About this course: Environmental law may be the one institution standing between us and planetary exhaustion. It is also an institution that needs to be reconciled with human liberty and economic aspirations. This course considers these issues and provides a tour though existing legal regimes governing pollution, water law, endangered species, toxic substances, environmental impact analyses, and environmental risk.
Created by: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Taught by: Donald Hornstein, Aubrey L. Brooks Professor of Law
| Commitment | 4-6 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Common-Law Approaches to Environmental Problems
As the course does not presume any previous knowledge of the law or legal experience, it begins by teaching students how to “read” cases, to learn from judicial opinions in real-life disputes how judges articulate and apply legal principles. We focus on the la...
7 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Week 1 Quiz
WEEK 2
Property and the Environment
It’s impossible to understand environmental law without also understanding the important role that private property plays in people’s lives and the way in which property law recognizes these values. After using two cases involving property rights to water to i...
7 videos, 4 readings
Graded: Week 2 Quiz
WEEK 3
Two Famous Statutory Programs: Environmental Impact Analysis and Endangered-Species Protection
This week we start with perhaps the most influential American environmental statute ever enacted, the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), and its requirement for environmental impact analysis of certain actions that might significantly affect the envir...
7 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Week 3 Quiz
WEEK 4
Risk Analysis and Toxic Substances: Pesticides, Trade Disputes over Synthetic Hormones, and the Cleanup of Contaminated Sites
This week we shift from land-use-related issues to the central role that “risk” plays in the regulation of toxic substances, pollution-control, and environmental law generally. We begin with an analysis of a regulatory decision involving 2,4,5-T, the active in...
7 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Week 4 Quiz
WEEK 5
Environmental Justice, Water Pollution, Claims to a Human Right to Drinking Water, Fracking, and Insights from an Economic Model of Regulatory Cost-Effectiveness
This week, we pivot mostly into issues involving fresh water and water pollution, but not before continuing our discussion of risk distribution by exploring further the concept of environmental justice. We start with legal approaches to transboundary shipments...
7 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Week 5 Quiz
WEEK 6
Pollution, Climate Change and Course Conclusion
This week, we continue discussing aspects of water-quality regulation, including especially elements other than the technology-based systems in the American Clean Water Act. We then shift to air-pollution control, not only introducing the environmental-quality...
7 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Week 6 Quiz
(Optional) Research Exercise
This module is optional.
3 readings, 1 practice quiz
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is known around the world for innovative teaching and research. Regularly ranked as the nation’s best value for academic quality, UNC has produced the most Rhodes Scholars for the past 25 years among U.S. public research universities.
Ratings and Reviews
nice course
Best course on environmental laws and policies based on real life incident.
Great afford by Professor and their team.
This is an excellent course, and has been a superior learning experience. Professor Hornstein is a wonderful, knowledgeable, and passionate instructor, and I so appreciate the privilege of access to expertise and wisdom. I've taken several other Coursea on-line courses that I've enjoyed, but thus far I must consider this one the best.
I still have significant concerns about the quality of the video transcripts; they are in need of an additional careful copy edit and final proofread by persons experienced and with a good ear for the subject matter. But I found it a learning opportunity in correcting and marking up my personal copies as a study tool. This time out, course content and direction, and of course Professor Hornstein's wonderful quality of instruction, must override any reservations I might otherwise have.
This is truly a Five-Star course. Congratulations to all involved!
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RP
Really enjoyed this course. It has definitely enhanced my understanding of the general mechanisms that govern environmental law and introduced me to a lot of important language for these concepts. Highly recommend for people affiliated with land management (I'm a park ranger).