Earth Day 1970 was a watershed event in U.S. history, creating a system of environmental protection along with a profession to advance it in government, industry, law firms, nonprofits, and universitites. This system has advanced in D.C., state capitals, and town halls. Meanwhile, new challenges — from climate change to biodiversity collapse — keep arising. A half century after the first Earth Day is a good time to ask how good the system of environmental protection is at addressing today’s challenges.
Copyright ©2020, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington D.C. www.eli.org. Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, March-April.