68 Environmental Ethics and Environmental Law: A Virtuous Circle Zoe Makoul * This Note poses the question of whether—and how—lawmaking can create a platform for promoting an environmental ethic. There is a body of scholarship about how values or virtue ethics impact lawmaking, but this Note also explores the opposite—how lawmaking impacts the values or virtue ethics of the public. Environmental ethicists disagree about the very origins of environmental ethics. Some thinkers believe that environmental ethics stem from “core values” that are inherent to human nature. Others posit a set of “green virtues” that can be learned. But there is agreement that education through exposure to the natural world is fundamental to ethical development. Ideally, people develop green virtues that guide their everyday actions but, to encourage a true love of the natural world, their core values must be awakened; this is done locally, via connections to wild spaces. Through the creation of national parks and through public land-granting, law creates a platform that can contribute to the formation of environmental consciousness, from materializing the “wilderness” ideal to demonstrating the value of “otherness.” The relationship between environmental law and environmental ethics creates a virtuous circle— in both senses of the word—as virtue drives enriched environmental law as much as environmental law has the capacity to create green virtues. The virtuous circle concept risks the implied instrumentalization of virtues, robbing them of intrinsic realization by using them as policy tools. However, this is a false dichotomy; environmental law is a tool that can be used by a democracy to change itself by creating a different set of experiences to make concrete the values that we hold in abstraction or as aspiration. This Note draws on Aristotle’s virtue ethics to posit that lawmaking can create a holistic platform for people to learn how to practice an environmental ethic, which in turn promotes the passage of new regulatory and protective environmental laws. I. Introduction ........................................................................................................69 II. Environmental Ethics Can Shape Environmental Law .....................74 * J.D. candidate, Columbia Law School, class of 2022.
ThisNoteposesthequestionofwhether—andhow—lawmakingcancreateaplatformforpromotinganenvironmentalethic.Thereisabodyofscholarshipabouthowvaluesorvirtueethicsimpactlawmaking,butthis Note also explores the opposite—how lawmaking impacts thevaluesorvirtueethicsofthepublic. Environmentalethicistsdisagreeabouttheveryoriginsofenvironmentalethics. Somethinkersbelievethatenvironmentalethicsstemfrom“corevalues”thatareinherenttohumannature.Otherspositasetof“greenvirtues”thatcanbelearned.Butthereisagreementthateducationthroughexposuretothenaturalworld is fundamentaltoethicaldevelopment. Ideally,peopledevelopgreenvirtuesthatguidetheireverydayactionsbut,toencourageatrueloveofthenaturalworld,theircorevaluesmustbeawakened;this isdone locally,viaconnections towildspaces. Throughthecreationofnational parks and through public land-granting, law creates aplatform that can contribute to the formation of environmentalconsciousness, from materializing the “wilderness” ideal todemonstrating the value of “otherness.” The relationship betweenenvironmentallawandenvironmentalethicscreatesavirtuouscircle—inbothsensesoftheword—asvirtuedrivesenrichedenvironmentallawasmuchasenvironmentallawhasthecapacitytocreategreenvirtues.The virtuous circle concept risks the implied instrumentalization ofvirtues, robbing themof intrinsic realizationbyusing themaspolicytools. However,this isafalsedichotomy;environmental lawisatoolthatcanbeusedbyademocracytochangeitselfbycreatingadifferentset of experiences to make concrete the values that we hold inabstractionorasaspiration.ThisNotedrawsonAristotle’svirtueethicsto posit that lawmaking can create a holistic platform for people tolearnhowtopracticeanenvironmentalethic,whichinturnpromotesthepassageofnewregulatoryandprotectiveenvironmentallaws. I. Introduction........................................................................................................69 II. EnvironmentalEthicsCanShapeEnvironmentalLaw.....................74 *J.D.candidate,ColumbiaLawSchool,classof2022.
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A. CollectiveAction...............................................................................................76 B. CollectiveResponsibility..............................................................................80
III. EnvironmentalLawsCanShapeEnvironmentalEthics...................83 A. WildernessFostersSelf-Discovery...........................................................84 B. EnvironmentalLawCreatesWilderness...............................................87 1. PublicLands..............................................................................................87 2. NationalParks..........................................................................................89
C. JusticeandAccess............................................................................................90 1. BiophiliainPractice...............................................................................93
IV. TheVirtuousCircle..........................................................................................94 A. ParadoxandSolution.....................................................................................95 1. Aristotle’sVirtueEthics........................................................................96 2. ApplicationandRealization...............................................................97
V. Conclusion............................................................................................................99
I. INTRODUCTION
Anenvironmentalethicis,atitsmostdistilled,aconceptionoftheethical relationship between the humans and the natural world.1Whilethatdefinitionissimple,itisalsobroad,sparkinganabundanceoftheories,explanations,andopinionsofenvironmentalethics.Sincethenineteenthcentury,modernphilosophershaveconsciouslyusedthe natural world—what exists in nature without humanconstruction—to further explore humanity, theology, civilization,justice, and the modern condition. Transcendentalists like HenryDavidThoreauwonderedwherehumansfitintothecomplexdivinityof nature;2 conservationists like JohnMuir reverently admired the“natural, wild, and free” and rejected the anthropocentric, orinstrumentalist, view of nature.3 In the late twentieth century,environmentalethicsemergedasastandalonediscipline,catalyzedbytheperceptionthathumanityfacedanenvironmentalcrisis.In1962,Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring warned of impending catastrophe,linking DDT accumulation within the food chain to serious public
1. Alasdair Cochrane, Environmental Ethics, INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY,https://iep.utm.edu/envi-eth/[https://perma.cc/D6KL-XV23](lastvisitedJan6,2021).2. HENRYDAVIDTHOREAU, WALDEN; OR,LIFE IN THEWOODS (Jeffrey S. Cramer ed., 2006 ed.
healthissuesandenvironmentaldegradation.4In1967,LynnWhitecriticized orthodox Judeo-Christian thinking as the root ofenvironmental overexploitation, as the Bible fundamentally relaysGod’s bestowal of human dominion over every other living being.5Bothconcreteandtheoreticalwritings,suchasthoseofCarsonandWhite, respectively, led to a call for a “basic change of values,”essentiallydemandingthedevelopmentofenvironmentalethicsasanewphilosophicdiscipline.6This new discipline quickly branched into several schools of
thought. Theblossoming ideasof environmental ethicswereoftenbuiltuponthefoundationofotherethics,withsimilargoalsinmindand different opinions on how to reach them—or even the sameopinionsbutfordifferentreasons.Nineteenthandtwentiethcenturyenvironmental ethicists tended to use dichotomies to define thetenets of their theories, simplifying theworld into dualities. Thus,theirphilosophiesareoftendistinguishedbywhattheyarenot.Muirdefinedrespectingnatureincontrasttoconsumerism:“Thesetempledestroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have aperfectcontemptforNature,and, insteadof liftingtheireyestotheGod of themountains, lift them to the AlmightyDollar.”7 Thoreaudistinguishedenvironmentalismfromrelentlesswork:“Whyshouldwelivewithsuchhurryandwasteoflife?Wearedeterminedtobestarvedbeforewearehungry.Mensaythatastichintimesavesnine,andsotheytakeathousandstichestodaytosavenineto-morrow.Asforwork,wehaven’t anyof consequence.”8 WilliamO.Douglas setenvironmentalismagainst impotence: “TheGlacierPeakarea, if leftroadlessandintact,willofferperpetualphysicalandspiritualtherapy.For its rugged nature—its steep canyons, forbidding glacier, andknife-edgedridges—willbeamagnettothosewhohavedaringandfortitude.”9RobertBullardseparatedcareforthenaturalworldfromdisadvantage: “Althoughconcernabout theenvironmentcutacrossracial and class lines, environmental activism has been mostpronouncedamong individualswhohaveabove-averageeducation,
ON THE PREDICAMENT OF MANKIND 195 (1972), http://www.donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Limits-to-Growth-digital-scan-version.pdf[https://perma.cc/8GMH-PNJM].7. JOHNMUIR,THEYOSEMITE255-57,260-62(1912).8. THOREAU,supranote2,at21.9. WILLIAMO.DOUGLAS,MYWILDERNESS:THEPACIFICWEST148-49(1960).
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greateraccesstoeconomicresources,andagreatersenseofpersonalefficacy.”10AndDaleJamiesondefinedenvironmentalismasafoilforself-interest:“Weoftentreatnatureas‘meremeans,’asifitdidnothaveanyvalueorexistenceindependentofitsroleasaresourceforus. As a society we seem to treat the Earth and its fundamentalsystemsasiftheyweretoysthatcanbetreatedcarelessly,asiftheirfunctions could easily be replaced by a minor exercise of humaningenuity.”11Alternately, several other thinkers have defined
“environmentalism” or “environmental responsibility” positively.AldoLeopold,widelyconsideredthe“fatherofwildlifeconservation,”proposed the “land ethic”—a community instinct for ecologicalconservation.“Inshort,”Leopoldwrites,“alandethicchangestheroleof Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plainmemberandcitizenofit.Itimpliesrespectforhisfellow-members,andalsorespect for thecommunityassuch.”12 Cultivatingabetterunderstandingofnaturalecological systemsandourproperrole inthem would be mutually beneficial for both humans and theenvironment. BecauseLeopold’smostsubstantialandfundamentalgoal was to outline a land ethic, much of what he says wouldnecessarily require enormous shifts in the legal world, especiallytoday.Societiesacrosstheearthalreadyhavelawstoprotectthefirstethics,ortherelationbetweenindividuals,andthesecondethics,ortherelationshipbetweentheindividualandthesociety.13But“thereisasyetnoethicdealingwithman’srelationtolandandtotheanimalsandplantswhichgrowuponit...[although]theextensionofethicstothis third element in human environment is... an evolutionarypossibilityandanecologicalnecessity.”14Leopold’slandethicwouldhave two major effects on environmental issues and how the lawaddressesthem:(1)thelandwouldbegivenlegalrights,15and(2)asystem of stricter incentives and penalties would be applied toagricultureandindustry.
10. ROBERTD.BULLARD,DUMPINGINDIXIE:RACE,CLASS,ANDENVIRONMENTALQUALITY1(1990).11. DALE JAMIESON, REASON IN A DARK TIME: WHY THE STRUGGLE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
a “voice” in court is an important aspect of environmental ethics. The focus herewill be onenvironmentallawmaking,notthejudiciary.
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Holmes Rolston III and J. Baird Callicott also offer constructivedefinitionsofenvironmentalethics.Rolston’sisanunderstandingofvalue as mind-independent, objective, and existent at the level ofhumans,animals,organisms,species,andecosystems.16Callicott’sisanexpansionofLeopold’slandethicreadthroughaHumeanlens—Leopold’s land ethic being summarized by themaxim “[a] thing isrightwhenittendstopreservetheintegrity,stability,andbeautyofthebioticcommunity.Itiswrongwhenittendsotherwise.”17Callicottposits that Leopold’s land ethic is an extension of Hume’s idea ofnatural sentiment18 to entities beyond humanity, as the idea of“society”canincludewholeecosystems.19However,neitherRolstonnorCallicottspecificallyprescribeasetofvirtuestoliveby.20Inaglobalattempttoidentifysuchvirtues,environmentalthinkers
began to suggest unique environmental ethics, eachwith adistinctvocabulary.“Ethics,”“morals,”“values,”and“virtues”arerelated,butdistinguishableterms.21However,forthesakeofsimplicity,thisnotewillborrowfromJohnRawls’notionofa“comprehensivedoctrine.”Rawls suggests that moral philosophy offers a comprehensivedoctrinethat“includesconceptionsofwhatisofvalueinhumanlife,and ideals of personal character... associational relationships, andmuchelsethatistoconfirmourconduct,andthelimittoourlifeasawhole.”22 A conception is comprehensive when it covers all
16. HOLMES ROLSTON III, ANEW ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: THENEXTMILLENNIUM FOR LIFEONEARTH(2011).17. LEOPOLD,supranote3,at223-24.18. “Natural sentiment is a concept expressing the view that morality is based on a
sentiment, or feeling, that is the result of our naturalmakeup.” Natural Sentiment, OXFORDREFERENCE,https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100225429 (lastvisitedOct18,2021).19. J.BairdCallicott&CenterforEnvironmentalPhilosophy,TheUniversityofNorthTexas,
Hume’sIs/OughtDichotomyandtheRelationofEcologytoLeopold’sLandEthic,4ENV’TETHICS163(1982).20. Callicott does, however, credit modern virtue ethicist Alasdair MacIntyre with his
recognized “values and virtues” within a precisely articulatedsystem.23 Thus, a comprehensive doctrine engages in theconstruction of moral ideals.24 For the purposes of this note, theaforementionedtheoriescanbeconsideredcomprehensivedoctrinesunderthelabelofan“environmentalethic.”Accordingly,termssuchas “core values” or “green ethics,” because they guide all humanaction, can be read as functionally equivalent. This will allowcomparisonwithoutsacrificingtheauthors’originallanguage.Althoughmanyscholarshaveattemptedtodefineanenvironmental
ethic, few have explainedwhat trulymakes people care about theenvironment—what creates an ecologically-minded and dedicatedhumanbeing.Accordingly,Part Iof thisnotediscusses the impactsenvironmental ethics do have, have had, and could have onenvironmental law. In theory, law tends to reflect the will of thepeople,especiallyinademocracy. Ifthe“willofthepeople”canberegardedas“publicmorality,”thentheenvironmentally-mindedhaveanopportunitytoinfluenceenvironmentallaw.Atrueenvironmentalethicmustaddressthisopportunityasacomprehensivedoctrineofgreen virtues and core values. An environmental ethic provides asolution to issues of collective action and collective responsibilitywhichotherwisehinderenvironmentallaw.Fundamentally,unityinenvironmental law is realized by the devotion of the individual tosomethingotherthanself-interest.Greenvirtues,asnon-calculativegeneratorsofaction,canoffersuchanalternativetoself-interest.25PartIIpositsthat,whilegreenvirtuesarerelevanttoenvironmental
law concerns, the law likewise cultivates such green virtues.Environmental lawfrequentlycreatesaplatformforenvironmentaldiscovery,includingissuesofjustice,access,andsharedexperience.In promoting and maintaining nature and the natural world,environmentallawbreaksdownthebarrierbetweenhumanandthe
belong to the category of comprehensive doctrines. “To inquire into and explore thesecomprehensivedoctrinesshouldfalltomodernenvironmentalethics.Whileitseemsthattheprolongeddebatesover the intrinsicvalueofnature, themoral standingof animals, and thefoundationandscopeofmoraldutiesamongthesecomprehensivedoctrinesarenotdirectlyconnectedwithspecificenvironmentalpolicies,thesedebatesneverthelessexpandtheethicalspace inwhich peoplemight think about environmental issues, offer the necessary culturalfoundationsfortheformationofanewconsensus,andcultivatethemoralmotivationforaction.”TongjinYang,IsThereanIdentityCrisisinEnvironmentalEthics?,12FRONTIERSOFPHIL.INCHINA195,203(2017).25. SeeinfraPartI(A)andaccompanyingnotes.
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“other.” This section discusses concepts of “wilderness,” both asunfetteredaccesstograndplacesandasmundaneinteractionswiththenaturalworld. Part II also covers the granting of public lands,includingnationalparks,asalegaltoolthatpromotesconnectiontothenaturalworld.PartIIIaddressesthevirtuouscirclebetweenenvironmentalethics
andenvironmentallaw.Environmentallawrequiresvirtuesandcanhelpcreatethevirtuesthatitneeds;environmentallawisatoolthatapeoplecanusetocreateexperiencesthatdriveethicaldevelopment.The virtuous circle is a chain of events in which the creation orcultivationofoneentityleadstothecreationorcultivationofanotherwhich promotes the first entity, essentially creating a continuousprocessofimprovement.ThisisconsistentwithAristotle’stheoryofvirtue ethics, which holds that virtue can only be developed fromhabituation. Virtuous action is oftenmanifested in the practice or“activeexercise”ofthevirtues.Thus,moralvirtueformsbyhabit.Torealizethepotentialofvirtues,onemustcontinuallypracticevirtuousaction. Thiscycle,orfeedbackloop,mayraisetherationalconcernthatvirtuescannotbeconsideredvirtuesiftheyareconstructedbylaworusedasapolicytool. PartIIIaddressesthisworryandendswith some environmentally-focused examples of virtue ethics inpractice,specificallycitingecofeministtheory.
II. ENVIRONMENTALETHICSCANSHAPEENVIRONMENTALLAW
Democracy, as government “of the people, by the people, for thepeople,”theoreticallyreflectsthepublic’schangingsocialandmoralsensibilities.26 Regardless of themethod bywhich publicmoralitypermeatesCongressionallawmaking,intuitionsuggeststhatitdoes.27The past century is illustrative, as public campaigns for women’ssuffrage, civil rights, and same-sex marriage have encouraged thepassage of constitutional amendments that echo the value ofequality.28Itseemsapparentthatpublicmoralityaffectsthelaw.A
shared environmental ethic, then, is conducive to passingenvironmentallaws.Intherealmofenvironmentalethics,“publicmorality”iseffectively
the perceived value or moral status of the environment.Consequentially, ethicistshave sought tounderstandwhyandhowpeople confer value onto the natural world. The “Green Virtue”theory,proposedbyDaleJamieson,reliesonthedevelopmentofnewand different virtues as the vehicle for legal change. Jamiesonadvocatesforteachablegreenvirtuesthatguidebehavior.Aspartofhisprogressiveconsequentialism,andinanefforttoescapehavingtocalculate the best outcome at the moment of decision, Jamiesonprescribesafocusonvirtues.Hedefines“virtue”asa“non-calculativegenerator of action,”29 which “helps to regulate and coordinatebehavior, express and contribute to the constitution of communitythroughspaceandtime,andhelpstocreateempathy,sympathy,andsolidarity amongmoral agents.”30 Green virtues, for Jamieson, areresponsestothreefactors:preservation,rehabilitation,andcreation.Preservation,orthereflectionofexistingvalues,isexemplifiedbythevirtueofhumility.Rehabilitation,ordrawingonexistingvirtuesandaddingnewcontent,isrepresentedbytemperance,agreenvirtuethatemphasizestheimportanceofreducingconsumption.Creation,orthegenerationofnewvalues,isexemplifiedbythevirtueofmindfulness,i.e.,thecapacitytotakeonthemoralweightofeveryconsequenceofeveryaction.31Greenvirtuesarerelativelyinflexibleinthesenseofrightandwrong,asonemustalwaystrytoexemplifytheminoneselfandelicittheminothers.Jamieson’sprescribedenvironmentalethicillustratestherelevance
ofgreenvirtuestoenvironmentallaw.Asacomprehensivedoctrine,thegreenvirtuetheorywouldalignpeople’sidentities,experiences,and beliefs with the goals of environmental law—compliance,collectiveaction,andcollectiveresponsibility.Forexample,becauseglobal environmental degradation is arguably the world’s biggestcollectiveactionproblem(andbecauseitsconsequencesarestratifiedandindirect),32Jamiesonsuggeststhatthemosteffectivestrategyin
29. DaleJamieson,WhenUtilitariansShouldBeVirtueTheorists,19UTILITAS160,172(2007).30. Id.at181-82.31. Id.32. Although there are exceptions, “The climate change issue can be seen at its core as
centeringonrichpeopleappropriatingmorethantheirshareofaglobalpublicgoodand,asaresult, harming poor people by causally contributing to extreme climatic events such asdroughts, hurricanes, and heatwaves, which in turn can ramify, causing disease outbreaks,economicdislocations,andpoliticalinstability.”DALEJAMIESON,supranote11,at147.Indeed,
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addressing the issue involves actions directed towards personalminimizationofcontributionstoclimatechangeandactionscausingotherstominimizetheircontributions.33Usingthatmindset,thisnoteoperatesunderthebeliefthatanenvironmentalethicarisesfromthecombinationofcollectiveactionandcollectiveresponsibility.
A. CollectiveAction
Thebasisofanenvironmentalethicissharedexperienceandbelief.Becausegreenvirtuesarebothinternalizedandprojected,theycanofferasolutiontotheconstantcollectiveactionproblemsthatplagueenvironmentallawmaking.Collectiveactionproblemsoccurwhenagroup of individuals—familial, social, national, international, etc.—failstoachievethemostefficientoutcome,optinginsteadtoensurepersonalgainbyactinginself-interest.34Onetypeofcollectiveactionproblem, the “tragedy of the commons,” exemplifies the conflictbetween individual and collective rationality, wherein individualusersofasharedresourceharmallusersbydepletingorspoilingthesharedresourcethroughtheircollectiveaction.35Mostcommon-poolassetsthathavebeensubjecttoexploitation,suchasoilornaturalgas,arenaturalresources.Withoutpropertylawsorstatutoryregulation,natural resources might belong to every human being, especiallyaccordingtotheJudeo-Christiantradition:“Godcreatedmaninhisownimage,intheimageofGodcreatedhehim;maleandfemalecreatedhethem.AndGodblessedthem,andGodsaiduntothem,Befruitful,andmultiply,andreplenishtheearth,andsubdueit:andhavedominionoverfishofthesea,andoverfowloftheair,andovereverylivingthingthatmovethupontheearth.”36
the stateof the systemat the time it isperformed.37 In the Judeo-Christiantradition,itwouldhavebeenimpossibleforAdamandEve
“Eightypercentofglobalcarbonemissionscomefromonly10countries.”Id.at146.JamiesonillustratestheindirectnessofactionthroughhisJack-and-Jillexample:Jackisobviouslyatfaultif he steals Jill’s bicycle, but the situation is much murkier if Jack and a large number ofunacquaintedpeople set inmotiona chainof events thatprevents a largenumberof futurepeoplewhowillliveinanotherpartoftheworldfromeverhavingbicycles.Id.at149.33. Jamieson,supranote29,at166.34. LarsUdéhn,Twenty-FiveYearswith“TheLogicofCollectiveAction”,36ACTASOCIOLOGICA
to exhaust the world’s natural resources.38 Why, then, bother toprotectthem?Inmanyways,takingfromEarthwithoutmoderationdid not, when the world was “smaller,” implicate environmentalethics.OnecouldbestowthegreatestvaluetolifeonEarth,andstillbehave in a manner that we, today, would deem wasteful. Forexample,aplainsmanin1810couldkillanAmericanbison,packupwhathecouldcarry,andleavethecarcasstothevulturesandcoyotes.In1910,whenthepopulationofAmericanbisonfelltolessthan500andrestorationeffortsbegan,thesameactionwouldbeappalling.39Dominion without hesitation continued through centuries ofcolonialism. During the American period of Manifest Destiny,40naturalresourcesseemedinexhaustible. Evenifalakerandryorameadowwasovergrazed, frontiersmen could theoreticallymove toanotheruntouchedtractoflandandbeginagain.Althoughtheactualexperience of pioneerswas not nearly so idyllic, the perception ofwide-open space, free for the taking, permeated the Americanconsciousness.41 Arguably, Manifest Destiny reflects a vestigialenvironmentalethic.42Evenso,theapplicationofanenvironmentalethicmustadjusttoitscircumstance,andthelawmustsubsequentlyadapttothenewapplication.
38. Thiscontrastswithnon-Judeo-Christiantraditions,whichtendtohaveadifferentsortofenvironmentalethics.Theseethicswillnotbefullydetailedinthisnote,aslawmakingisrarelyconnected to these in-group values. Native American spirituality or Buddhist thought, forexample,tendtodeemthenaturalworldmoreintrinsicallyvaluablethanJudeo-Christianity,buttheseethicsarenotbroadlyunderstood,eitherbecausetheyhavebeensilenced,orbecausethenatureofthetraditionitselfprecludespoliticalparticipation.39. Hardin,supranote35,at1245.40. “ManifestDestiny”referstoAmerica’sperceived“moralmission”toexpandwestward,
andcertainlywithoutaconceptofmodernly-definedpollution,shapedtheWesternindustrialrevolution.Thisraisesthedifficultsocialandethicalquestionofwhethercurrentlydevelopingcountries should be vilified for using cheap technology to buffer industry, or whether theyshouldbeexpectedtofollowthesameenvironmentalstandardsasdevelopedcountries,whichcouldmakedevelopmentfinanciallyinaccessible.See,e.g.,JoshDzieza,InsideIndia’sRacetoCool1.3 Billion People in a Warming World, THE VERGE (Sep. 14, 2017, 9:05 AM),https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/14/16290934/india-air-conditioner-cooler-design-climate-change-cept-symphony[https://perma.cc/QLT9-CMHT](describingtheinefficientairconditioningunitsacrossIndiaasbothanecessityandaglobaldanger).42. Manifest Destiny, though linked with environmental romanticism, was also a result
ofimpatience, anxiety, and bellicosity combined with racism, economic greed, and theperceptionthatavast,republicanempirewouldsolveAmerica’sgrowingsocialills.THOMASR.HIETALA,MANIFESTDESIGN:ANXIOUSAGGRANDIZEMENTINLATEJACKSONIANAMERICA51(1994).Euro-American”discovery” ofthewestern frontier caused thedisplacement and erasure ofNativeAmericanlanduse,andtheannexationofTexasduringtheMexican-Americanwar(1846-1848)wasablatantlyviolentmethodofwestwardexpansion.
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Nationalparks,43forexample,arereminiscentofthefrontierWestandopentoallpeoplewithoutexception.But,likeallland,theparksthemselvesarelimitedresourcesandthevaluesthatvisitorsseekintheparks—pristinewilderness,communionwiththenaturalworld—aresteadilyerodedbytheirownactions.44Trafficcongestion,humanexcrement,andgarbagemarthesanctitysomanyseek,bothdirectlyandindirectly.45Theadditionofcafeterias,wi-fitowers,railings,andparking lots obstruct themajesty of untouched natural spaces andhinderescapism.46Therearesomesolutionstothisproblem:nationalparkscouldbeprivatized,ortherighttoentercouldbeallocatedbyastandardorlottery.47Butdotheysolvethecollectiveactionproblemor—ifthereisadifference—arethesesolutionsjustmutualcoercion?The trouble of the collective action problem, in relation to
environmental lawmaking, is especially notable in the realm ofclimatechange. “Invisible”menacesrequireextensiveandnuancedsolutions, but fit in less with traditional views on morality.“Commonsensemorality,”asJamiesontermsit, isnotresponsivetosomeimportantaspectsofanthropogenicclimatechange.Peoplecanrecognizethatglobalwarmingisbad,butbreachingclimateprotocols,forexample,doesnotconsistentlycompeloutragebecausepeopledonot feel insulted,orangry,ordisgraced.48 GarrettHardinproposesthatanextensioninmoralitycansolveproblemsofcollectiveactionwhere technical solutions cannot—a technical solution being “onethatrequiresachangeonlyinthetechniquesofthenaturalsciences,demandinglittleornothinginthewayofchangeinhumanvaluesorideasofmorality.”49Onecouldthenproposethat,toeffectmeaningfulchange in the environmental arena, beliefs must drive behavior.
factisthatifclimatechangewerecausedbygaysex,orbythepracticeofeatingkittens,millionsofprotesterswouldbemassing in thestreets.” DanielGilbert, IfOnlyGaySexCausedGlobalWarming,LOSANGELESTIMES(July2,2006,12:00AM),https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-02-op-gilbert2-story.html[https://perma.cc/S8GR-RT5R].49. Hardin,supranote35at1243.
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Jamiesondoes this,postulating thatanethics for theAnthropocenewould rely on nourishing and cultivating character traits,dispositions, and emotions—in otherwords, green virtues.50 On afaciallevel,virtuesare“mechanismsthatprovidemotivationtoactinourvariousrolesfromconsumerstocitizensinordertoreduceGHGemissionsandtoagreatextentamelioratetheireffectsregardlessofthebehaviorofothers.”51 Inadeepersense, theyalso “giveus theresiliency to live meaningful lives even when our actions are notreciprocated.”52 Per both Hardin and Jamieson, when faced withglobal environmental problems such as climate change, we shouldlimitournegativecontributionsregardlessofthebehaviorofothers.We are more likely to succeed in doing this by developing andinculcating the right virtues than by improving our calculativeabilities.53TheseedsofHardin’sproposed fundamentalextension inhuman
morality are evident in early environmental lawmaking. As valueschanged, so did the law. The public has consistently drivenenvironmentallawmaking.Carson’sSilentSpringisoftenregardedasmarking the origin of modern environmental activism, but itspublication in1962builtonconcerns thatAmericanswerealreadydeveloping—Carson compared pesticides to radiation, whichgalvanized theanti-nuclearmovementof the1950s.54 AfterWorldWar II, even those remote from the explosions felt the impact ofnuclear weapons. People who survived the blast still experiencedslow,painfuldeathsduetoradiation,andtheirchildrensufferedfrombirthdefectsandelevatedratesofcancer.55HiroshimaandNagasakidemonstratedhumankind’spower tocausemassdestructiononanenormousgeographicalandtemporalscale.56Closertohome,whilecountriestestednuclearweapons,itbecameclearthatinvisibleforcescouldcausegreatdamagetopeopleeventhousandsofmilesaway,asnuclear residue was found in the bones of newborn babies farremovedfromtheexplosionsites.57 TheAmericanpeoplebegantorecognizethevalueofacleanandsafeenvironment.
Withthisnewunderstandingthatthenaturalworldhasvalue—anunderstandingdrivenbyfearandthestarkrealizationthateveryonecould feel the impact of climate change and pollution—Americanswereprimedforcollectiveaction.Butforgreenvirtuestotrulyalterthelaw,humansneededtounderstandtheirindividualandcollectiveresponsibilitiesinthenewenvironmentalethic.Inotherwords,greenvirtues encompass far more than valuing the environment as aresource.58
B. CollectiveResponsibility
An environmental ethic that can change environmental lawrequires both collective action and collective responsibility.Commonsensemorality includesasimpleethicalprinciplewhich isalmostuniversallyaccepted:ifitisinourpowertopreventsomethingbadfromhappening,withoutsacrificinganythingmorallysignificant,weought,morally,todoit.59Thisprinciplebuildsonthebasicinstinctthat,amongthosewehaveasindividuals,aresomedutiesregardinghow we act in a collective.60 Commonsense morality thereforeunderliescollectiveresponsibility,andthecombinationofcollectiveaction and collective responsibility can lead to positive changes inenvironmentallaw.While collective action problems can be addressed by the group
realization that the environment is important, it is collectiveresponsibility,spurredbygreenvirtues,thatistheimpetusforlegalchange.OneyearafterCarson’sSilentSpringevokedthehorrorofamanmadedystopia,61Americans,attemptingtoovercomeacollectiveactionproblem,recognizedacollectiveresponsibilitytoprotecttheenvironment.In1963,theConservationFoundation,anorganizationclosely linked to the New York Zoological Society, assembled a
58. “Virtue, including environmental virtue, is conducive to right action. In addition todisposingaperson toperformrightactions,environmentalvirtueethicscanhelp to identifywhich actions are right. As discussed above, many of our environmental challenges arelongitudinalcollectiveactionproblems.Whenfacedwithsuchchallenges,anethicisneededthatemphasizes sustained commitment, the development of communities of agents, and theimportanceofdoingone’spartevenwhenothersfailtodotheirs.Theconstancyandcentralityofaperson’scharacterinorientingherlife,inadditiontoherepisodicactions,isthusconduciveto an effective environmental ethic.” Ronald L. Sandler, Environmental Virtue Ethics, inINTERNATIONALENCYCLOPEDIAOFETHICS(2013).59. PeterSinger,Famine,Affluence,andMorality,1PHIL.&PUB.AFF.229,231(1972).60. JAMIESON,supranote11,at172-73.61. “A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedymay
conference of scholars—ecologists, chemists, and physicists—todiscuss the problem of rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.62AlthoughtheConservationFoundationwasbackedbypoliticians, itwas the scientific discussion, conducted by non-governmentalprofessionalscientists,thathadlong-standingpublicinfluence.63TheConservationFoundation’sreportwarnedofhumankind’sincreasingability to change the environment. Even without the foresight tounderstand all the consequences of human activity, the scientistsaffirmed theprediction that therewillbemoreproblems, “withoutbeing specific about it.”64 Only months after the report’s release,Congressional hearings about pollution began.65 In 1965, anAmerican president publicly spoke for the first time about climatechange. Ina“SpecialMessagetotheCongressonConservationandRestoration of Natural Beauty,” President Johnson said, “[t]hisgenerationhasalteredthecompositionoftheatmosphereonaglobalscalethroughradioactivematerialsandasteadyincreaseincarbondioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.”66 Soon after, the UnitedStatescelebratedthefirstEarthDay.TheCleanAirActwaspassed,aswas the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Nixon alsoestablishedboththeU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)andtheWhiteHouseCouncilonEnvironmentalQuality(CEQ).Thenotionofcollectiveresponsibilityisalmostalwaysconsidered
moral, rather than causal.67 In otherwords, it does not locate thesource of moral responsibility in the free will of individual moralagents.68 While “collective responsibility” canbe interpretedmanyways,69 here, it will be used as an intellectual construct whereincollective intention is less important than a general sense of
62. CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, IMPLICATIONS OF RISING CARBON DIOXIDE CONTENT OF THEATMOSPHERE1(1963).63. JAMIESON,supranote11.64. CONSERVATIONFOUNDATION,supranote62,at26.65. ElizaGriswold,How‘SilentSpring’IgnitedtheEnvironmentalMovement,N.Y.TIMES(Sept.
guiltyexceptinrelationtosomeconductwhichhehimselfconsideredtobewrong...Collectiveresponsibility is... barbarous”); Larry May & Stacey Hoffman, Introduction to COLLECTIVERESPONSIBILITY: FIVE DECADES OF DEBATE IN THEORETICALANDAPPLIEDETHICS5(LarryMay&StaceyHoffmaneds.,1991).
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responsibility. When collective responsibility is the impetus forcollectiveaction,peoplecanchangeenvironmental law. Today, theworldfacesaglobalchallengethatwilltestwhetherdiscretehumangroups,withwidelyvaryingperspectives,can“acceptresponsibilitytomaintain a non-declining set of opportunities based on possibleusesoftheenvironment.”70Wecanlinkourpreservationofoptionsforthefuturetonotionsofequityifweagreethat“thefutureoughtnottoface,asaresultofouractionstoday,aseriouslyreducedrangeofoptionsandchoices,astheytrytoadapttotheenvironmentthattheyface.”71Self-interest poses major challenges to cultivating collective
responsibilityinregardstoenvironmentalissues.Fromademocraticangle,“thepeople”isdefinedasanensembleofindividualssounitedtooneanotherthattheirmultiplicity,variety,andlibertymaycomplyspontaneously with the conditions of unity—and their unity mayguaranteetheirindividualityandliberty.72 Thepeople,therefore,isanentitythatis“bothoneandmany”andisa“diversemultiplicityofcitizens.”73Fundamentally,then,thepeoplerealizeunitybydevotingthemselves to somethingother thanself-interest. Theextensionofcollectiveresponsibilitytoissueslikeclimatechangeisnotintuitive.Thereisnospecificenemy,thegoal(whatdoestwodegreesmean?)isill-defined,andthemeansaremany.74Unlikeotherextraordinarycircumstanceswhen collective responsibility has expanded beyondanimmediatein-group,suchasduringwar,thecircumstancesoflifeinawarmingworldareeffectivelynormal.Onanevendeeperlevel,thepossibility that collective responsibility requiresbothcollectiveaction and a “collective mind” challenges the notion of collectiveresponsibilityitself.75Evenwhenagrouporganizesaroundasingularbelief,thatbeliefhasnomindbutforitsinsertionintothemindofanindividual.76Arguably, however, green virtues provide an alternative to
individual self-interest. This is key, as environmental lawmakingtends to suffer from “free riders.” When members of a group allbenefit from collective action, some may shirk collective
70. Bryan G. Norton, Conservation Biology and Environmental Values, in PROTECTINGBIOLOGICALDIVERSITY71,97(CatherinePotvin,MargaretKraenzel,&GillesSeutineds.,2001).71. Id.72. EmileBoutroux,MoralityandDemocracy,214N.AM.REV.166,174(1921).73. Id.74. Id.75. DavidSosa,WhatisitLiketoBeaGroup?,26SOC.PHIL.&POL’Y212,215(2007).76. Id.
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responsibility and refuse to contribute to the cost of that benefit.Thus, the free rider problemposes that the efficient production ofimportant collective goods by free agents is jeopardized by theincentiveeachagenthastoavoidpayingforit.77Aclassicexample:ifeachcarownerpaysasmallamounttodecreaseemissions,everyonebenefitsfromthereductionofairpollutants.Ifeveryoneappreciatesthe benefit, car owners will ostensibly continue to pay to reduceemissions. However, an individual’s personal pollution does not“matter enough” for anyone, including the polluter themselves, tonotice. That personmay prefer to receive the benefit of clean airwithout paying to refit their car.78 In the general environmentalcontext,theproblemcanbesummedupassuch:“Ifthesupplyofthegood is inadequate, one’s own action of paying will not make itadequate; if the supply is adequate, one can receive it withoutpaying.”79Greenvirtueshelpapeoplesidestepthefreeriderproblem.They
regulatebehaviorandpromotecommunitythroughspaceandtime,thusencouragingproductive collective action.80 Greenvirtues alsocreateempathy,solidarity,andsympathyamongmoralagents.81Anenvironmentalethic,inobligatingvirtuousaction,canovercomeself-interest.82Insum,greenvirtues,withtheirunderlyingsenseofdutytotheenvironment,canleadtolawmakingbyprovidingasolutiontotheproblems that limitpeople fromadvocating for thesame thing,thus nurturing a collective responsibility for environmentalprotection.
III. ENVIRONMENTALLAWSCANSHAPEENVIRONMENTALETHICS
Whilegreenvirtuescanmoldenvironmentallaw,thelawlikewisecreates and cultivates such green virtues. In many ways,environmental law contributes to the development of ethics byshapingexperienceoutsidethecourtroom.Law“unavoidablydoesanenormousamounttoproducetheencounterswiththenaturalworldthatpeoplehave,delimittheusestheycanmakeofit,anddefinethe
ideas of human-nature interaction that they can live out.”83Governmentactioncancontribute to thegreenvirtueof“creation,”elicitingamoralresponsetoasetofrulesorregulations.Recallthatgreenvirtues, for Jamieson, fall into three categories: preservation,rehabilitation, and creation, where an example of creation is theinstillation of “mindfulness,” which can be defined as a vessel fortakingonthemoralweightofeveryconsequenceofeveryaction.84If,by spending time in the wilderness and discovering aspects ofthemselvesoutsideofhumanculture,humanscanbetterunderstandtheirplaceintheworld,environmentallawcaninstillgreenvirtuesby promoting mindfulness through access to wilderness.85 Publiclandsandnationalparks,forexample,makeconcretethiswildernessideal,recognizingthevalueofthelargerlivingworld.Morebroadly,environmental law creates a platform for evaluating the justice ofaccesstogreenspacesandforexpandingenvironmentalethicsandtheirconstituentvaluestoothersettingsandactivities.
A. WildernessFostersSelf-Discovery
HowardZahniser,intheWildernessActof1964,definedwildernessas, “in contrast with those areas where man and his own worksdominate the landscape[,]... an area where the earth and itscommunity of life untrammeled by man, where man himself is avisitorwhodoesnot remain.”86 Zahniser’swords reflectAmericanattitudestowardswildernessatthetime,buteachcultureanderahasushered in a new conception of wilderness, from the satanicwasteland towhichAdamandEvewere banished, to the nostalgicperfectionofpristineland,totheweedsandcreaturesthatadornthestreetsofcities.Asmentioned,LynnWhitefamouslycriticizedJudeo-Christianity for the prevailing idea ofman’s dominion over nature,blaming Genesis for the medieval European exploitation of naturewhich has carried on through several technological revolutions tocreatetoday’secologicalcrisis.87Still,whatweavesmanyconceptions
83. JedediahPurdy,OurPlaceintheWorld:ANewRelationshipforEnvironmentalEthicsandLaw,62DUKEL.J.857,886(2013).84. SeePartI.85. Paul Messersmith-Glavin, Between Social Ecology and Deep Ecology: Gary Snyder’s
Ecological Philosophy, THE ANARCHIST LIBRARY (2011),https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/paul-messersmith-glavin-between-social-ecology-and-deep-ecology-gary-snyder-s-ecological-philos.86. WildernessActof1964§2,16U.S.C.§1131.87. ROLSTON,supranote16,at14.
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ofwildernesstogetherisitsroleasasacredplaceintheeyesofthehuman.The conception that most clearly contrasts with “sacred
wilderness” is the technocratic, utilitarian view of wilderness as ameans of production and prosperity. Proponents of “utilitarianwilderness” can have conservation (i.e., the careful protection ofnatural resources in order to prolong their usefulness), andaccordinglycanbealignedwithsome“sacredwilderness”thinkersinthe desire for the establishment of protected wilderness areas.Indeed, conservationist Gifford Pinchot worked with TheodoreRoosevelt to build the national forest system on the grounds ofcommercialpotential. Inhiseyes,wildernessis“...ourstouseandconserve forourselvesandourdescendants,or todestroy.”88 Still,while the idea of “sacred wilderness” is only one among severalconceptionsofwilderness, it isapowerfulnotionadoptedbymanyenvironmentalphilosophers.Indeed,severalthinkersthroughoutAmericanhistoryhaveviewed
wildernessas a sacredplace for self-discovery. Transcendentalistslike Thoreau believed that inwilderness is the preservation of theworld—thatbycommuningwithnature,onecanrecoverpartofanalienated self: “I went to the woods because I wished to livedeliberately.”89 To Thoreau, loving nature is loving life.90Furthermore, nature serves to enlighten humanity with humblesimplicity,tranquility,andbeauty.91Muirhadasimilarconceptionofnatureasatoolforself-discovery.ToMuir,natureisnothumble,asThoreau suggests, but humbling.92 Muir took Thoreau’s poeticdescriptions of Walden Pond and built upon them, pushingtranscendentalismfurther.Perhaps,Muirsuggests,naturedoesnotsubsist“tomakeuswell,”asitcanhaveotherreasonsforexistencetoo:“...Nature’sobjectinmakinganimalsandplantsmightpossibly
anidealisticviewofnatureisnotincompatiblewitharealisticoutlookonthegeneralstatusquo.Thoreaucanbereadasapoliticalthinkerwhobelievedthat“everysteptowardsconnectionandcommunionisasteptowardparadise,”beitbetweenpeopleorwithnature.RebeccaSolnit,TheThoreau Problem: When the Route to Paradise Threads Through Prison, ORION MAGAZINE,https://orionmagazine.org/article/the-thoreau-problem [https://perma.cc/2ML5-E98U] (lastvisitedOct.25,2021).92. JOHNMUIR,MYFIRSTSUMMERINTHESIERRA(1911).
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be first of all the happiness of each one of them.”93 These earlierenvironmental philosophers had a poetic bent, describing theirwildernesswithverbosegrandeur—areflectionof their fascinationwithnatureanddedicationtoitsstudy.By the twentieth century, environmental philosophers had less
wildernesswithwhichtoreckon.Utilitarianismandcapitalismruled,so thinkers were compelled to define wilderness as a quicklydwindling sacred place which all deserve to experience. RachelCarsonandRobertD.BullardbothcontinuedthelegacyofThoreauandMuir’s“sacredwilderness,”buttheyfocusedlessonpersonalself-reflectionandmoreontherightthatwildernessandhumanityhavetoliveharmoniously.CarsonfoughthardfortheregulationofDDT,assertingallalongthatwildernesshasintrinsicvalue.94Shededicatedherphilosophicaleffortstoensuringthesafetyofallspeciesonearth,expressing regret at the divergence of humanity and wilderness.Bullard argued for environmental justice and a more equitableapproachtobearingthecostsofenvironmentaldegradation. Whileless obviously a “sacredwilderness” advocate, Bullard encouragedtough environmental regulations and increased awareness ofenvironmentalissuesacrossabroadercross-sectionofthepopulacein order to preserve the sanctity of the natural world, believing itunjustforsometolivewithoutaccesstowilderness.TobothCarsonandBullard,“sacredwilderness”iswhatremainsofthegrandplacedescribedbyThoreauandMuir—anditmustbeprotectedenoughforalltoexperiencetheirowntranscendentalmomentsinwilderness.Though their relationship has heretofore been described as one
conception ofwilderness amended to form another, there is still adichotomybetweenthe“sacredwilderness”ofself-discoveryandthe“sacred wilderness” produced by political activism. Self-discoveryimplies a certain amount of solitude and freedom. But in order tobringwildernesstonationalattention,somesolitudeandfreedomisnecessarily lost. It is not easy to reconcile the two in a singularcompatible philosophy, but environmental philosophers havesucceeded in bridging that gap somewhat by asking the rightquestions. Whywilderness? Whatmakeswildernesssacred in thefirstplace?Whatconstitutesasacredplace,andwhatconstitutesawildplace?
That nature is integral to American culture is evidenced by theexistence and popularity of protected public lands. But it is alsoinstilled in everyday experience.95 Most American students haveheardaccountsofLewisandClark,DanielBoone,DavidThoreau,andotherhistorical figuresassociatedwithwilderness. LoveofnaturalareasisexpressedwithinAmericanliteraturebyMarkTwainandJackLondonandisapparentinnatureprogramsonpublicbroadcasting.FederalenvironmentallegislationsuchastheWildernessActof1964andtheEndangeredSpeciesActrevealhowintimatelyaffinityfortheenvironmentistiedtoAmericanculture. Simultaneously,Americancitizens have their own ideals concerning management of publiclands, based on the emotional ties they develop while hikingwoodlandtrails,enjoyingtheflowers,trees,wildlife,andviews.96Inmanyways,theperceivedseparationofcivilizationfromnatureisjustthat—aperception,andnothingmore.97
enjoy the “great outdoors” without infringing on private property.Broadly, public lands are open to the public and managed by thegovernment.98 As such, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),consistent with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act(FLPMA), serves to promote environmentally responsibledevelopment and conservation through shared stewardship.99 TheBLMadministersmorethan27millionacresofNationalConservationLands, which are special places that individuals may explore andenjoyon theirown.100 Opportunities for solitudeexist in theopenspaces of public lands, which also provide crucial habitat for
95. GordonSteinhoff,WhyWeShouldProtectNaturalAreas,5ARIZ.J.ENV’TL.&POL’Y365,383(2015).96. Ira Spring, If We Lock People Out, Who Will Fight to Save Wilderness?, 7 INT’L. J.
WILDERNESS,no.1,Apr.2001,at17.97. Jamelah Earle, Gary Snyder and Environmental Activism, LITERARY KICKS (2003),
https://litkicks.com/garysnyderenvironment/[https://perma.cc/AZ59-YBKJ].98. CONSERVATION ALL., Public Lands 101: The Designations (2017),
threatened and endangered plants and animals. Irreplaceablecultural,historical,andpaleontologicalresourcesthatlinkthehistoryofAmericatoindigenouspeoplesarebothpreservedandenjoyedonthese public lands. Americans enjoy the country’s open spaces asrefugesfromfast-pacedurbanliving—theBLMrecorded61millionrecreationvisitsin2013.101 Suchrecreationincludeshiking,biking,picnicking,camping,birding, fishing,hunting,recreationalshooting,andoff-highwayvehicleuse.Todaytherearefourmajorfederalagenciesthatmanageabout610
millionacresofpubliclandheldbytheUnitedStatesgovernment:TheBureauofLandManagement(BLM),holding248millionacresor10.5percent of all land in the country; the U.S. Forest Service (USFS),holding193millionacresor8.5percentofthecountry;theU.S.FishandWildlifeService(USFWS),holding89millionacresor3.9percentofthecountry;andtheNationalParkService(NPS),holding84millionacresor3.7percentofthecountry.102Whilepubliclandsarenotjustfederal—state, local, and city parks are also public land—federalpubliclandsareostensiblyheldintrustforallAmericans.Thegoalisto manage the land for the long-term health of both the land andcitizens.103An illustration of federal investment in public land happened in
1906, when enthusiastic conservationist President TheodoreRooseveltsignedtheAntiquitiesAct,givingpresidentsthepowertocreatenationalmonumentsonpubliclands.ThepurposeoftheActwas topreserveareasofnaturalorhistoric interest, and it appliedlargely to prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts. 104 Forexample,RooseveltusedtheActtodeclareDevil’sTowerinWyomingthefirstnationalmonument.105100yearslater,in2008,overninety
101. PUB. LANDS FOUND., AMERICA’S PUBLIC LANDS: ORIGIN, HISTORY, FUTURE (2014),https://publicland.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/150359_Public_Lands_Document_web.pdf[https://perma.cc/LLZ6-FYKW].102. Public Lands: What Are They?, OUTDOOR INDUS. ASS’N.,
“[I]n1892,PresidentBenjaminHarrisonpreservedonesquaremile in theArizonaTerritorysurrounding the Casa Grande Ruins—an archaeological site once inhabited by the ancientSonoran Desert people.” National Park Service, HIST. (Aug. 21, 2018),https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/national-park-service[https://perma.cc/E4XQ-YUM6].
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percentofAmericanssaidprotectionofairandwaterqualitywere“very”to“extremely”importantvaluesoffederalland.106 Theyalsodeemed green virtues important: specifically, protection ofwildlifehabitat, knowledge that future generationswill havewilderness tovisitandbequestvalue,protectionof rareandendangeredspecies,andpreservationofuniquewildplantsandanimals.107
thosewishing to communewithnature. The lawprotectsnationalparks for future generationswhile simultaneously allowing use bycurrentgenerations,cementingthemasimportantnatural,historical,and cultural resources. The sheernumberof visitors to anationalparkdemonstratesthatanyonehasthecapacitytounderstandtheirdrawassomeinherent“missingpiece.”InOurNationalParks,Muirwritesthat“[t]housandsoftired,nerve-shaken,over-civilizedpeoplearebeginningtofindoutthatgoingtothemountainsisgoinghome;thatwildnessisanecessity;andthatmountainparksandreservationsareusefulnotonlyasfountainsoftimberandirrigatingrivers,butasfountainsoflife.”108MuirfoundedtheSierraClubasapreservationistclub fornature loversanda tool for theeducationof society.109 Inleadinggroupsofpeopleontripstothemountains,Muircouldshowthemfirsthandthebeautyandtranscendencehefoundinnature.Hisloveaffairwiththeoutdoorswasreliantonthetimehecouldspendaloneinnature,whetherhewasinthemountainsoftheSierraorthegrass and swamplands of the American south.110 Crucially, Muirbroughtthewondersofwildplacestothosewhohadneverseenthem.As much as any individual American might, the federal
government111 also began to develop a sense of national pride inwildernessareas,especiallyintheWest.Thispridestemmedasmuchfrom the awesomeness of the national scenery as it did fromcommercial interest and Manifest Destiny. President AbrahamLincolncreated the1864YosemiteGrantAct toprotect land in the
106. H.KENCORDELLETAL.,INTERNETRSCH.INFO.SERIES,HOWDOAMERICANSVIEWWILDERNESS—PART I (2008), https://wild.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/How-Americans-View-Wilderness_Cordell.pdf[https://perma.cc/U3Z4-QRY4].107. Id;seealsoSteinhoff,supranote95,at380.108. JOHNMUIR,OURNATIONALPARKS3(Sierraed.1916).109. About the Sierra Club, SIERRA CLUB, https://www.sierraclub.org/about-sierra-club
YosemiteValley,settingaprecedentforthecreationofthenationalparks.112 The federal government had never before set land asidespecificallyforpreservationandpublicuse,butthedevelopmentwaspopular. The trend continued, and in 1872, Congress enacted theYellowstone National Park Protection Act.113 The bill’s creatorsenvisioned a “pleasuring ground” for the enjoyment of allAmericans.114 President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law,making Yellowstone the first national park in America and theworld.115 TheActsetaside1,221,773acresofpublicland,breakingwiththeestablishedpolicyoftransferringpubliclandsintheWesttoprivate ownership.116 More national parks followed, includingMackinackNationalPark,SequoiaNationalPark,andKingsCanyon.117Andcontemporaryenvironmentalistsconsideredunfetteredaccesstowild spaces, such as national parks, the ideal incubator ofenvironmentalethics.118
C. JusticeandAccess
Ifmorality can be instilled through communionwith the naturalworld, environmental law must ensure equal access to nature, asdenial of moral development would lead only to judgment andclassism.Buthowcansomeoneunderstandthemselvesaspartofthenaturalworldwhentheyrarelyseeit?119ManyAmericansdonothave
not includeallAmericans,asNativeAmericanswereeffectivelyexcludedfromparkland. Id.Moreover, in the late 1700s, theU.S. government claimedmillions of acres of land from theNative Americans—land which was then deemed “public,” under the thumb of the federalgovernment.Id.115. Id.116. Id.117. Id.118. This romantic conception of environmental ethics was not without cost.
Environmentalists andwriters of the time conceived of people andnature as very separate,perhapsevenfundamentallyincompatible.Muir,forexample,feltthatpreservationofnatureand indigenous human occupation could not coexist. Isaac Kantor, Ethnic Cleansing andAmerica’sCreationofNationalParks,28PUB.LAND&RES.L.REV.41(2007).Muir’swritingsshowhow far removed Native Americans had become from their landscapes for early twentiethcenturypreservationists.Id.at46.WhenhevisitedwhatwouldbecomeGlacierBayNationalPark,Muirsawhisnativeguidesasignorantandsuperstitious,andhecontrastedtheglaciersandmountainsas“majestic,”and“baptizedbysunbeams.” Id. Muirbelievedhumansshouldconnectwithnaturespiritually,throughobservation.Id.119. WilliamCronon,TheTroublewithWilderness;or,GettingBacktotheWrongNature,in
accesstogreenspaceatall,muchlessthepristinewildernessinwhichsomanyenvironmentalethicistshavefoundinspirationandawe.120Iswildernesslimitedtountouchednationalparks?To some, wilderness is expansive. John Burroughs121 believed
people“probablyallhave, invaryingdegrees,oneorotherofthesewaysofenjoyingNature.”122Thewaysofenjoyingnaturearequitediverse. Althougheachhumanhas thesamecapacity for loveofnature, it isoftenexpressed inverydifferent ways. Nature is an inexhaustible storehouse of that whichmovestheheart,appealstothemind,andfirestheimagination,—healthto the body, a stimulus to the intellect, and joy to the soul. To thescientist,natureisastorehouseoffacts,laws,processes;totheartistsheisastorehouseofpictures; to thepoetshe isastorehouseof images,fancies,a sourceof inspiration; to themoralist she isastorehouseofprecepts and parables; to all shemay be a source of knowledge andjoy.123Allwaysofenjoyingnature,Burroughsposits,comefromlove.Love
sharpenstheeyeanddriveshumankind’svarietyofinterests,widthofsympathy,andsusceptibilitytoheartache.Itisthecorevaluethatleadstogenerositytowardsthenaturalworld.Thoreauretreatedintonature to rediscover in himself environmental values. He did notbelievethatheneededtolearnanythingnew;rather,inhisextensiverecollection of the sweet huckleberry fields he knew as a child, hesketchesaworld inwhichchildrenknowmorethanadultsandarethusmoreattunedtothenaturalworld.124 “Childrenwhoplaylife,”
120. Accesstogreenspacehaslongbeengovernedbyracialandsocio-economicdisparities.Forexample,park-makingledtothegentrificationofformerlyblightedareasoftheindustrialcity,displacingsocio-economicallyvulnerableresidents,manyofwhomwereworkingpoorandpeople of color. JASONANTONYBRYNE,THEROLEOFRACE INCONFIGURINGPARKUSE:APOLITICALECOLOGYPERSPECTIVE(2007).Interestingly, a 1994 Departmental Regulation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture(providedinaccordancewithExecutiveOrder12898)pledgesto“incorporateenvironmentaljusticeconsiderationsintoUSDAprogramsandtoaddressenvironmentaljusticeacrossmissionareas.” U.S. DEP’T AGRIC., DEP’T REGUL. NO. 5600-2, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (1997),https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/Environ-Cultural/dr5600-002.pdf[https://perma.cc/65NX-ZJZ9].121. Burroughswasapopularauthorattheturnofthecentury.Hisfocusonobservation
and perspicuous writing style launched the modern nature essay. Though Burroughs oftenwroteaboutthepastoralandidyllic,hewasnotasentimentalist,andadmiredbothWhitmanand Darwin. Editor’s introduction to John Burroughs, in AMERICAN EARTH: ENVIRONMENTALWRITINGSINCETHOREAU145(BillMcKibbened.,2008).122. JohnBurroughs,TheArtofSeeingThings(1908), inAmericanEarth:Environmental
Thoreausays, “discern its true lawand relationsmoreclearly thanmen,whofailtoliveitworthily,butwhothinkthattheyarewiserbyexperience....”125Ifallhumanscanrecognizethevalueofthenaturalworld,allhumansshouldbeexposedtoit.Crononexpandstheideaofwildernessaswell,asking:Whatifthe
treeinthegardenis,inreality,“nolessother,nolessworthyofourwonderandrespect,thanthetreeinanancientforestthathasneverknownanaxorasaw”—eventhoughthetreeintheforestreflectsamore intricate web of ecological relationships?126 The tree in thegardencould“easilyhavesprungfromthesameseedasthetreeintheforest,andwecanclaimonlyitslocationandperhapsitsformasourown.”127 Both trees stand apart from humankind—and both treesshareacommonworld.Ontheotherhand,thetreeinthewildernesshasthepowertoteach
ustorecognizethewildnesswedidnotseeinthetreeweplantedinour own backyard. In national parks and other public lands,Americans find themselves surrounded by plants and animals andphysical landscapes whose blatant “otherness” compels attention.Wilderness is not a human creation, it has little or no need ofcontinuedhumanexistence,anditrecallsacreationfargreaterthanhumanity.Inthewilderness,atreeseemstohaveitsownreasonsforbeing.Butthesameislesstruein,say,thegardenspeopleplantandtendto:thereitiseasytoforgettheothernessofthetree.Onecouldalmostmeasurewildernessbytheextenttowhichtherecognitionofits otherness requires a conscious act of discovery. The romanticlegacyofMuirorThoreausuggeststhatwildernessismoreastateofmind than a fact of nature, and “the state ofmind that todaymostdefineswildernessiswonder.”128Thereisafullcontinuumofanaturallandscapethatisalsocultural,
inwhichthecity,thesuburb,thepastoral,andthewildeachhasitsproper place. The wild can be found anywhere: in the fields ofMassachusetts,inthecracksofaManhattansidewalk,andeveninthecellsofthehumanbody.JaneJacobsisoneexampleofaphilosopherwho, in examining the constituent pieces of “nature,” canconceptualizewildernessascarryingthefullweightofThoreauandMuir’s divine wilderness alongside Carson and Bullard’s quickly
diminishingresource thatmustbedefendedalongsidehumanity.129Byclaimingallnatureassacred,eveninanurbanenvironment,Jacobscreates a world in which wilderness is not dwindling so much asevolving.130Sacrednessisnotunavailablewhenpristineforestsandmountains are unavailable, it is just harder to recognize. “It is noaccident,” Jacobs says, “that we Americans, probably the world’schampion sentimentalizers about nature, are at one and the sametime probably the world’s most voracious and disrespectfuldestroyersofwildandruralcountryside”131
1. BiophiliainPractice
Theinnateaffinityoflivingsystemshaslongbeenasubjectofsocialandbiologicalinterest.132E.O.Wilsonpopularizedtheconceptinhis1984 publication of Biophilia, calling attention to the attractionhumanshavetowardsthenaturalworld.133“Biophilia”describes“theconnectionsthathumanbeingssubconsciouslyseekwiththerestoflife.”134 Recent research likewise suggests that time spent in thenaturalworldcanstrengthentherelationshipbetweenhumansandnature.135Recognizingthepowerofbiophilia,conservationistshavepushedpeopletoestablishbondswithotherlivingbeingsinaneffortto advance environmental protections. For example, the WorldWildlifeFund’s“adoptananimal”programcreatesasymbolicbondbetweenhumanand thewild. Although the “adoption” takesplacebetweentwodistinctparties,donationsaredirectedtofieldprogramstosupportgeneralscience,research,andanimalstudy.136Even when the biophilic bond is indirectly introduced,
environmentalprotectioneffortsperformbetter.InSingapore,from1975 to 2014, stringent land-use standards increased the area ofparksandgreenspacesfrom870hectaresto9,707hectares,andthe
129. SeeThe Death and Life of Great American Cities, inAMERICANEARTH:ENVIRONMENTALWRITINGSINCETHOREAU359,359(BillMcKibbened.,2008).130. Jacobsisachampionofurbanplanning,maintainingthat“[t]hecitiesofhumanbeings
numberofparksgrewfrom13to330.137Thisledtogreatprideinthefloraof the “GardenCity.”138 Now,dataonairquality inSingaporeindicatesthatallcriteriapollutantssatisfybothEPAandWorldHealthOrganizationairqualitystandardsandguidelines,respectively.139
IV. THEVIRTUOUSCIRCLE
A virtuous circle thus forms between environmental ethics andenvironmental virtues.140 As evidenced in Parts I and II,environmentalethicscanshapeenvironmental law justasmuchasenvironmental law can shape environmental ethics. Essentially,environmentallawrequiresvirtues,anditcanhelpcreatethevirtuesthat it needs. For example, environmental ethics can instigatelawmakingthataddresseslanddegradation.Inturn,thesubsequentlaws setting land aside for public use can bring the natural worldclosertothepeople,providingthemtheopportunitytodeveloptheirownenvironmentalethics.AsJedediahPurdyasserts,law“canandshould”contributetothe
development of environmental ethics.141 In supporting thedevelopment of environmental ethics that begin in experience andperception, environmental law can cultivate a “humbler style ofethics”with a productive relationship to environmental law.142 Ingeneral,changesinexperienceandperceptionhavebeen“centraltothe development of American environmental values, including thevaluesthathavemotivatedpoliticalandlegalaction.”143Atthesametime, “the most important role of law in the development ofenvironmental valuesmaywell be in shaping experience itself.”144
137. Erik Velasco&Matthias Roth,Review of Singapore’s Air Quality and Greenhouse GasEmissions: Current Situation and Opportunities, 62 J. OF THEAIR&WASTEMGMT.ASS’N 625-41(2012).138. Id.139. Id.at625.140. A virtuous circle is generally defined as a chain of events in which one desirable
occurrenceleadstoanotherwhichfurtherpromotesthefirstoccurrenceandsoonresultingina continuous process of improvement. Virtuous Circle, MERRIAM-WEBSTER,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virtuous%20circle [https://perma.cc/7FN6-22JN](lastvisitedOct.30,2021).141. JedediahPurdy,OurPlaceintheWorld:ANewRelationshipforEnvironmentalEthicsand
A logical concern accompanies this idea of the virtuous circlebetween ethics and environmental law: namely, whether itinstrumentalizes environmental values, virtues, ormorals, robbingthemoftheirintrinsicimportancebymakingthemintopolicytools.Thebasesofmostenvironmentalethics—atleastthosediscussedinthisNote—lie in the recognitionof thenaturalworldas inherentlyvaluable.Althoughsomethinkersadmirenatureforitsimpactonthehumanpsyche, thosewhobelievenaturewouldbepreciousevenifhumans could never witness it might be averse to calculating thevalueoftheenvironmenttofurtherapoliticalagenda.However, the dichotomy between the intrinsic value of
environmentalethicsandtheuseoftheminlawmakingandpolicyisa false one. Rather, environmental law is away that a democraticpeoplecanchangeitselfbycreatingadifferentsetofexperiencesthatmake concrete the values that we hold in abstract or aspiration.Virtueethicsreconciletheinstinctivequalityofenvironmentalethicswiththeconstructionofenvironmentallaw.Environmentallawandenvironmentalethicsformavirtuouscircle
wherein neither stop on the cycle detracts from the other. Peopledevelopgreenvirtuesthatguidetheiractionseveryday. Buttogetthemtolovenature,theircorevaluesmustbeawakened.146Humansarebornwiththeknowledgeofthewild—whenchildrenhavebeenreared in contact with natural environments they tend to have anintuitive understanding of ecology.147 This understanding can betaught: “[o]n the doors to Nature but don’t push him through...provideopportunitiestoexploretheoutdoorsanditssurrogates inzooandmuseumexhibits.”148Eachpersonispresumablyprimedtoacceptgreenvirtues,soenvironmentalconsciousnessmustbebuiltateverylevel:urban,rural,andwild;localandglobal.RachelCarsonisa good example of a thinker who tied together all elements ofenvironmentalvirtueinonework.SilentSpringevokestheintuitive
a word,” Aristotle states, “[c]haracteristics develop fromcorresponding activities.”156 Aristotle makes a lengthy case forhabituationasthemethodforgainingvirtue,becausevirtuousactionisoftenmanifestedinthepracticeor“activeexercise”ofthevirtues.157AccordingtoAristotle,moralvirtueisformedbyhabit,asnaturedoesnotendowpeoplewithnordenypeoplevirtues;butinordertorealizethe potential of the virtues, onemust continually practice virtuousaction.158Virtuesaredispositionsthatareneitherpresentatbirthnornovel in natural development. Rather, they require activeinvolvement for their coming intobeing and their completion—wearebornonlywiththeabilitytoformthem“throughhabit.”159Simplyput,forapersontodevelopavirtue,(1)theymustknowwhattheyaredoing,(2)theymustchoosetoactthewaytheydo,(3)theymust
chooseitforitsownsake,and(4)theactmustspringfromafirmandunchangeablecharacter.160Forvirtuousactionstobetrulyvirtuous,then, a person must be aware of the appropriateness of theiroutcomestothegivensituations,and theymust themselvesbe inacertainconditionwhentheyperformthoseactions.161Practically,thecultivationofbiophiliacallsfortheestablishmentof
morenaturalplaces,placesof“mysteryandadventurewherechildrencanroam,explore,andimagine.”162 Thiswouldrequiremoreurbanparks,moregreenways,morefarms,morerivertrails,andwiserlanduseeverywhere.Environmentallawcanaccomplishthosethings.163AsdiscussedextensivelyinPartII,publiclandscanprovideplacestoconnecttonature. Connectingtonaturehelpspeopledeveloptheirenvironmental ethic. And their environmental ethic drivesenvironmentallaw.Environmentallawcanhelppeopleperceiveandrespecttheverynaturethatisoftenoverlooked.
2. ApplicationandRealization
What do environmentally-focused virtue ethics look like inpractice?Onetheory,exemplifiedbyecofeminism,isbasedintheideathat we achieve responsible environmental consciousness byhonoringthedeeplyvisceralhumanvaluesthatareanintegralpartofgeneral human nature. In general, ecofeminists recognize theconnectionbetweentheoppressionofwomenandthedegradationofnature.Patriarchaldominationandexploitationimpactbothwomenandnature.164Asmodernecofeministsputit:Ecofeminism is about connectedness and wholeness of theory andpractice. It asserts the special strength and integrity of every livingthing.... [W]eareawoman-identifiedmovementandwebelievewehave a special work to do in these imperiled times. We see thedevastationoftheearthandherbeingsbythecorporatewarriorsandthethreatofnuclearannihilationbythemilitarywarriors,asfeministconcerns.Itisthesamemasculinistmentalitywhichwoulddenyusour
shehasdoneastereotypicallygenerousaction;however,toknowwhetherheractionhadthekindofgoodnessrequiredtobegenerouslydone,weneedtoinquirewhethertheagentknewwhat she was doing, whether she was doing it for its own sake, and if she had sufficientconsistencyandfirmness inherbehavior.” Marta Jimenez,AristotleonBecomingVirtuousbyDoingVirtuousActions,61PHRONESIS3,3-32(2016).162. STEPHENR.KELLERT&EDWARDO.WILSON,THEBIOPHILIAHYPOTHESIS432(1993).163. Id.164. ROLSTON,supranote16,at15.
style of ecofeminism was not only about planting trees or givingwomen confidence, or even expanding democratic space in whichordinarycitizenscouldmakedecisionsontheirownbehalf.166Rather,shebegantoappreciatethattherewassomethingthatinspiredandsustainedecofeminists,whichshe labeledas“corevalues:” (1) lovefortheenvironment,(2)gratitudeandrespectforEarth’sresources,(3) self-empowerment and self-betterment, and (4) the spirit ofservice and volunteerism.167 In loving the environment, one isspurredtotakepositiveactioninsupportoftheearth.Thiscouldtaketheformofplantingandnurturingtrees,protectinganimalsandtheirhabitats,conservingsoil,andtangiblyappreciatingtheearthandtheimmediate environment.168 In respecting natural resources, onevalues all that the earth gives and refuses to waste any of it. Infocusing on empowerment, one does notwait for someone else toameliorateasituation;rather,it“encompassestheunderstandingthatthepowertochangeiswithinyou.”169Andinthespiritofservice,oneprioritizesachievingthecommongoodforclosefriendsandstrangersinfarawayplaces. Maathai includesnonhumanbeingsinserviceto“others,”asallbeingssharelifeandtheplanet. Thesevalues,whencombinedinoneperson,createamotivatedindividualwithapassionforenvironmentalprotectionandresponsibility.ToMaathai,healingthewounds that have been inflicted on the planet requires awideadoptionofthecorevalues—arecommitmenttohumannature.170VandanaShiva,171anotherinfluentialecofeminist,isaproponentof
1982, Navdanya in 1991, and Diverse Women for Diversity in 2001. She is dedicated toarticulating theproblemscausedby corporatedominationand fostering thedevelopmentofrealisticsolutions.172. SHIVA,supranote170,at232.
2022] EnvironmentalEthicsandEnvironmentalLaw 99
valuestoideasofcolonialism,business,andagriculture.Thecontrastbetweenindigenousandcolonialpracticesreflectsthesameideaofacore value system—”[a]dvisors and experts came fromAmerica toshift India’s agricultural research and agricultural policy from anindigenous and ecological model to an exogenous and high-inputone.”173Maathainotesthat“scientistsarebeginningtorecognizethatthesetraditionalculturesandtheirlifestyleswereresponsiblefortheconservationof richbiodiversity in theirenvironments. Therefore,many people... are finding it both self-evident andworthwhile torevisitthebeliefsofnativepeoplestotrytolearnwhattheycanfromthem.”174Perthisconception,thereturntoanalready-knownsetofvaluesispresentbothintheindividualandinasociety.AliceWalkerprovidesasimplerexampleofapplyingAristotelian
virtuestoenvironmentalethics.175Oneday,manymilesfromthecity,Walkerdozedagainstatreeandfeltaspiritualconnectionwithhercore value of respect for nature. ButWalker also understood that“[t]he Earth holds us responsible for our crimes against it,” and“promised”thetreestodevoteherthoughtstomindfullyinteractingwiththenaturalworld.176RecognizingandreflectingonherpersonalvaluestaughtWalkerhowtobeamoreconsideratememberof theEarth. Hopefully, one day, humankind will commune with localenvironmentanddevelopastrongsetofgreenvirtuestobetterguidedaily action. This is the key to a respectful relationship betweenhumansandtherestofthenaturalworld.
V. CONCLUSION
The relationship between environmental law and environmentalethicsgoestwoways.Valuesorvirtueethicsimpactlawmaking,andlawmakingimpactsthevaluesorvirtueethicsofthepublic.Ideally,peopledevelopgreenvirtuesthatguidetheireverydayactions.Buttoencourageatrueloveofthenaturalworld,theircorevaluesmustbeawakenedthroughcommunionwiththenaturalworld.Onewaylawcancatalyzethevirtuouscircleofenvironmentalethicsisviatoolslikethe Antiquities Act, which gives the President power to designateprotectedareasandprohibitsirresponsibleexcavationonfederaland
NativeAmericanland.177Asthemostflexibleofthenationalland-usestatutes, the Antiquities Act has reach beyond the classicallyspectacularormajesticlandscapes.178Throughadministrativeaction,theAntiquitiesActcanbestretched,redefined,andultimatelyappliedto other sites—polluted areas, defunct mines, over-logged forests,etc.—tocultivatethekindofaesthetic-ethicalexperiencethatfostersconnectionbetweenhumansandnature.179 Inrevisitingtheideaof“wilderness,”inchallengingtheassumptionsofnatureasthe“other,”andinensuringaccesstogreenspace,thelawcanofferpeopleasenseof the everyday presence and inherent value of the naturalworld.Resulting environmental ethics, based on the curation of suchbiophilicexperiences,can inspirestateand local land-useplanners,private trusts, and lawmakers to pursue similar land uses,encouragingthevirtuouscircle.ThisNotehaspositedthatlawhasthepowertocreateaplatform
thatcanformenvironmentalconsciousnessandthattherelationshipbetween environmental law and environmental ethics creates avirtuouscircle.Whilethisfeedbackloopriskstheinstrumentalizationofvirtues,environmentallawcouldbeasuccessfultoolofdemocraticchangebycreatingnewexperiencestomakeconcretethevaluesthatweholdinabstraction.Lawmakingcancreateaholisticplatformforenvironmentaleducation,whichinturnpromotesthepassageofnewregulatoryandprotectiveenvironmentallaws.
177. 16U.S.C.§§431-33.SeealsosupraPartII(B)(1).178. Christine A. Klein, Preserving Monumental Landscapes under the Antiquities Act, 87
CORNELLL.REV.1333(2002).179. The Antiquities Act has already been through one major restructuring, when the
Archaeological Resources Protection Act was passed in 1979. The initial purpose of theAntiquitiesActwas to protect American antiquities, prehistoric andhistoric. RONALDF.LEE,ANTIQUITIESACTOF1906,AT86(1970).AlthoughtheAntiquitiesActprovedtobeameansofoverseeingandcoordinatingeducationaland scientific archeological investigations on federal and Indian lands, it did not effectivelypreventordeterdeliberate,criminallootingofarcheologicalsitesonthoselands.Problematicformanyyears,thissituationbecamecriticalinthe1970swhenseveralattemptsbyfederallandmanagingagenciesandprosecutorsinthesouthwesttoconvictlootersusingtheAntiquitiesActresultedindisastrouscourtdecisions.Intwocasesjudgesruledthatthetermsoftheactwereunconstitutionallyvagueandthereforeunenforceable[UnitedStatesv.Diaz,499F.2d113(9thCir. 1974), United States v. Smyer, 596 F.2d 939 (10th Cir. 1979)]. This situation led to aconcerted effort by archeologists and preservationists, their allies in the law enforcementcommunityandseveralessentialsupportersinCongresstostrengthenthelegalprotectionofarcheologicalresources.Theeventualoutcomewasanewstatute,theArchaeologicalResourcesProtectionActof1979,ratherthananamendmentoftheAntiquitiesAct.ARCHAEOLOGICALMETHODANDTHEORY:ANENCYCLOPEDIA35(LinaEllised.,2000).
