenty-first, David Vogel traces California's remarkable environmental policy trajectory. He explains that this pathbreaking role developed because California had more to lose from environmental deterioration and more to gain from preserving its stunning natural geography. As a result, citizens and civic groups effectively mobilized to protect and restore their state's natural beauty and, importantly, were often backed both by business interests and strong regulatory authorities. Business support for environmental regulation in California reveals that strict standards are not only compatible with economic growth but can also contribute to it. Vogel also examines areas where California has fallen short, particularly in water management and the state's dependence on automobile transportation.
As environmental policy debates continue to grow more heated, California Greenin' demonstrates that the Golden State's impressive record of environmental accomplishments holds lessons not just for the country but for the world.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 10, 2018
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282 people want to read
About the author
David Vogel
160 books12 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
David Vogel (born 1947) is the Soloman P. Lee Distinguished Professor in Business Ethics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of both the Political Science Department and the Haas School of Business, and is Editor of the California Management Review. He was the Jean Monnet Chair, European University Institute, in 1994 and the BP Chair in Transatlantic Relations, there in 2000. At INSEAD he was the Novartis Professor of Management and the Environment in 2000-2001 and the Shell Fellowship in Business and the Environment in 2002.
Vogel has a BA in political science from Queens College City University of New York and a PhD in politics from Princeton University.
David Vogel (born 1947) is the Soloman P. Lee Distinguished Professor in Business Ethics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of both the Political Science Department and the Haas School of Business, and is Editor of the California Management Review. He was the Jean Monnet Chair, European University Institute, in 1994 and the BP Chair in Transatlantic Relations, there in 2000. At INSEAD he was the Novartis Professor of Management and the Environment in 2000-2001 and the Shell Fellowship in Business and the Environment in 2002.
Vogel has a BA in political science from Queens College City University of New York and a PhD in politics from Princeton University.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 13, 2018
Despite what the media tells us about how fragmented we are by partisan politics, localism is where cooperation and sanity prevail. David Vogel’s book, California Greenin, is an example not only of localism at work but also its role in influencing federal policy. In 1864, Yosemite became the first publicly-protected wilderness area in the United States, and thus began California’s role as a bellwether state for the nation. Vogel reminds us that California’s green policies were enacted with the support of Republican centrists such as governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan, and in so doing, gives us cause for optimism.
Vogel is also aware that he is telling a story, and his analysis is full of piquant specifics, drawing upon first-hand accounts and a rich literature. In describing the effects of hydraulic mining, John Muir wrote: “The hills have been cut and scalped and every gorge and gulch and broad valley have been fairly torn to pieces and disemboweled, expressing a fierce and desperate energy hard to understand.” When President Roosevelt commended the campaign to Save the Redwoods, he said, “We should not turn into shingles trees which were old when the first Egyptian conqueror penetrated the valley of the Euphrates.” Vogel imaginatively evokes the absurd images created by conflicting interests; for instance, in the early 19th century sunbathers in Los Angeles were surrounded by over a thousand oil wells drilled within city limits. Vogel punctuates his analysis with the voices of regular folk and cultural icons of the era. To describe the San Francisco Bay’s transformation into a sewage pit by the canneries, steel mills, smelters tanneries, and ships dumping their toxins into it, comedian Tom Lehrer sang, “The breakfast garbage that you throw into the Bay/They drink at lunch in San Jose.”
Vogel’s examination is balanced and insightful re: the early historical schism between rural and metropolitan interests, not a hagiography of California but a measured and truthful analysis of its shortcomings and challenges as well. This book demonstrates an historical arc from the formation of laws to protect the demand for resources to their formation to protect the resources themselves as sources of public beauty and health. As such, it is a lively and heartening read.
Vogel is also aware that he is telling a story, and his analysis is full of piquant specifics, drawing upon first-hand accounts and a rich literature. In describing the effects of hydraulic mining, John Muir wrote: “The hills have been cut and scalped and every gorge and gulch and broad valley have been fairly torn to pieces and disemboweled, expressing a fierce and desperate energy hard to understand.” When President Roosevelt commended the campaign to Save the Redwoods, he said, “We should not turn into shingles trees which were old when the first Egyptian conqueror penetrated the valley of the Euphrates.” Vogel imaginatively evokes the absurd images created by conflicting interests; for instance, in the early 19th century sunbathers in Los Angeles were surrounded by over a thousand oil wells drilled within city limits. Vogel punctuates his analysis with the voices of regular folk and cultural icons of the era. To describe the San Francisco Bay’s transformation into a sewage pit by the canneries, steel mills, smelters tanneries, and ships dumping their toxins into it, comedian Tom Lehrer sang, “The breakfast garbage that you throw into the Bay/They drink at lunch in San Jose.”
Vogel’s examination is balanced and insightful re: the early historical schism between rural and metropolitan interests, not a hagiography of California but a measured and truthful analysis of its shortcomings and challenges as well. This book demonstrates an historical arc from the formation of laws to protect the demand for resources to their formation to protect the resources themselves as sources of public beauty and health. As such, it is a lively and heartening read.
February 19, 2024
Great historical review of how and why California became the poster child for environmental policies and protection, where there’s been a hold back, and what it means for the rest of the country and world. Fantastic context for the state of US policy today, even if it’s not the most engaging read.
August 28, 2021
California is named the golden state of the States. Many great stories of environmental conservation start there. I would love to recommend this book to the administrator in my country to read it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews