This introductory course covers the history of environmental values and policies, including a discussion of economics and the environment, common law roots, approach to federalism, and environmental justice. It compares and contrasts the major environmental statutes, such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and other federal statutes. It considers the goals and objectives of environmental laws, and the choices that are made both implicitly and explicitly in effecting the means of environmental protection. In addition, the course explores state roles in biodiversityprotection and land use regulation. A thread throughout the course asks questions about how environmental justice issues have or have not been taken into account.An introduction to the broader categories of protecting human health and the environment to both assess the successes and failures of environmental protection in the U.S. and gain more detailed substantive knowledge of several key statutes.