Political Science E-Law
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Environmental law is a body of statutes, regulations, and agreements governing humans and the environment. It is needed to protect land, wildlife, forests, conserve water, regulate pollution and mineral harvesting, and prevent any harmful practices (SITE). Environmental lawyers must defend regulations and advocate for new eco-friendly policies such as clean air and water, global warming, and land use.
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Since its inception, the concept of environmental law has dramatically evolved into a separate and distinct body. Several enacted federal statutes such as the Clean Air and Water Acts, the Montreal Protocol, and the Endangered Species Act have greatly influenced the protection of the environment. RAHUL
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Competition over scarce resources RAHUL
If renewable resources such as water and forests are not sufficient to meet demand, conflicts can occur. For instance, wild animals raiding people’s crops.
Mismanagement
Lack of regulation and poor governance and natural resources can lead to conflicts. For example, those in power can decide to steal from the underprivileged since there are no rules.
Unequal distribution
Discriminating certain groups of people in the allocation of resources can result in disagreements. For instance, tiffs can occur when the marginalized groups decide to take back what belongs to them.
Transboundary dynamics and pressures
Conflicts can occur between nations when activities in one cause damage to the environment of other countries. Polluting water that flows through several countries can cause differences among nations.
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Precautionary Principle
The principle protects the environment against uncertain risk through pre-damage control. It states that in case of threats of irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be the cause for preventing environmental degradation. Therefore, mitigation measures should be put in place to prevent a reasonable indication of harm from an activity even if the available evidence is speculative or incomplete.
Adaptive Management
This approach can be implemented if incomplete knowledge and action are needed despite inherent scientific uncertainty. It aims at reducing uncertainty, building knowledge, and improving management over time. Different alternatives are thus explored, their outcomes predicted, and then the best of all is implemented and monitored to assess its impacts.
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Public goods are those made for the benefit and available to the public, such as law enforcement, national defense, environmental issues, and maintaining biodiversity. They are both non-rivalrous and non-excludable.
Ecosystem services are the benefits humans enjoy from healthy functional ecosystems such as water detoxification, oxygen production, and soil genesis.
The tragedy of the Commons refers to the social dilemma individuals face in their responsibility to others. The tragedy occurs when all participants in a particular situation suffer because one player has taken more than their share of the available resources.
Collective action problem occurs where individuals can achieve the desired outcome by collaborating, but they fail to do so due to conflicts of interest that disrupt joint action.
Free rider describes an individual who benefits without incurring any costs from the collective action since the gains cannot be withheld from non-participants.
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An externality is a secondary or unintended consequence of a third party.
Internalizing externality means shifting the burden or costs of an externality from outside to match the internal or private costs and benefits. For instance, the government can internalize air pollution by placing a monetary tax on companies.
A negative externality is an undesirable effect on an unrelated third party imposed by a specific activity. For example, burning fossil fuels pollutes the air, which causes damage to public health and crops.
A positive externality is a benefit obtained by a third party from an unrelated activity. For instance, an individual walking to work reduces congestion and air pollution, which benefits all city dwellers.
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Race to the bottom refers to the government sacrificing quality standards, paying low wages, and defying other regulations during high competition periods to retain or attract economic activity in their territories. (RAHUL)
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Anthropocentrism considers humans as the most significant unit globally, while biocentrism emphasizes the importance of non-human life in nature. This can be a problem while solving environmental disputes since the two ideas disagree on whether environmental interests or human welfare should be prioritized.
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Statutory law is the body of acts enacted by a state or local administration that governs the protection of human and environmental health and the management of resources.
Common law is a framework of unwritten laws based on legal patterns established by courts where the settlement of disputes is through an adversarial exchange of evidence and arguments.
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Nuisance arises from the unreasonable or unlawful use of land by the owner, which tampers with the rights of those around them, for instance, a neighbor keeping a malarial pond.
Trespass is the intentional interference or entry of an object or person into another individual’s land. For example, someone’s animals breaking into another’s garden.
Negligence results from the failure to exercise the amount of care expected from any reasonable person, thus interfering with other people’s rights. A person who sprays pesticides beside a river is negligent.
Strict liability occurs when a landowner assumes the responsibility for abnormally dangerous activities, such as storing gas in large quantities.
Prior appropriation gives the first person to use water from a stream for beneficial purposes to continue using it against all claimants who might come after them. For instance, the water can be used for irrigation, watering plants, and drinking.
Riparian rights give the owner of land abutting a watercourse to use it for any beneficial purposes. For example, a landowner can divert the water to a manufacturing plant.
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Public consensus
This means that it is the public opinion that counts.
Meditation
A third party assists conflicting parties to discover facts from opinions.
Negotiation
The disputing groups outline all the facts to conflict and attempt to decide by compromising.
Arbitration
An arbitrator is appointed by both parties to resolve the case on their behalf
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Standing is a party’s ability to prove to the court a reasonable cause of injury or harm done by law or action aimed to challenge their involvement in a case.
Presumptive validity means shifting the burden of providing proof to the accuser since some government actions are known to be legal.
Writ of mandamus is the court order forcing one to do something.
An injunction is an impartial remedy where a court orders someone to do or avoid doing certain acts.
Precedent is a published existing opinion that guides the court in solving other cases similar in facts.
A statute is a written enactment from a federal or legislative body.
Dissent is a written disagreement with the court’s majority by a judge.
Administrative law involves procedures such as rules and regulations established by state or federal governments.
Constitutional law is expressed in the constitution or opinions rendered by the Supreme Court.
Works Cited
Making Laws Lecture. “How Regulations Come About.” 2020.
Environmental Law. “Environmental Law PowerPoint For Module 2.” 2020.
Ruhl, J. B et al. The Practice and Policy of Environmental Law. 4th ed., 2016, pp. 1-93.
The Free Dictionary. “Environmental Law.” Thefreedictionary.Com, https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Environmental+Law. Accessed 29 Aug 2020.