Chapter 2 - Citizen Action Laws
Effective citizen-action laws work well for a variety of different reasons. Citizen action allows for rapid responses to emerging environmental crises, flexible solutions to a huge array of problems, and the independence often lacking in public enforcement. The best of these laws share key characteristics that will become increasingly valuable in an era of shrinking public enforcement budgets. These laws give ordinary citizens the right to act on behalf of society to protect the environment, compel government regulators to enforce the law, and give citizens the powerful tools of injunctive relief, money damages, and penalties, which counter the massive resources of corporations fighting against environmental regulation and, crucially, promote reformulation, clean up, and environmental restoration.
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