Problems were viewed as inherently similar, conducive to centralized decisionmaking and boilerplate answers. Now, thirty years later, it has become clear that environmental problems are complex and unique, requiring a flexible, results-oriented approach. As our knowledge of environmental science has blossomed, so has the willingness of a new cadre of participants to help find solutions. Nonprofit organizations, businesses, individual citizens, and local governments are playing a crucial role in providing environmental enhancements. Where once environmental policy inherently mistrusted markets and punishment was pursued more vigorously than progress, today this is changing.
Private innovation is the wellspring source of progress.
We have learned that while environmental enforcement is indeed important, no process should overshadow the ultimate goal of progress toward a clean environment. This is the new environmentalism. More and more we are facing localized environmental problems which are much more amenable to solutions for specific sites. We recognize that today, most states have demonstrated the capacity to implement environmental laws, even some more stringent than federal environmental law. The states should be encouraged by the federal government to continue their innovation in this area, building upon local knowledge, conditions, and needs.