This chapter is about how environmental politics and policy result from the ongoing and effective expression of environmental values by environmentalists, environmental organizations, political leaders, civil servants, and ordinary citizens. Understanding the history of this process confirms David Easton's definition of politics as the authoritative allocation of values.' The chapter sets out the value dimensions of contemporary environmentalism and identifies some of the difficult issues that the acceptance of these values has hel ed to urge onto the political agenda.' It also develops a framework for integrating these values with other prominent politically relevant values. This framework might be called a "triple E" perspective, for environment, economy, and equity. From the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, politics centered on the struggles between economic values (capital accumulation, enhanced trade, economic growth) and equity values (wages, working conditions, social welfare, public health, and public education). Although these issues have not been resolved, it might be argued that since the 1970s, other issues and tensions have gained in relative prominence. Two sets of issues are of particular concern to us here-those that arise between environment and economy on the one hand, and environment and equity on the other. Points of mutual support as well as of conflict occur in both cases, but many contemporary political issues can be better understood within this wider framework. In effect, environmental values (among others) have been added to, and complicate, the old debates between left and right, rich and poor.