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Laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act were written in the 1970s to protect the natural world from people and developments. Today, climate change is posing another threat to the natural and built worlds. Researchers at Princeton University estimate that, unless Americans dramatically reduce energy use, the amount of solar and wind energy required to meet the country’s climate goals is the size of Wyoming and Colorado combined. But J.B. Ruhl, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, says that environmental laws are, ironically, getting in the way.
Today, we compare and contrast the threats to two different bats on opposite ends of the planet to show the tension between local and global environmentalism, and how building a green economy is forcing people to have tough conversations about trade-offs.
