Environmental Justice: Legal Theory and Practice (Environmental Law Institute)

Race and socioeconomic status should not dictate the environmental health risks we face. Yet, too often this is not the case. The environmental justice movement seeks to avoid, minimize, and mitigate disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and/or low-income communities and to ensure that disadvantaged communities are engaged meaningfully in environmental decision-making processes.

Environmental Justice: Legal Theory and Practice provides a thought-provoking exposition and comprehensive review of the complex mixture of environmental laws and civil rights legal theories that are central to this still-evolving area of law. The book, now in its 5th edition, includes all of the significant cases and developments that have occurred since the prior edition. Readers will come away with a deep understanding of the dynamics of environmental justice and gain insight as to how best to address the issue through enlightened leadership in our communities, government agencies, state bar associations, law offices and legal services providers, law school clinics and academic institutions, and corporations.

Book Reviews:

“Barry Hill’s Environmental Justice: Legal Theory and Practice is the ideal book for teaching about environmental justice as well as a terrific reference for practitioners seeking to better understand the topic. Hill takes the balanced perspective of both a practitioner, who looks at all avenues—judicial, legislative, executive, and private—for obtaining environmental justice, as well as a scholar, who deeply explores the legal underpinnings for environmental justice theories. Anyone seeking to understand or teach in this area should consult this seminal work.”
—Scott Schang, Professor of Practice & Director, Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, Wake Forest University School of Law

“I have been teaching the survey course in Environmental Law at Vermont Law School for many years. After our introductory discussions of Environmental Justice issues, I invariably tell the students that, for greater breadth and depth about Environmental Justice topics, they should consult the gold standard, Barry Hill’s Environmental Justice: Legal Theory and Practice.”
—David B. Firestone, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School