1) The U.S. political system is so different from the Netherlands and New Zealand. How can we possibly transfer the green planning idea here?
While the Netherlands and New Zealand green plan models cannot be directly transferred to the United States, it’s important to note that the history of environmental management in the Netherlands and New Zealand does closely mirror that of other western nations such as the U.S. The critical turning point occurred in the late 1980s, when both countries realized the limitations of their existing environmental management structures:
Until recently, the Netherlands’ history of environmental policy-making mirrored that of most other western countries: it created a national agency in the early 1970s, then enacted massive single-media legislation on air, water, soil, waste, toxics, and noise. Fifteen years later, a comprehensive quality assessment of the Dutch environment revealed some progress, but it also showed that the legislation had not fully achieved the expected results, basically because the single-media statutes tended to shift pollution from one medium to another.
—Hans van Zijst, “A Change in the Culture,” The Environmental Forum, May/June 1992.
Prior to the election of the reforming [New Zealand] Labour government in 1984, there was a confusing patchwork of laws and rules relating to resources… Air, mining, rivers, and other aspects of the environment were controlled by a host of Acts and regulations, each with different purposes, procedures, public participation rights, and time lines. There was no sense that the environment was a whole to be managed as such; no sense that consistency of purpose or process would aid the unwary who wanted to go about economic activity or even to build a garden shed.
—Cath Wallace, “Managing Resources in New Zealand,” 1995.
2) Won’t green planning result in a stricter environmental policy regime that constrains the marketplace and slows the rate of economic growth?
On the contrary, in the Netherlands, where green plan is in place, gross domestic product is climbing—even as pressures on the environment decline. Unlike traditional environmental management strategies that too often have businesses functioning as adversaries, green planning embraces the needs of business the economy as integral to the process. Doing so fosters the development and application measures capable of satisfying environmental and economic objectives.
Green plans are working right now in nations with strong free-market economies. New Zealand has one of the most open economies in the world, while the Netherlands, an economic powerhouse and the third largest foreign investor in the U.S. economy, is being lauded for balancing economic concerns, social welfare, and the environment. Moreover, a growing number of financial interests, including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, are acknowledging that business as usual is no longer an option—environmentally, financially, or socially—and are looking to “enlightened governance” to secure longterm stability. Green planning provides these entities, and the companies they represent, with a responsive strategy.
3) Rather than revamping the current system of environmental laws and policies, wouldn’t it be easier to upgrade what is already in effect?
As reported in the journal Environment (9/97), frustrated by the failure of conventional environmental management strategies “the U.S. federal government and almost all of the states have recently (and understandably) begun to look for better ways of doing business.” Existing environmental laws and policies have built-in limitations that no amount of upgrading can remedy. Again, quoting from Environment: “The United States does not really have an integrated system for tackling environmental pollution but rather a potpourri of ad hoc, media-specific environmental laws enforced by the states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These laws overlap and frequently conflict ...” Like a car careening down a dark road without headlights, the current scheme makes it impossible to know where we are headed, where we will end up, or how to avoid obstacles that might cause us to crash. The laws were not conceived with sustainability as an overarching goal, but rather in reaction to what were thought to be discrete problems. While these laws have succeeded in securing some degree of environmental protection, their basic design makes them incapable of completely resolving complex, interrelated environmental issues. Prospective and clearly focused, green plans recreate the context in which decisions are made with a well defined vision of a sustainable future and a range of policy tools applied for this purpose alone.
4) What has prompted interest and participation in the development of green plans?
International interest in green planning was precipitated by the findings and recommendations of Our Common Future, the highly influential report of the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development. Published in 1987, this far-reaching document proposed sustainable development as a solution to the world’s mounting environmental problems. It also set the stage for widescale adoption of Agenda 21 at the UN Earth Summit in 1992. By adopting Agenda 21, more than 170 nations agreed to follow a comprehensive, integrated, green plan approach to managing their environmental affairs.
In the case of the Netherlands, an impending environmental crisis amplified the importance of these events. Dying seals off the Dutch coast served as “canaries in the coal mine.” It was this dire situation in the late 1980s that prompted Queen Beatrix to deliver an impassioned plea for swift action. Responding to the broad public concern that followed, the Dutch government developed the National Environmental Policy Plan, the longest running and most successful green plan in the world. It was not an environmental crisis that spurred creation of the Resource Management Act in New Zealand, but rather a conscious desire to protect the island nation’s rich natural environment. Blessed with habitats and wildlife found nowhere else on earth, New Zealanders were intent on saving their fragile environment from the impacts of development. In addition, an economic crisis in the ’80s led the New Zealand government to not only reform economic policy but also to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the country’s entire state sector. In managing the environment by natural watersheds rather than arbitrary political boundaries, the RMA upholds the diversity of life that makes New Zealand unique. Environmental crises, frustration with the status quo, and an intensifying desire to safeguard environmental health are all factors contributing to the growing interest in green plans. Whether it’s New Jersey’s intention to go beyond regulation and offer the vision,” or Oregon’s goal of making sustainable development an overarching state policy, the chorus of voices calling for the kind of systemic change embodied in green planning grows louder.
5) Given their dependence on a long- strategy, is it realistic to believe that green plans can survive the frequent, and sometimes unpredictable, changes in political leadership and public mood?
Yes. While governments may shift short- priorities, the broadly supported long-term goals embedded in any green plan make resilient to change. Such factors can, however, slow the pace progress. Whenever necessary, it is up to various sector interests that have invested much in the green plan process, and have much to gain from its success, to keep the process on track. There must be a realization at the commencement of the green planning process of the need for long-term commitment. In New Zealand, for example, the central government held one of the largest public consultation processes in its history to set place the innovative and integrative Resource Management Act (RMA) of 1991. The stakeholder base was so strong that it was in the opposition government that enacted RMA with its sustainability principles solidly in place, following the lengthy development process of the previous government.
6) Even with a green plan, can we really expect to change a consumer culture that simply can’t get enough?
There is little question that runaway consumption poses a huge challenge. There is even less doubt that the current piecemeal approach fails to offer an effective response. While it is by no means a quick fix, the process of green planning offers all sectors the promise of long-term environmental protection and economic prosperity. By engaging the public in this broadly appealing endeavor, green planning creates the opportunity for an evolution of priorities for both producer and consumer. Achieving sustainability will require different, more creative thinking about the way products are made, delivered, used, and discarded. That is why Dutch consumption policies emphasize product lifecycle analysis—assessments of all the effects a product will have throughout its production, use, and disposal. Through information campaigns, pricing structures, and other behavior-affecting mechanisms, the Dutch government has involved all citizens in their consumption policy, a process that could not be undertaken without the comprehensive framework of a green plan.
7) With a booming economy, what is going to compel people to get behind a strategy like green planning that many may consider unnecessary?
First, as history demonstrates, any economic boom is finite and is typically followed by recession or worse. More important, because economic and environmental concerns are too often addressed separately, the health of one usually comes at the expense of the other. Unprecedented rates of consumption, vehicle miles traveled, and waste generated are all indicators of the environmental price now being exacted by a burgeoning economy—not to mention the ecological devastation being wreaked in those countries where many consumer goods are produced. Green plans help society to get a grip on stubborn environmental problems that will eventually undermine everyone’s quality of life. By securing environmental sustainability and stability, green plans help maximize economic sustainability and stability. And, unlike existing environmental regulations, green plans are business friendly, providing flexibility, predictability, and financial incentives to achieve long-term goals.
8) Like smart growth, isn’t green planning just another term for growth management and land-use planning?
Not at all, but they are related. The term smart growth refers to a movement in the U.S. that has formed to curb suburban sprawl, preserve open space, and reinvigorate urban centers. These are important issues, but they are only pieces of the comprehensive green plan agenda that must be addressed in pursuit of sustainability. Because smart growth is attracting support from many quarters, however, it does provide an excellent opportunity to reach a diverse audience already receptive to the need for new environmental strategies.
9) Won’t the implementation of green plans be a costly endeavor with even more bureaucracy, more fees, and more government intervention?
While green planning is a costly endeavor, it should not lead to more bureaucracy. In fact, a principal goal of green planning is to increase government efficiency and effectiveness. In the current system much of the regulations on the books were created in reaction to a particular environmental crisis or to political pressures. This has resulted in a tangle of overlapping and contradictory provisions. Green plans commit governments to developing integrated, longterm objectives that result in streamlined operations. For example, the Dutch green plan involved 220 changes to existing environmental policy that have dramatically improved government’s role and reduced the regulatory burden on businesses. New Zealand’s plan replaced 57 separate environmental measures with one comprehensive policy and reduced 800 units of government to 93. This streamlining has led to substantial cost savings.
10) If business is a beneficiary of the green planning process, won’t environmental goals inevitably be compromised?
Absolutely not. The business benefits of any green plan—increased flexibility, predictability, financial incentives, and participation as partners in the process—require companies to go the extra distance necessary to achieve the long-term environmental goals articulated in the plan. Furthermore, continuous monitoring of progress is an essential element of a green plan. Companies failing to meet agreed-upon targets within a specified timeframe are held accountable, facing the prospect of penalties and reversion back to the command-andcontrol policies that the green plan had freed them from.
11) By adopting green plans, isn’t there a risk of losing the environmental laws and regulations that have been responsible for the hard-fought progress already made?
Green plans represent the next generation of environmental policy, a necessary evolution that picks up where existing measures leave off. Today’s generation owes a debt of gratitude to our forebears for their victories on behalf of clean air and water, wilderness protection, and much more. Yet, the increasingly complex and life-threatening nature of environmental problems and the acknowledged shortcomings of conventional strategies make it imperative that effective solutions be found. Countries that have already adopted green plans are showing the rest of the world how to begin solving the global environmental crisis and pursue a sustainable future. It is essential that the rest of us follow their lead.
12) Doesn’t the term “plan” raise the specter of a repressive government program intended to clamp down on individual freedoms?
Green planning is to society what a business plan is to industry. It guides the efficient use and intelligent investment of resources to ensure healthy growth and sustained prosperity. The word “green” does have strong symbolic value. Although it is sometimes associated with certain political factions, its root meaning is neither political or ideological. The “green” in green planning stands for a vibrant, balanced environment that supports a strong economy and a high quality of life. Green plans are thriving in the democratic free-market societies where they exist. In these countries, the green planning process has made the public strongly aware of its responsibilities to future generations.
