ABSTRACT
With the acceptance of the ecological concept of the Earth as a closed system of interdependent natural processes, with the personal discomfort caused by pollution, and with people's growing sense of loss as species become extinct and scenic and recreational resources are bulldozed away, there has come the realization that continued degradation of our environment violates important rights, perhaps the right to life itself. This sudden awareness has generated popular demand that the tide of environmental degradation be abated and, where possible, reversed. This chapter examines the theories that could justify judicial recognition of such a constitutional right and the jurisprudential hurdles that might nevertheless obstruct its effective vindication. Effective vindication of a constitutional right of environment would involve a court in types of fact-finding, standard-setting and policy-balancing activities that are alien to traditional concepts of adjudication.
