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Hostile Environment

How Activist Judges Threaten Our Air, Water, and Land

In the past decade, several federal judges have placed their own political agenda above the clear mandates of our environmental laws. Ignoring congressional statutes and legal precedent, they have put new hurdles in the way of environmental regulators and closed courthouse doors to citizens who would sue polluters. This July 2001 NRDC report tracks these developments, and charges that appointing new activist judges to the bench could signal a death sentence for many environmental protections.


	For printed copies of this report, see our Publications List.

OVERVIEW & QUICK REFERENCE
Press Release

FULL REPORT IN PDF
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Links indicate sections available as individual webpages)
Executive Summary
The Choice: Anti-Environmental Activism or Proper Respect for the Law
Commerce Clause: Preventing Congress from Protecting the Environment
Takings Clause: Paying Polluters Not to Pollute
Eleventh Amendment: Excusing States from Compliance with Federal Environmental Laws
The Standing Revolution: Keeping Environmental Plaintiffs Out of Court
The D.C. Circuit's Attack on Environmental Protections
Overt Hostility to Environmental Protections
Recommendations