The tension between Liberalism "Big L" and environmentalism

In the "never too early department," one nice book that covers the topic discussed this morning in class is Matthew Cahn's book, Environmental Deceptions: The Tensions Between Liberalism and Environmental Policy-Making in the United States. Here is the blurb from amazon.com:

Book Description
This book explores the tensions between American political culture, which is predicated on self-interest, and environmental regulation, which restricts individual property rights.

Environmental Deceptions brings together normative analysis and empirical data to explain the structural limitations liberal society places on environmental improvement. Whereas liberal society is predicated on individual self-interest, environmental legislation is predicated on communal regulation of individual property rights. Cahn's aim is to expose the tensions between American political culture and environmental regulation in an effort to make environmental policy discourse more effective. By analyzing such areas as air policy, water policy, waste policy, and energy policy, he exposes the subtle tensions that often lead to failure and explains why traditional models of environmental legislation are insufficient to resolve existing environmental dilemmas.

Jim again: Hopefully this will also help students in the "So What?" department, given the importance of understanding Liberalism for understanding contemporary environmental policy.