Should Trees Have Standing?: Law, Morality, and the Environment
Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible,...
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Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible, legally sound, and compelling argument that the environment should be granted legal rights. For the new edition, Stone explores a variety of recent cases and current events—and related topics such as climate change and protecting the oceans—providing a thoughtful survey of the past and an insightful glimpse at the future of the environmental movement. This enduring work continues to serve as the definitive statement as to why trees, oceans, animals, and the environment as a whole should be bestowed with legal rights, so that the voiceless elements in nature are protected for future generations.
Introduction xiChapter 1 Should Trees Have Standing?: Toward Legal, Rights Fob Natural Objects 1I Introduction: The Unthinkable 1II Toward Rights for the Environment 3III The Legal-Operational Aspects 4(1) What It Means to Be a Holder of Legal Rights 4(2) The Rightlessness of Natural Objects at Common Law 5(3) Toward Having Standing in Its Own Right 8(4) Toward Recognition of Its Own Injuries 13(5) Toward Being a Beneficiary in Its Own Right 16(6) Toward Rights in Substance 17(7) Do We Really Have to Put It That Way? 22IV The Psychic and Socio-Psychic Aspects 23Chapter 2 Does the Climate Have Standing? 33I The Climate as Client 33II The Law of Standing: An Overview 35(1) Duty Owing and Zone of Interests 37(2) Injury in Fact 38(3) Causation 42(4) Redressability 43III Standing to Force Disclosures 44IV Standing's Many Fronts 49(1) Ordinary Standing for "Ordinary" Economic Injury 50(2) Rights-Based Claims 51(3) Executive Standing in International Affairs 53(4) Citizens' Standing to Force the Executive's Hand in Foreign Affairs 54(5) Citizens' Standing to Force the Executive's Hand in Domestic Affairs 55(6) Standing by a Designated Trustee 57(7) Citizens' Standing to Force the Trustee's Hand 57(8) Citizens' Standing without Statutory Basis (Public Trust Doctrine) 59(9) Standing of Noncitizens 60V Suits in the Name of Natural Objects 61(1) Existing Law 61(2) Could Standing for Nonhumans Be Expanded? 62(3) Would Expanded Standing in the Name of Nonhumans Make Any Difference? 64(4) Filing Suits on Behalf of Nature Is a Better Fit with the Real Grievances 65(5) Suits on Behalf of Nature Are Better Suited to Moral Development 65(6) Is Legal Representation on Behalf of Animals and Nature Really Feasible? 66(7) The Advantages of Special, Statutorily Provided Guardians and Trustees 66(8) The Guardian Approach May Be Superior to the Alternative Standing Strategies from the Perspective of Subsequent Preclusion Doctrines 68(9) Advance Warning: The "Canary in the Mine" Rationale 68(10) Protecting Third-Party Interests in Negotiations and Settlements 69VI So, Where Do We Stand on Climate Change? 70(1) Why Has Progress Seemed So Slow? 70(2) What Role Could Climate-Related Litigation Play? 74Chapter 3 Agriculture and the Environment: Challenges for the New Millennium 79I Background 79(1) The Historical Impact of Agriculture 79(2) Aquaculture 80II The Challenges 81(1) Feeding Humanity 81(2) Making Farmland Sustainable 82(3) Reducing Agriculture's Environmentally Damaging Spillover Effects 82(4) Tempering Conscription of the Nonagricultural Landscape 82(5) The Promises and Threats of Technology 83III Some Proposed Responses 84(1) Sustaining Farmland 84(2) Off-Farm Damage 85(3) Reducing Pressure to Conscript the Nonagricultural Landscape 85(4) Responding to Technological Innovation 87(5) Conclusion 88Chapter 4 Can the Oceans be Harbored? 89I A Four-Step Plan for the Twenty-First Century 89(1) The Fishing Sector 89(a) The Fundamental Model: What Is Going Wrong? 90(b) Step 1: Eliminate or Reduce Harvest-Increasing Subsidies 92(c) Step 2: Improve and Extend Resource Management 93(d) Step 3: Charge for Use 93(e) Step 4: An Oceanic Trust, Fund 95II Nonfishing Extraction Sectors 96III Ocean Inputs 97IV A Guardian for the Oceans 100V Conclusion 101Chapter 5 Should We Establish A Guardian for Future Generations? 103I Background: The Maltese Proposal 103(1) Are Future Persons Really Voiceless? 103(2) For Whom (or What) Should a Guardian Speak? 104(3) Are the Moral Arguments Disparaging the Rights of Future Generations Critical to the Guardianship Proposal? 105(4) Which "Future Generation" Is the Guardian's Principal? 106(5) Who Should Serve as Guardian? 106(6) Where Should a Guardian Be Situated? 107(7) What Official Functions Should the Guardian Serve? 108(8) What Should Be the Guardian's Objectives? 109(a) Resource-Regarding Standards 109(b) Utility-Regarding Standards 110(c) Efficient Level of Harm and Harm-Avoidance 110(d) Precaution Against Selected Calamities and Safeguarding Specific Assets 111(e) Avoiding "Irreversible Harm" 112II Conclusion 112Chapter 6 Reflections on "Sustainable Development" 115I The Underlying Geopolitical Strains 116II What Are Our Obligations to the Future? 117(1) Sustainable Development as a Welfare-Transfer Constraint 118(2) Sustainable Development as Preservationism 121(3) The Rights of the Living 123Chapter 7 How To Heal the Planet 125I Introduction 125(1) Invasion of Territories 128(2) Who Is Responsible? 129(3) A Voice for the Environment: Global Commons Guardians 130(4) A Case for Seals 132(5) Financing the Repair: The Global Commons Trust Fund 134(6) Implementing a Global Commons Trust Fund 134(7) The Oceans 135(8) The Atmosphere 135(9) Space 135(10) Biodiversity 136(11) Areas in Need of the Global Commons Trust Fund 137II Conclusion 138Chapter 8 Is Environmentalism Dead? 141I Introduction 141II What Movement, Exactly, Is Faltering, and What Should Our Expectations Be? 143III Indicators of Success and Failure 144(1) Indices of Public Knowledge: Environmental Literacy 145(2) Indicesof Attitudes and Preferences 146(3) Indices of Willingness to Contribute to Environmental Groups 147(4) Indices of Environmentally-Sensitized Individual Action 147(5) Indices of Influence on Lawmaking 149(6) Public Sector Funding 151(7) Litigation 151(8) Indices of Miscellaneous Actions 152(9) Actual (Direct) Indicators of Environmental Health 152(10) Efficient Pollution 153IV Self-Presentation 154(1) Alarmism 155(2) Image 155V Conclusion 156Epilogue 159Notes 177Index 237
