Politics of Urban Runoff: Building Relations through Active Citizenship - Politics of Urban Runoff: Nature, Technology, and the Sustainable City - page 168

by more fl exible, collaborative solutions to complement, rather than re-
place, the top-down, rational approach to environmental problem solving
that has dominated U.S. politics since the late nineteenth century. 38 John
writes:
Civic environmentalism is the process of custom designing answers to local en-
vironmental problems. It takes place when a critical mass of community leaders,
local activists, and businesspersons work with frontline staff of federal and state
agencies and perhaps with others to address local issues that they care about
deeply. Civic environmentalism cannot succeed without some participation and
support by government agencies, but it is essentially a bottom-up process that
epitomizes reformers' aims to build a results-based sense of common purpose in
environmental governance. 39
John's interpretation of civic environmentalism tends to emphasize the
centrality of state governments in environmental policy making rather than
the federal government and is exemplifi ed by projects such as the Chesa-
peake Bay Program, the Florida Everglades restoration, and the reduction
of agricultural chemical use in Iowa. 40 These are noteworthy projects that
include “economic incentives, technical assistance, public education, and
voluntary government programs, all tailored to local conditions” as well
as collaboration between experts in business, government, higher educa-
tion, and nonprofi t organizations. 41 John characterizes these approaches
as customized, local approaches to environmental governance that are
akin to the “third way” or “radical center” political program promoted
in the 1990s by centrist political leaders such as President Bill Clinton
and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. 42 Using a carrot-and-stick approach
that mixes market and interventionist governance, proponents of Third
Way politics call for the development of savvy strategies to overcome the
liberal/conservative dichotomy of contemporary politics in North America
and Northern Europe. 43
John's civic environmentalism calls for the continued emphasis on envi-
ronmental governance informed by ecological science but at a smaller scale
in which more nuanced regulatory and nonregulatory strategies can be
enacted, particularly through interstate public/private partnerships. Such
an approach opens up environmental policy making to more stakeholders
but continues to focus on technomanagerial governance. Indeed, John is at
pains to defi ne civic environmentalism as a “complement” to rather than
a “replacement” of conventional environmental management. 44
However, others have interpreted civic environmentalism as a potential
way to transform populist political activity into constructive local action.
Scholars and activists of sustainable community development recognize