The political economy of environmental regulatory policy : the case of Come By Chance

• Main Author: McKnight, John K.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1996
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/5969/; https://research.library.mun.ca/5969/1/McKnight_JohnK.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/5969/3/McKnight_JohnK.pdf

The intent of this research is to evaluate the implementation of environmental regulatory policy governing industry in Newfoundland generally and in the specific case of the Come By Chance oil refinery. Since effective regulation of industrial pollution is important to both human health and ecological sustainability, this research attempts to explain how government efforts to regulate industry and protect the environment might be compromised by specific limitations related to political and financial resources. Through an empirical case study, involving both archival research and interviews with informed individuals representing relevant interest groups, this thesis therefore examines how specific financial and political constraints affect and influence government implementation of environmental regulatory policy. This research found that in the Newfoundland political economy, specific resource limitations do compromise the environmental regulatory process governing the province's industrial polluters. Proposals for further research in industrial pollution control are also presented, including brief discussions of policies relating to social regulation and the development of zero-emission 'industrial clusters.'