Overview

Although climate change and pollution make near-daily appearances in the news, humans have not always recognized that the environment needs to be protected. Only after the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 did environmental protection became a political and social priority. In Environmental Protection: What Everyone Needs to Know®, environmental lawyer Pamela Hill offers clear, engaging answers to some of the most pressing questions facing us today. She discusses the science behind current environmental issues, defining key terms such as ecosystems, pollutants, and endocrine disruptors. Hill explains why our environment needs protection, using examples from history and current events, from the Irish potato famine to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan. She also assesses the effectiveness of landmark laws and treaties, including the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Kyoto Protocol. To what extent is it acceptable to rank human interests over ecological interests? And is it fair to ask developing countries to reduce emissions, even though they bear little responsibility for our current environmental problems? Hill identifies the greatest environmental threats we are facing today and suggests what we need to do as citizens, businesspeople, and lawmakers to protect the environment for each other and for future generations.

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9780190223069

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Reviews

Pam Hill is one of the most talented and thoughtful environmental lawyers in the country. She is also a great communicator who is able to take complicated ideas and break them down for common understanding. For years, she helped shape policy and law at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and is now, through this important new contribution, shaping and refocusing our understanding of our relationship, and responsibility, to the world around us. -- Scott Fulton, president of the Environmental Law Institute and former USEPA General Counsel

Pam Hill is one of the most talented and thoughtful environmental lawyers in the country. She is also a great communicator who is able to take complicated ideas and break them down for common understanding. For years, she helped shape policy and law at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and is now, through this important new contribution, shaping and refocusing our understanding of our relationship, and responsibility, to the world around us. -- Scott Fulton, president of the Environmental Law Institute and former USEPA General Counsel

Author Information

Pamela Hill, an environmental lawyer, is former Deputy Regional Counsel at the United States Environmental Protection Agency's New England Regional Office. She is a lecturer in environmental law at Boston University School of Law.

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