During this session, Professor Wargo stresses the importance of considering the persistence of pollutants in the environment. He continues the discussion of the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) risk management strategies in the wake of nuclear experiments from 1945-1963, and also introduces risk reduction strategies attempted after the nuclear explosion at Chernobyl. These strategies underestimated the persistence of radionuclides in the environment. All of these approaches took place in secret, and these proceedings were only declassified in the 1990s. Governmental secrecy in these cases prevents the public from becoming fully literate about environmental risks and from being able to challenge or test the government's narrative.

Reading assignment:
Wargo, Green Intelligence, chapter 4

1. Introduction to the Course
2. Principles and Strategies in Environmental Law
3. Nuclear Experiments
4. Nuclear Secrecy and Ecology
5. Preparing for Nuclear War: NEPA
6. Marine Food-Chains: Mercury
7. Site Restoration Law
8. Chemically Dependent Agriculture
9. Risk and Law: Pesticide Paradigm
10. Safe Drinking Water: Science and Law
11. Safety Claims and Free Speech: Preemption and Defamation
12. Air Quality Law: Margins of Safety
13. Vehicle Emissions and Public Transit
14. The Quiet Revolution in Plastics
15. The Tobacco Paradigm
16. Evolution of Tobacco Law
17. Land Use and Conservation Law: The Adirondack History
18. Property Rights and Public Lands Management
19. Land Use Law and Property Rights
20. Managing Coastal Resources in an Era of Climate Change
21. Certification: Design and Green Architecture
22. Past and Future of Nuclear Power
23. Renewable Energy Policies
24. Reflection and Lessons

Can law change human behavior to be less environmentally damaging? Law will be examined through case histories including: environmental effects of national security, pesticides, air pollution, consumer products, plastics, parks and protected area management, land use, urban growth and sprawl, public/private transit, drinking water standards, food safety, and hazardous site restoration. In each case we will review the structure of law and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.

Course Structure:
This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Spring 2010.