Environmental Law: A Very Short Introduction
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KEEPING UP WITH NEW LEGAL TITLES
123 DeStefano peppers the text with a great deal of jargon and numerous buzz-
words. While these references currently relate to hot topics in law practice manage-
ment, many may lose their relevance as the book ages. The book also contains some
inconsistencies. For some concepts, DeStefano provides many explanations and
examples, sometimes to the point of repetitiveness. For other concepts, there are
considerably fewer explanations, some of which are relegated to the endnotes.
124 This book is clearly directed at practicing attorneys in large firms and, to a
lesser extent, corporate legal departments. There are discussion questions at the
end of each chapter that are mostly aimed at people working for larger law firms
representing corporations. It has less to offer academic readers, though the book is
heavily footnoted. The focus on big firms and corporate clients leaves little content
for lawyers in smaller practices or those serving individual clients. While I can defi-
nitely recommend this book to large firm libraries, especially those that might be
interested in using the discussion questions to spark ideas among their attorneys, I
am less inclined to recommend it to government or academic law libraries.
Fisher, Elizabeth. Environmental Law: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2017. 147p. $11.95.
Reviewed by Christine Bowersox*
¶25 Environmental law is a complex area of law relevant to local, national, and
international communities, yet it lacks a clear and consistent resolution. Elizabeth
Fisher, a professor of environmental law at Oxford University, breaks down the his-
tory, development, and future of our need to create laws to protect our ability to
grow and develop our nations while also taking environmental protections into
account.
126 Fisher defines environmental law as the law relating to environmental
problems (p.1). She establishes that environmental law is necessary, but she also
acknowledges the challenges faced in passing laws that protect the environment,
whether the resistance is political, social, economic, or philosophic at root. After
detailing the complexity of environmental problems, Fisher notes that many of
these issues share a common structure: the tragedy of the commons (p.8), which
in its most simple form means that everyone overuses a common good for their
own benefit, placing too many demands on a finite resource.
127 Next, the book addresses some of the substantive nature of various environ-
mental laws and how they have permeated nearly every level of government in
every nation. Environmental protections are found in legislation, policy measures,
case law, and regulations, using both legally conventional and ... legally innova-
tive (p.19) methods to craft the message. Fisher also explores the diversity that
complicates environmental law-diversity between jurisdictions, diversity of envi-
ronmental problems, and diversity in the types of legal response.
128 Fisher also traces the history of environmental law, starting with the United
Kingdom's development of legal reform as a result of various outbreaks, such as
cholera, in the 1850s. In the United States, the work of John Muir led to the creation
of our national park system as well as the birth of the Sierra Club in the late 1800s.
The 1940s and 1950s saw international agreements covering whaling, fishing, and
air and oil pollution.
* @ Christine Bowersox, 2019. Reference Librarian, Sullivan and Cromwell, New York, New York.
Vol. 111:2 [2019-12]
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Environmental Law: A Very Short Introduction
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