Tale of Two Cities: A Comparison of Air Pollution Governance in the Los Angeles Area of the USA and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area of China

The successful reduction of urban air pollution is among the notable achievements of modern environmental law and policy. This remarkable study, focusing on two of the world’s most prominent cases, explores how people in the areas of Los Angeles and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) established governance processes to combat air pollution and how the major actors in each area worked to make their region a better place to live. Employing the expertise of teams of knowledgeable environmental law experts from both China and the United States, the authors identify and analyze similarities and differences in the respective legal and policy experiences as actors succeeded in greatly improving the air quality of their areas.

Underpinned by a model of environmental governance developed by the authors and presenting an abundance of first-hand information from both areas, the study finds that, despite broad political and cultural differences in both regions, three political relations in governance processes emerge as enablers of effective reduction of air pollution:

•      relation between regulators and the regulated communities;

•      relation between all the supervisory political entities, such as legislatures, etc., and regulators; and

•      relation between civil society (including news media and nongovernmental organizations) and polluters.

Specific areas of regulation covered include transportation, ports, energy efficiency, utilities, oil refineries, building efficiency, renewable energy, coal dependency, and optimizing energy structure.

With its sound, replicable model, its solid findings, and its enlightening conclusions, this incomparable work will prove of immeasurable value to administrative authorities and counsel worldwide engaged in combating air pollution. Moreover, its creative methodology is a signal contribution to the comparative study of environmental law and policy.