December 2007

In recent years there has been increasing focus on the environment and the possibility of anthropogenic climate change both in the environmental movement and in the popular media. In both Canada and the United States there is public support for increased regulatory restrictions on major polluters and a growing public sentiment that government is not doing enough. Environmental action is one of the public's largest concerns and is still growing.

In the face of perceived governmental inaction some have begun to turn towards litigation as a method of forcing change. Much of this action has been regulatory in nature, in that it attempts to use existing legislation to pursue environmental goals, for example by bringing a case to court to challenge a decision to allow oil drilling in a sensitive wilderness area because the environmental impact assessments required by legislation were not completed. Regulatory lawsuits do not rely common laws principles such as negligence, they instead look at the rule put into place by government and attempt to force compliance with those rules. These lawsuits do not seek damages or compensation; they seek to force some type of action.