Sustainability of Law

By:Abigail Eastman

Justice isn't Sustainable. As it stands today, our Criminal Justice System spits in the face
of Sustainability. Environmental Law is lacking because major corporations throw money at
regulations so people will look the other way. The incompatibility between Sustainability and the
Criminal Justice System is a major issue and I will navigate both avenues of the issue (Mass
incarceration as well as disparities in Environmental Law) so we may work towards a viable
solution and bring Justice into the Modern Era and away from corruption.
At all levels, the Justice System is flawed. Legislators and Environmental Protection
Agencies put years of work into putting regulations to protect the environment in place and then
major corporations swoop in and spit on the work they did because they see it as more cost
effective to pay the fines that will be imposed upon them for violating regulations such as
dumping chemicals in rivers or filling in wetlands.
If we take a look at more recent environmental debacles such as the Duke Energy Coal
Ash Spill in 2014… a settlement and mass clean up wasn’t decided on until 2019. Duke doesn't
plan to foot the whole bill either. Duke Energy damaged various ecosystems in and around the
Dan River by making the water toxic for the various species through the dumping of coal ash
laced with several metals.This was a textbook case of where corporations mess up and
miraculously find a way to make more money and get good PR without actually accounting for
and learning from their mistakes.
If we get even closer to home, we can identify flaws in how environmental issues are
handled in Boone. We live in the mountains, so every winter it is bound to snow and the City of
Boone is very quick to plow and salt the roads, which is very convenient to those who live and
drive around Boone. Yet, the downside of all the salt, besides corroding our cars, is that when the
snow melts or when it rains the salt ends up draining into the major waterways in Boone and
killing off the fish in the ecosystems. The City of Boone has been trying to deal with the issue
before the salinity of waterways gets too high and organisms native to the habitats start dying
off. There are methods of salting the roads with environmentally friendly materials so we can
still get around and not kill the fish. The City of Boone has been experimenting with mixing the
salt brine with beet juice as an alternative measure as to not wreck the habitats. However, Boone
is not a wealthy little town so what they can do is very limited. Many people live below the
poverty line. So, while we can hope they would invest more into more environmentally friendly
salting methods that would pay off in the long term and not harm organisms in these habitats,
they are more likely to spend less money on a band-aid fix so their money can be focused on
more community based support.
As we have seen with the Duke Energy case and with countless other big corporations,
regulations are broken and money is thrown at the problem. It is a trend in America that those
with the most money and power are the ones who can get away with the worst crimes. If we
can’t crack down on corporations when they break the rules and penalize them for harming the
environment, then how can we even look at the system as anything but corrupt? The Justice
System is not sustainable in the fact that we let those with money and power break the rules and
take what they want without much penalization for their actions while they also endorse the mass
incarceration of thousands of people and completely deplete their lives. People with power and
money push down everyone else and give them no chances to pull themselves back up again.
This happens at all levels of the system and it is a culture that is unsustainable and not feasible
for the future we need. Our country has a culture of mass incarceration because those with power
and money can influence the courts. The same can be said for how Environmental Law is looked
at. At all levels, the system is broken. There is no justice for poor, underprivileged people and
there is no justice for the various ecosystems we bulldoze over. Other countries can build
systems that are more efficient with little to no corruption, so why can’t we? Our system is so
broken that we can’t even protect our rivers from the corruption that lies within it.

Sources

“Dan River Coal Ash Spill.” Columbia Environmental Research Center, U.S. Department of the
Interior, https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=984

Taris, Josie, and Frank Stasio. “Duke Energy And NC Reach A Settlement Over Nearly 80
Million Tons Of Coal Ash.” WUNC, 7 Jan. 2020, https://www.wunc.org/post/duke-energy-and-
nc-reach-settlement-over-nearly-80-million-tons-coal-ash

Weir, Luke. “Studies: Road Salt Use Impacts Local Waterways.” Watauga Democrat, 1 Mar.
2019, https://www.wataugademocrat.com/news/studies-road-salt-use-impacts-local-
waterways/article_de2d62af-ec03-5212-a976-7fe3b6abbbda.html