New from Harvard University Press:
Environment in the Balance: The Green Movement and the Supreme Court (April 2015), by
Jonathan Z. Cannon (University of Virginia School of Law). The Press explains:
The first Earth Day in 1970 marked environmentalism’s coming-of-age
in the United States. More than four decades later, does the green
movement remain a transformative force in American life? Presenting a
new account from a legal perspective, Environment in the Balance
interprets a wide range of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, along with
social science research and the literature of the movement, to gauge the
practical and cultural impact of environmentalism and its future
prospects.
Jonathan Z. Cannon demonstrates that from the 1960s onward,
the Court’s rulings on such legal issues as federalism, landowners’
rights, standing, and the scope of regulatory authority have reflected
deep-seated cultural differences brought out by the mass movement to
protect the environment. In the early years, environmentalists won some
important victories, such as the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision allowing
them to sue against barriers to recycling. But over time the Court has
become more skeptical of their claims and more solicitous of values
embodied in private property rights, technological mastery and economic
growth, and limited government.
Today, facing the looming threat of global warming, environmentalists
struggle to break through a cultural stalemate that threatens their
goals. Cannon describes the current ferment in the movement, and
chronicles efforts to broaden its cultural appeal while staying
connected to its historical roots, and to ideas of nature that have been
the source of its distinctive energy and purpose.
A few blurbs:
"A remarkable and important book. Cannon
approaches environmental law as both legal expert and humanist, seeking
always the broad cultural context in which to view the Supreme Court’s
uncertain ecological jurisprudence. He is an intent and perceptive
reader of the Court’s decisions and what goes into them. He is also a
fluent and convincing writer. Environment in the Balance will be widely read and largely influential.”—Peter Brooks, Princeton University
“Highly persuasive and insightful. Cannon
reveals how the Supreme Court’s opinions reflect a larger culture war
over environmentalism in American society. The scope and depth of his
analysis is remarkable, and it allows him to offer a series of lessons
for environmentalists hoping to meet the challenges of the future.”—Daniel Farber, University of California, Berkeley
More information, including the TOC, is available
here.
