TY - BOOK ID - 77874629 TI - The making of environmental law PY - 2004 SN - 1281965804 9786611965808 0226470644 9780226470641 9780226470375 0226470377 0226470377 PB - Chicago University of Chicago Press DB - UniCat KW - Environmental law KW - Environmental protection KW - Environment law KW - Environmental control KW - Environmental quality KW - Environmental policy KW - Law KW - Sustainable development KW - History. KW - Law and legislation KW - regulation, government, law, legislation, environmentalism, environment, nature, pollution, clean water, implementation, enforcement, legal, natural resources, management, reform, preservation, conservation, environmental defense fund, world wildlife, justice department, epa, ecology, commercial fishing, wetlands, habitat, ocean health, development, endangered species, nonfiction, science, climate change, global warming. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77874629 AB - The unprecedented expansion in environmental regulation over the past thirty years-at all levels of government-signifies a transformation of our nation's laws that is both palpable and encouraging. Environmental laws now affect almost everything we do, from the cars we drive and the places we live to the air we breathe and the water we drink. But while enormous strides have been made since the 1970's, gaps in the coverage, implementation, and enforcement of the existing laws still leave much work to be done. In The Making of Environmental Law, Richard J. Lazarus offers a new interpretation of the past three decades of this area of the law, examining the legal, political, cultural, and scientific factors that have shaped-and sometimes hindered-the creation of pollution controls and natural resource management laws. He argues that in the future, environmental law must forge a more nuanced understanding of the uncertainties and trade-offs, as well as the better-organized political opposition that currently dominates the federal government. Lazarus is especially well equipped to tell this story, given his active involvement in many of the most significant moments in the history of environmental law as a litigator for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, an assistant to the Solicitor General, and a member of advisory boards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Ranging widely in his analysis, Lazarus not only explains why modern environmental law emerged when it did and how it has evolved, but also points to the ambiguities in our current situation. As the field of environmental law "grays" with middle age, Lazarus's discussions of its history, the lessons learned from past legal reforms, and the challenges facing future lawmakers are both timely and invigorating. ER -