Environmental Law Outline
I. Environmental Problems in Perspective
– Modern Eviro Law (MEL) = 3E * P
– Ecological, Economic, Ethical
– Politics
– Congress used different approaches for different areas
1) Command and Control
a) technology based – BAT (best available tech)
b) enviro quality based – ex: air pollution
2) Market Incentives
3) Information Disclosure
A. The Ecological Perspective
1. Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
a. Ethics defined
i. limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence
ii. a differentiation of a social from anti-social conduct
iii. man’s land relation is still strictly economic- privileges but not obligations
b. Community Concept
i. Individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts, tension b/w ethics to
cooperation and instinct to compete for place w/i community.
c. Land Pyramid – food chains
2. Ledec and Goodland, Wildlands: Their Protection and Management
a. have both short and long-term advantages to leaving land alone
b. Biological Diversity – 3 elements
i. Number of different ecosystems & the relative frequencies in a country or in the world
ii. Number of species of plants and animals and their relative frequencies
iii. Genetic variation w/i each species
1) rare species is genetically vulnerable
– less likely that advantageous genetic variations will occur
2) appropriate wild land management is the only method of preserving large and
distinct populations of most species – ensuring species survival and biological diversity.
iv. human intervention is destroying this
c. Case for preserving biological diversity
i. species extinction is irreversible
How do we balance these?
ii. economic just: don’t know value of what we are destroying (crops, medicine,
resources, production)
iii. scientific just: don’t understand interactions, need to be able to observe
iv. aesthetic just: source of inspiration and joy (they’re pretty to look at)
v. ethical just: humans shouldn’t exercise power to get rid of other species at will (don’t
eliminate just because you can)
3. Ruhl, Thinking of Enviro Law as a complex adaptive system
– what we understand best about evolution is genetics, least – ecological
– ecosystems are unpredictable, dynamically changing systems
– a lot we don’t know about relationships w/i ecosystems
B. Some Dimensions Of Environmental Problems
1. Some Dimensions of Enviro Issues
a. Categories
i. War, accidents, and natural disasters
ii. Population growth and distribution
iii. Contaminants – including physical, chemical or biological nature
iv. Natural resource depletion
* Also, there is an uncertainty in curing problems, the cure may be worse
b. Criteria
i. Severity of effects (the seriouseness of the effects to people/environment, assuming a worse case scenario)
ii. Extent of population/environment likely to be affected (the number of people or amount of are likely to be affecte
s in climate and their consequences
b. Any successful prevention strategy will include 5 key elements
i. increasing efficiency of energy production and use
ii. switching from carbon-intensive fuels such as coal to hydrogen-intensive fuels such as
natural gas where possible.
iii. encouraging rapid development and use of solar and other carbon free energies.
iv. eliminating the production of most CFCs and developing the means to recapture those
now in use
v. reducing deforestation
4. Rio Declaration
a. soft law – aspiration, non-binding treaty
b. tension b/w – enviro protection and economic growth
i. developed and developing nations
ii. current population and future generations
c. Three results of Rio – 1992
i. Agenda 21 – set of strategies and programs to reverse effects of problems and to improve the environment (soft law, just guidelines)
ii. Declaration of Forests – To protect rainforests
iii. Declaration on the Environment (soft law)
d. Example of International Soft Law – Tension between concepts of
i. Environmental protection and economic growth
