Controversy in environmental policy decisions: Conflicting policy means orrival ends?

In the past few years, environmental activists and some academic studies of environmental political issues have portrayed environmental protection as a new social consensus. This view has some, though limited, capacity for ex plaining the controversial character of many environmental protection issue s and the frequent losses that environmental activists experience in politi cal struggles. In an effort to clarify this seeming conundrum, the author d elineates the core of the societal consensus thesis' best explanation for t he controversial character of many environmental policy decisions. This exp lanation is contrasted with explanation that draws on conflict among three coherent rival environmental perspectives in contemporary political life. T hese environmental views are integral, if frequently unrecognized, aspects of familiar general social perspectives distinguished by contrasting princi ples, values, and practical objectives. A strategy is designed to facilitat e responsible environmental protection legislation in light of these three rival perspectives.