Will the Means Justify the End of Environmental Law? Environmental Law Must Undergo Reasoned Legislative Debate

Abstract

As we examine the course of environmental laws in this country, the pressures on existing laws and what ends we should be aiming for in the future, it is necessary to explore the animating policy decisions and innovations of these laws. But we also must be courageous enough to openly debate the policy decisions underlying those laws and whether they represent the best way forward for our society. If we fail to do so, the existing statutory structure will continue to be hollowed out and made less and less useful and applicable until we will have an end to environmental law as we know it. In this essay, I will describe the pressures that are currently being put upon environmental law, explain how those pressures are related to a failure to debate environmental and other societal values, and propose that we have the strength to preserve and/or alter environmental laws to meet the needs of today’s country and world.