Environmental Governance in Environmental Governance in the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Environmental Governance in Environmental Governance in the Aftermath of Hurricane the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Katrina

Ding Kong, Caitlin Briere, Karla Van Duyn, Megan Toth, and Kevin Marchut NTRES 331 Environmental Governance

Environmental Governance Today –

Assemblage of institutions regulating society-nature interactions and shaping environmental outcomes across a range of spatial and temporal scales

How does this change in times of disaster?

Policy makers forced to re-evaluate

• Institutions
• Governance Techniques
• Spatial and Temporal Scales

Looking Specifically at the Response to Hurricane Katrina Disaster in Louisiana

Change of role in three environmental governance institutions

• State (government)
• Market
• Community

Applicability of Principal Environmental Governance Approaches Approaches outlined by several authors and respective books.

• John Dryzek – The Politics of the Earth,

“Environmental Discourses”

• Mazmanian and Kraft – Toward Sustainable

Communities, “Transition and Transformations in Environmental Policy”

• Pretty and Ward – Social Capital and the

Environment, “World Development”

Analysis of Different Governance at Play During and After

Questions to Address

• Which governance techniques and concepts in the readings

are applicable to the Katrina disaster?

• Which techniques an concepts are not?
• How do these governance techniques overlap and coincide

with one another?

• And. . .
• How, if at all, have certain techniques fallen short in

addressing the unique situation an environmental disaster such as Katrina presents?

Institution of Government (Federal/State)

Very important - influencing aid and restoration a great deal Focus on Relief

• $380 million estimated

by Louisiana State alone (OIG 2006)

• $62 billion for

emergency assistance from national government

General Differences

Management of Drinking Water

• Efforts to restore
• Sanitary boiling notices
• Variations in sampling

locations

Concepts of Governance Notable in State Response

Dryzek

Administrative Rationalism Democratic Pragmatism

Mazmanian and Kraft

Epoch I Epoch III “Administrative Rationalism” and “Epoch I” Characteristics

• Creation of Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA)
• Emphasis on reassurance
• Asserts that nation is subordinate to humans
• End of pipe
• Hierarchy of command
• Relies on experts

Administrative rationalism and Epoch I ideals cannot sum-up the states relief efforts after hurricane Katrina.

Concepts of Governance Notable in State Response (cont.)

Dryzek

Administrative Rationalism Democratic Pragmatism

Mazmanian and Kraft

Epoch I Epoch III

Democratic Pragmatism (DP)

• Supporting democratic processes relying
• n active public participation and input
• impact assessment with public comment
• Louisiana Speaks Effort

How is DP Not Applicable?

• Decisions cannot always wait for

agreement among all parties/stakeholders

Epoch III – Sustainable Development

• Plans to rebuild sustainably
• Resilient infrastructures
• Economic growth
• Public Services
• Reliable levees & healthy wetlands
• New technology and innovation

Time Constraints

• Right now efforts need to focus on relief

Institution of Market

Cities in the Katrina area do not have a strong enough economy to even consider market-based solutions Natural Disasters can Devastate an Economy

• Property Damage
• Loss of Life
• Tourism Industry Shut Down
• Small Businesses Cannot

Recover Dryzek

Promethian Discourse Economic Rationalism

Mazmanian and Kraft

Epoch II

Market After Katrina

Businesses That Are Open

• Imperial furniture – sales

down 90% (NOLA)

• Private businesses trying

to survive

• Sale of essential items

Overall only 10% of businesses have reopened in New Orleans

(EditorsWebLog)

From Environmental Conservation Standpoint

• Lack of incentives
• Lack of big business

presence for emissions trading Market-based governance begins to play a more unique role

Where Does Market-based Governance Fit In?

Reconstruction and Rebuilding

• Urban Land Institute – Planning and Damage Classification

(Reardon 2006)

• Dryzek’s Promethean View – Technology and Innovation

Will Overcome (Dryzek 2005)

• Can Promote Health and Innovation For Environmental

Sustainability

Damage Classification

• Barely Damaged
• Affected
• Devastated

Good and Bad of Market-based Solutions

• Some communities left abandoned
• Some of those “abandoned” communities are restored to wetlands
• Some investors are promoting the cheap reconstruction of low-lying regions
• Promotes preventive, innovative thinking – plan for future safety

Institution of Community

Mazmanian and Kraft Epoch I – jump to - Epoch III

Group Establishment

• Focus on Reconstruction of

Social Capital

• Empowerment of Citizens

(Tidball 2006)

• Independence Awareness
• Networked Effort

Who’s Involved – NGO’s

• Association of Community Organizations for

Reform Now! (ACORN)

• Common Ground Collective
• Oxygen Collective
• Louisiana Environmental Action Coalition
• Four Directions Relief
• Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land

Assistance Fund

• Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN)

Petty and Ward Reactive Dependence Realization-independence

Community-based Recovery Effort

Petty and Ward(2001)

Reactive Dependence

• Formation of groups in

response to problem

Realization-Independence

• Recognition of their power,

and Networking

Some Examples Thus Far

• CGC – coordinating influx of volunteers,

educational workshops, health clinic, eviction defense, women’s resource center, bioremediation services.

• LEAN – Assessing breaks in

environmental legislation, monitoring water and soil quality, raising funds and donations, networking.

• ACORN – Drafting rebuilding alternatives

with top universities to create a more sustainable and equitable New Orleans. Rallying for displaced victims to come back and cast their votes.

Environmental Governance – Post Katrina Conclusion

Recovery – Relief & Rebuild

Strongest Weakest

State Community Market How?

Market strategies cannot be used to full

• capacity. Economies are too weak and
• unstable. Lack of “incentives.” Has

potential for rebuilding process. Provides majority of emergency aid and recovery funding. Essential to rebuilding process. Work off “clean slate” from common starting point forming decentralized, democratic participation, with horizontal networking and vertical

• collaboration. Catalytic for rebuilding

social capital, raising funds, and filling in gaps of state-based aid.

Problem identification is instant Relief will always be costly

Differences Between Disaster Relief and Environmental Governance

Disaster Relief Environmental Governance

Needs instant response More time to plan and take action Disasters affect people, economics, and the ecosystems

Environmental problems affect people, economics, and ecosystems, but not always together Good policies and practices can either cost more or save more money

Reactive solutions Preventative and reactive solutions Consciousness shift is questionable, if any May cause consciousness/awareness shift Problem identification takes time Not necessarily a focus on institution building Focus on institution building

All levels of intervention (state, market, community)

Same Working towards reconstruction of the old, and maybe the future Working towards repair, but more towards sustainable futures Community networks may not always stay Community networks and other institutional measures are more permanent

Work Cited

Abrams, Robert H. Cornell University Professor. April 20th 2006. Email Questionnaire Interview.

• ACORN. 2005. “Acorn’s work in the Wake of Katrina”.

http://acorn.org/fileadmin/KatrinaRelief/ACORN_ORganizing_PDF.pdf (Accessed 4/17/2006) Common Ground Collective. 2006. “Lower Ninth Ward”. http://www.commongroundrelief.org/taxonomy/term/25/9 (Accessed 4/20/2006). Dryzek, John S., The Politics of the Earth, Oxford University Press; New York, NY. 2005. Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). Setting priorities for the LRA environmental task force. Pardue, John H. and Satterlee, Kent: Authors. Available online at: http://www.lra.louisiana.gov/assets/ LRAIssuesStrategicPlanning.pdf Mazmanian and Kraft. Towards Sustainable Communities, The MIT Press; Cambridge, MA. 2001. Office of Inspector General. (2006). EPA’s and Louisiana’s Efforts to Assess and Restore Public Drinking Water Systems after Hurricane Katrina. (Report No. 2006-P-00014). Blair, Carolyn; Pierce, Geoff; Hatfield, Jim; Roach, Tim; Beusse, Rick: Authors. Petty, J. Ward, H. 2001. “Social Capital and the Environment.” World Development 29(2): 209-229. Reardon, Ken. April 18th 2006. Interview. Tidball, K. April 19th 2006. Telephone Interview.

• Wikepedia. (2006). Hurricane Katrina. Wikemedia Foundation, Inc. Available online at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

The End