It addresses issues such as pollution control, resource conservation, biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
The field emerged prominently in the mid-20th century as industrialization and environmental degradation spurred global awareness, culminating in landmark agreements like the 1972 Stockholm Conference and the 1992 Rio Declaration.
Modern environmental law intersects with human rights, international trade, and energy policy.
Internationally, treaties such as the Paris Agreement (2015), the Kyoto Protocol (1997), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) establish cooperative frameworks for addressing transboundary issues.
Enforcement varies by jurisdiction, often involving governmental agencies, judicial systems, and international organizations.
Silent Spring, a 1962 book by Rachel Carson, is frequently credited as launching the environmental movement in the United States.
[4] The case helped halt the construction of a power plant on Storm King Mountain in New York State.
Congress has passed a number of landmark environmental regulatory regimes, but many other federal laws are equally important, if less comprehensive.
Meanwhile, the US judicial system reviews not only the legislative enactments, but also the administrative decisions of the many agencies dealing with environmental issues.
The decisions of the Supreme Court in cases such as Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Committee v. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (broadly reading the procedural requirements of NEPA), Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill (broadly reading the Endangered Species Act), and, much more recently, Massachusetts v. EPA (requiring EPA to reconsider regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act) have had policy impacts far beyond the facts of the particular case.
The common law of tort is an important tool for the resolution of environmental disputes that fall beyond the confines of regulated activity.
[8] These doctrines remain relevant, and most recently have been used by plaintiffs seeking to impose liability for the consequences of global climate change.
EPA is the most well-known federal agency, with jurisdiction over many of the country's national air, water and waste and hazardous substance programs.
Some federal laws, such as the Clean Water Act, also allow a U.S. citizen to file a lawsuit against a violator, if the government has failed to take enforcement action.