GOV 2311: Environmental Policy and Law

This course deals with environmental law as it relates to people, pollution and land use in our society. A case method approach will be used to illustrate how the courts and legislators have dealt with these social-legal problems. The course is designed to have the student consider: 1) the legal framework within which environmental law operates; 2) the governmental institutions involved in the formulation, interpretation and application of environmental law; 3) the nature of the legal procedures and substantive principles currently being invoked to resolve environmental problems; 4) the types of hazards to the environment presently subject to legal constraints; 3) the impact that the mandates of environmental law have had, and will have, on personal liberties and property rights; 6) the role individuals and groups can play within the context of our legal system to protect and improve man’s terrestrial habitat and the earth’s atmosphere; and 7) some methods and sources for legal research that they may use on their own.