Law for the Ecological Age in the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law
Joseph H. Guth, J.D., Ph.D.

In the United States, property rights, private as well as public, must be structured to further the public welfare. American property law is currently designed to prioritize economic activity, even when it causes environmental damage, on the presumption that it provides a net social benefit. We see now that the ever-growing cumulative effect of the damage thus permitted by the law is running up against the ecological limits of the Earth. Under these new circumstances, to best further the public welfare property law must be restructured to constrain environmental damage to an ecologically sustainable scale. Our entire legal system should implement this constraint on scale in order to redirect the economy onto an ecologically sustainable path. Under our system of law, however, legislatures cannot alone fully restructure property rights while the common law lags behind, pursuing outdated goals. I propose a new rule of the common law, the tort of “ecological degradation,” as a model new law for the ecological age.

Transforming American Law to Promote Preservation of the Earth
Joseph H. Guth, J.D., Ph.D.

This is an outline of arguments intended to transform American law, beginning with the common law, so that it will promote preservation of the earth rather than accept environmental destruction as a byproduct of economic growth. These arguments call on the law to bridge the gap between biologists, who see us outgrowing our habitat, and mainstream economists, who foresee a future of unlimited economic growth.

Law for an Ecological Age
Video presentation by Joseph H. Guth, J.D., Ph.D. at the Center for Earth Jurisprudence Symposium, February 29, 2008.

A new paper by renowned legal scholar Burns Weston: "Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice: Foundational Reflections."

"Each of us living today has a responsibility to prevent the looming catastrophe [of climate change] because each of us has, at a minimum, a moral responsibility to ensure that today's children and future generations inherit a global environment at least no worse than the one we received from our predecessors."

Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice: Foundational Reflections
Burns H. Weston

A new paper by renowned legal scholar Burns Weston: "Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice: Foundational Reflections."

"Each of us living today has a responsibility to prevent the looming catastrophe [of climate change] because each of us has, at a minimum, a moral responsibility to ensure that today's children and future generations inherit a global environment at least no worse than the one we received from our predecessors."

Common Law Judges Must Act On Global Warming
Joseph H. Guth, J.D., Ph.D.

We all know that we have to take action now on global warming. As private individuals, we are beginning to do things like installing photovoltaic panels at our homes and businesses, switching to Priuses and bicycles, and buying local. Our governments are edging forward with steps including a revised Kyoto Protocol, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and the America’s Climate Security Act just introduced into the U.S. Senate by Senators Lieberman and Warner.

Two Rules For Decisions: Trust In Economic Growth Vs. Precaution
Joseph H. Guth, J.D., Ph.D.

Everyone knows the role of law is to control and guide the economy. From law, not economics, springs freedom from slavery, child labor and unreasonable working conditions. Law, reflecting the values we hold dear, governs our economy's infliction of damage to the environment.

Our law contains what might be called an overarching environmental decision rule that implements our social choices. The structure of this decision rule is an intensely political issue, for the people of our democracy must support its far-reaching consequences. Today we (all of us) are rethinking our current environmental decision rule, which our society adopted in the course of the Industrial Revolution.

How Dolphins Got The Benefit Of The Doubt And Why It Matters
Joseph H. Guth, J.D., Ph.D.

The "burden of proof" is a central idea in the law -- it can determine whether the law protects public health and the environment, or whether it has the opposite effect. Getting the "burden of proof" right is crucial, as we'll see in the case of dolphin-safe tuna.