Abstract

Today there is widespread dissatisfaction with many aspects of federal environmental law. The apparent success of early environmental regulations notwithstanding, many analysts and academics have begun to reexamine the potential of common law causes of action to supplement, if not supplant, portions of the existing regulatory regime. Some environmental advocates have come to the conclusion that state-based tort law may be more protective than federal regulations. At the same time, private litigators and state attorneys general are reviving common law causes of action in an effort to augment existing regulatory controls.

Is the common law a viable means of addressing environmental problems? The first wave of environmental common law scholarship, together with the law and economics and classical liberal literatures, at least put the issue on the table for discussion.

With the generous support of the Roe Foundation for the Property and Environment Research Center, we sought to expand the literature beyond the first round of discussion and to prompt a serious look at the common law's potential, and potential weaknesses, in addressing environmental problems. We wanted to know where the case for the common law stood. The result is the set of articles and comments by the impressive group of authors included in this symposium.

This abstract has been taken from the Article's text.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2008

Publication Information

58 Case Western Reserve Law Review 575-582 (2008)

Comments

Written for the symposium Common Law Environmental Protection (2008).

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