'Coming Clean' by Troy Abel named best recent book on environmental politics and policy

The American Political Science Association has awarded its Lynton Keith Caldwell Prize to Western Washington University Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Troy Abel for his book, “Coming Clean: Information Disclosure and Environmental Performance,” co-written with Michael Kraft of the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and Mark Stephan of the Washington State University at Vancouver.

The award is given to the best book on environmental politics and policy published in the last three years, and is named after the extremely influential political scientist and Indiana University professor who was the principal architect of the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act.

“Coming Clean” examines the ways in which information disclosure, as a policy tool, influences corporate environmental performance, and evaluates the effectiveness of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program that requires manufacturers to regularly disclose this type of information.

According to Abel, who teaches within Western’s Huxley College of the Environment, “Our research moves beyond the polarized debates over more or less regulation and shows how information disclosure can be designed to recognize environmental performance leaders while also pressuring those trailing in the race to achieve a more sustainable economy.”

The committee reviewing the books in this category commended Abel and his co-authors for a “strong piece of theoretically informed social science research that has important implications for environmental policy.”

For more information, contact Abel at (360) 650-3520.

Western’s Huxley College of the Environment is one of the oldest environmental colleges in the nation and a recognized national leader in producing the next generation of environmental stewards. The College’s academic programs reflect a broad view of the physical, biological, social and cultural world. This innovative and interdisciplinary approach makes Huxley unique. The College has earned international recognition for the quality of its programs.