Catholic Law Professor Lucia A. Silecchia recently published her article, “A ‘Directed Trust’ Approach to Intergenerational Solidarity in American Environmental Law and Policy: A Modest Proposal,” in William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review, Vol. 45. The paper explores the possible value of the use of directed trust theory in the environmental law context—reviewing the ways in which directed trust doctrine can work as a means of implementing principles of intergenerational responsibility in the environmental law context.

William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review
By: Lucia A. Silecchia
Date: April 30, 2021
A “Directed Trust” Approach to Intergenerational Solidarity in American Environmental Law and Policy: A Modest Proposal

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Certainly, the notion of intergenerational solidarity extends to any area in which obligations to past and future generations must be protected and honored. However, it is particularly compelling in the environmental context. It often requires study of benefits and burdens that may still be speculative—at least in part. It may involve the interests of those who have no one in the legal or political arena to represent them. This task may fall prey to unrealistic optimism that tomorrow’s problems will take care of themselves. Alternatively, it may fall prey to unrealistic pessimism that the problems of tomorrow are too overwhelming to tackle in any meaningful way today. Yet, we are all, indeed, “heirs of a legacy that is the work of many generations and [we] will in turn provide an inheritance for [our] successors.”

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To access the full article, click here.