Law's Environment: How the Law Shapes the Places We Live

by John Copeland Nagle

Overview

John Copeland Nagle shows how our reliance on environmental law affects the natural environment through an examination of five diverse places in the American landscape: Alaska's Adak Island; the Susquehanna River; Colton in California’s Inland Empire; Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the badlands of North Dakota; and Alamogordo in New Mexico. Nagle asks why some places are preserved by the law while others are not, and he finds that environmental laws often have unexpected results while other laws have surprising effects on the environment. Nagle argues that sound environmental policy requires better coordination among the many laws, regulations, and social norms that determine the values and uses of our scarce lands and waters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300126297
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	05/25/2010
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Copeland Nagle is the John N. Matthews Professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

List of Abbreviations xiii

Introduction 1

1 The End of the Earth: Adak Island, Alaska 10

2 The Mayor's Oversized Flyswatter: Colton, California 50

3 Heaven or Hell?: The Badlands of Western North Dakota 93

4 River Enigma: The Susquehanna River 144

5 Lights Out: Alamogordo, New Mexico 196

Conclusion 241

Notes 253

List of Internet Sites 282

Index 285

Editorial Reviews

Nagle has written an important book on environmental law that should be of great interest to students and scholars of law and society.”—J. A. Pierceson, Choice

Choice - J. A. Pierceson

"Nagle reveals a remarkably nuanced understanding of the many ways that law affects the landscape. I wanted to visit each place after reading the book and found myself looking differently at the landscape around me."—Michael P. Vandenbergh, Carlton Takington Professor of Law and Director, Climate Change Research Network, Vanderbilt University Law School

Michael P. Vandenbergh

Environmental law and policy are usually talked about in abstract terms. It's easy to lose track of the concrete settings that shape environmental law. This is a two-way interaction: the law itself is shaped by particular disputes in particular places. Professor Nagle resurrects this lost dimension of environmental law in lively, readable narratives. He tells the stories of some of the special places that have been touched by environmental law and of the people who live there. A ‘must read’ for anyone who cares about how the law and the land affect each other.”—Dan Farber, Sho Sato Professor of Law and Chair, Energy and Resources Group

Dan Farber

“Nagle has written an important book on environmental law that should be of great interest to students and scholars of law and society.”—J. A. Pierceson, Choice

— J. A. Pierceson

Choice