Centre for Academic Excellence

In Michigan and Ontario, the “green economy” has been touted by government as a “win-win” solution to reducing greenhouse gasses and replacing thousands of manufacturing jobs lost before and during the global financial crisis. Some scholars, however, argue that despite economic and climate crises, there is little new about the policies being rolled out in advanced industrialized states; instead, political elites adopted business-as-usual policies after 2009 that offer little hope for greater social, economic, or ecological sustainability. In this green “publicity state”, political elites engage as much, if not more, in the politics of environmental discourse than in policymaking for a greener, more sustainable society. This thesis thus explored the research questions: To what extent have policymakers in Ontario and Michigan evoked argumentative imperatives that neoliberal policies are the way to create green jobs, increase socio-economic equality, and/or halt climate change? To what degree can policies in Ontario and Michigan be classified as ‘sustainable’? Does the policy rhetoric match the policy reality? In what similar and different ways do public policies get framed, communicated, and constrained by underlying neoliberal understandings of the economy and state that then limit the policy options that governments see as possible? In what ways does this contribute to the naturalization of green neoliberalism?
To answer these questions, we examined the public policies and political rhetoric of renewable energy in Michigan and Ontario under the administration of Governors Jennifer Granholm and Rick Snyder, and the Ontario Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty between 2007 and 2012. The theoretical framework for this paper was constructed using Gramscian and critical discourse theories which maintain that ideological and economic hegemony manifests, and is constantly being reproduced, through political discourse. First, we conducted a comparative analysis of green economy policies, as well as a sample of additional social, economic, and fiscal policies that could contribute to greater or less sustainability in the two jurisdictions. These were then categorized according to a typology of green economy imaginaries.
Second, Michigan State of the State speeches and radio addresses, and Ontario Budget speeches and Speeches from the Throne delivered during the period of study were analyzed using Fairclough and Fairclough’s (2012) critical discourse analysis for political argument. It was found that political elites construct imaginaries of the green economy using various argumentative claims in ways that often do not coincide with policies and/or policy outcomes. In this study, Granholm and McGuinty often used argumentative claims around renewable energy in ways that naturalize green neoliberal approach to sustainability, while greenwashing less ‘green’ policies; take credit for making their jurisdiction ‘greener’; deflect and assign blame for a shrinking economy; and position the green economy as a ‘win-win’ to unemployment and/or climate change. Despite labelling himself a “good, green Republican”, Governor Snyder did not engage in green economy policymaking or framing, instead pursuing a ‘classic’ neoliberal policy agenda.
Furthermore, the arguments political elites are further constrained by both the existing economic regime and political institutions: a premier in a majority government has significantly more power to make bold argumentative claims and introduce policies than a state governor. This is evident in the fact that although their rhetoric around the green economy as a means to increasing jobs was similar, McGuinty was able to also frame the green economy as a means to reducing greenhouse gasses and introduce a bolder piece of renewable energy legislation than Granholm.

Syllabus introduction: Agenda setting, formulation, implementation, and evaluation of public policy are among the most critical functions of modern governments. Various theories of policymaking explain the role of ideas, interests, and/or institutions in the policies that governments choose to pursue – or not to pursue. Economic and climate crises have complicated policymaking further; indeed, climate change and economic recession have been key challenges facing many governments across the globe, and there are wide differences and disagreements on the objectives and strategies needed to address these closely-connected crises. This course explores various aspects of public policy in comparative perspective, and will familiarize students with the theories, concepts, and debates that influence policy decisions at the intersection of economic growth and climate change mitigation/adaptation.

Argumentative discourse has been essential to the construction, re-construction, and hegemony of neoliberal ideas and policies, and in the assimilation of other discourses, including those around climate change, sustainability, and the environment (see Humphreys, 2009; Jessop, 2012). This paper argues that political elites do this constructive work by grafting emerging discourses, in this case, discourses associated with a “green economy”, onto familiar neoliberal discourse in ways that naturalize green neoliberalism as a common-sense approach to climate change. Here, I examine political arguments around the renewable energy industry in Michigan, USA and Ontario, Canada under Governor Jennifer M. Granholm (Democrat) and Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, 2007-2012. It was found that political leaders represent policies informed by neoliberal ideology as the best means to solving not only ecological problems like climate change, but also socio-economic problems including unemployment and inequality. While Granholm and McGuinty received criticism for some of their policies, both were applauded for efforts to green their economies; indeed, McGuinty was named “Canada’s greenest premier ever”. This constitutes a successful green publicity state: a government that promotes itself as “green” by introducing corporate-friendly policies to create jobs in renewable industries, while cutting social programs and public-sector jobs.

In Michigan and Ontario, the “green economy” has been touted by government as a “win-win” solution to reducing greenhouse gasses and replacing thousands of manufacturing jobs lost before and during the global financial crisis. Some scholars, however, argue that despite economic and climate crises, there is little new about the policies being rolled out in advanced industrialized states; instead, political elites adopted business-as-usual policies after 2009 that offer little hope for greater social, economic, or ecological sustainability. In this green “publicity state”, political elites engage as much, if not more, in the politics of environmental discourse than in policymaking for a greener, more sustainable society. This thesis thus explored the research questions: To what extent have policymakers in Ontario and Michigan evoked argumentative imperatives that neoliberal policies are the way to create green jobs, increase socio-economic equality, and/or halt climate change? To what...