The 2009 ACS National Convention included the panel "Environmental Protection in the Federal Courts," featuring Deborah Goldberg, Managing Attorney, Earthjustice; Jim Hecker, Environmental Enforcement Project Director, Public Justice; Jean V. MacHarg, Patton Boggs LLP; and Stephen D. Susman, Susman Godfrey LLP. The panel was moderated by Stephen P. Berzon, Altshuler Berzon LLP.
"[U]ntil the enactment of the major federal environmental laws of the early 1970's, most courts would recognize the right to challenge ... agency actions affecting natural resources only if the plaintiff was asserting a property right or an economic right of some kind," Goldberg said. "The citizen-suit provisions that were included in those statutes were revolutionary at that time, and they have proven to be among the most important and most influential innovations of modern environmental law ....
"The story I want to tell today is about a 20-year campaign led by Justice Scalia to slam that door shut on environmental advocates."
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