Word: public
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...rights were threatened. But in 1965, an appellate court ordered the Federal Power Commission -for environmental reasons-to reconsider its approval of a power plant at Storm King Mountain on New York's Hudson River. The case stressed that federal regulatory agencies had a duty to seek out public interest in cases before them. It was a major step in opening the courts to conservationists...
Even so, formidable problems remain. For one, existing local laws that protect the environment are often poorly drafted and administered-making it especially important, as Chicago Lawyer Joseph Karaganis puts it, "to light a fire under public law-enforcement officials." Beyond that, conservationists' suits tend to be underfinanced, a handicap in fighting both large industries and the many small ones that contribute to regional air and water pollution. In addition, a court injunction against potential as well as present polluters still requires proof that irreparable damage is likely, a difficult task when it comes to such highly technical puzzles...
...Foundation in Washington, "is getting a legal handle on the things that are happening all around you and that you know are wrong." In short, there is still little precedent for most conservation cases, though some broad legal avenues are now being explored. > The "trust doctrine," which holds that public and private lands are subject to a "trust" held by the state for the benefit of the people. In the past, this doctrine has formed the basis of cases concerned with submerged lands (where the public interest involves navigation, commerce, fishing rights). Washington Lawyer Anthony Roisman believes that the doctrine...
...based Environmental Defense Fund, organized in 1967 by Mrs. Yannacone's lawyer husband, Victor. Suing on behalf of all Americans, E.D.F. brings in expert witnesses, mainly scientists, to testify about environmental dangers, such as hard pesticides like DDT. The cases are always based on the idea that the public has the right to a healthy environment...
Intolerable Conditions. Such public airing of environmental problems has produced some important results. In New York, the legislature has adopted a proposed state constitutional amendment that guarantees every resident the right to a clean environment. Even more significant, the U.S. Senate recently passed bills introduced by Senators Henry Jackson and Edmund Muskie (now being reworded in House-Senate conferences) that would oblige all federal agencies to protect the environment and make that protection a new constitutional right...