Journal of Rural Studies 20 (2004) 391–392

ARTICLE IN PRESS

doi:10.1016/j.jr

Book review

Conserving the Emerald Tiger: the politics of

environmental regulation in Ireland

George Taylor; Arlen House, Galway, Ireland, 2001,175pp, Price d 35.00 hardback, d15.00 paperback,1-903631-13-X ISBN

Taylor’s main argument is that environmental issuesare public issues, which necessarily make them politicalones. In order to understand them as such one musthave a broad view of what constitutes politics. In thisbook, Taylor’s view of politics is indeed a wide one thatmoves the concept of the political outside the walls ofthe Dail Eireann and into the realm of social relation-ships and negotiations between regulatory agencies andthe firms that they regulate. He further analyses howlocal and national decisions are influenced by and reflectchanges occurring in the regional and global economy.

The establishment of an Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) in 1992 was thought to be a harbinger ofenvironmental change in Ireland. But instead, theagency has adopted a soft regulatory position towardindustry cajoling firms into adopting better environ-mental practices rather than forcing them to do so. AsTaylor correctly notes, this soft regulatory ethos‘‘involves a subtle, but nonetheless crucial, shift fromenvironmental protection to environmental manage-ment’’ (4). Taylor shows how the relationship betweenpowerful agricultural and business lobbies, local plan-ning authorities, and the EPA as well as Ireland’sposition in the global political economy enabled thispro-industry shift towards environmental management.

Chapter 1 chronicles the history of environmentalpolitics in Ireland beginning in the 1970s, whichprovides the historical context necessary to understandthe importance of the decision to establish the EPA andwhy it has been such a bitter disappointment forenvironmentalists. Taylor does an excellent job pointingout how environmental protection has been underminedby a lack of coordination between and the ‘‘contra-dictory nature of regulatory’’ (26) functions of govern-ment agencies and how science is used to justify decisionmaking.

The EPA justifies pollution (i.e., water, air, solidwaste) by focusing on the environment’s ability toabsorb it. When measures are taken, they are designedto be cost effective and economically feasible so as tonot undercut the competitiveness of the Irish economyor dissuade foreign investment. In ‘‘encouraging’’ firms

urstud.2003.10.001

to self-monitor pollution and voluntaily comply withordinances, the EPA has failed to legislate cleanerproduction processes that could reconstitute the rela-tionship between agriculture/industry and the environ-ment by continuing to privilege policies that subsidizeproduction (i.e., business as usual). One of the book’s re-current themes, which exemplify the dominance of thebusiness-as-usual approach, is the debate over pollution-control technology options; Best Available Technology(BAT) vs. Best Available Technology Not ExceedingExcessive Cost (BATNEEC). Chapters 2 and 3 areorganized around this debate as Taylor provides severalaccounts of how government decisions have beeninfluenced by it. The competency and capacity of thenational and local regulatory agencies responsible forenvironmental management are especially well expli-cated in these two chapters.

In the introduction, Taylor asserts ‘‘there is asignificant difference between the intent of legislationand the practice of environmental protection’’ (3) andthat the profusion of environmental groups withincreasingly sophisticated tactics is evidence of thepublic’s dissatisfaction with environmental regulationin the country (5). Within this disjuncture betweenpolicy and practice one is able to see the politics ofenvironmental regulation in Ireland as a dynamicpolitical relationship between groups in society, includ-ing pro-environment groups, as they try to enforce stateaccountability. However, it is not until the final chapterthat specific actions and positions taken by environ-mental groups are introduced. This is the text’s onlyweakness- waiting until the end for a substantiveexamination of the role of environmental/civic groupsin the politics of environmental regulation. There is anotable absence of any significant role played byenvironmental groups, for instance, in the BAT vs.BATNEEC debate or pollution licensing for large-scalepig and poultry operations, cases that illuminate andsupport the author’s claim of a cozy relationshipbetween industry and regulators. Taylor leave outwhat role, if any, the environmental lobby played.The silence of the environmental lobby raises manydistracting questions for the reader. Was the environ-mental lobby not interested in these issues and if so, whynot? If the environmental lobby did not to take upcertain types of environmental issues or was silenced incertain sectors, a brief note would be helpful for thereader.

ARTICLE IN PRESSBook review / Journal of Rural Studies 20 (2004) 391–392392

Chapter 4 presents a series of robust narratives. Amore comprehensive range of social actors is present inthe unfolding of environmental regulation as a nego-

tiated political process. The sections on ‘‘Public Partici-pation, Environmental Democracy and the EPA’’ and‘‘Political Protest, Waste Incineration and the OralHearing in Clare’’ are solid pieces of research that usethe process of environmental impact assessment (EIA)to illustrate shortcomings in the country’s democraticsystem including the role of public participation indecision-making, transparency, and accountability aswell as elucidate tensions between science and politics.Taylor opens the chapter with a discussion of UlrichBeck’s concept of the risk society and analyzes the use ofrisk analysis and scientific expertise in decision makingon issues ranging from nuclear power to GMOs.

In the final section, the theoretical arguments of thetext are cogently summarized. Taylor uses environmen-tal regulation as a lens not only for understanding theIrish state and its politics, but also for understanding

Ireland’s relationship to the UK, the global politicaleconomy, and on-going debates within the EU. Hisdiscussion and analysis of state structures and corre-sponding environmental policy outcomes in the Irishcontext is an important contribution to work in politicaland environmental sociology akin to Dryzek’s (1997)discussion of states and the formulation of environ-mental policy in continental Europe in The Politics of

the Earth.

References

Dryzek, J., 1997. The Politics of the Earth: environmental discourses.

Oxford University Press, New York.

Cynthia CaronDepartment of Development Sociology Cornell

University, USA