When I graduated from law school in 1972, nowhere in the curriculum could one find a course called Environmental Law. To the extent that that subject matter was considered at all, it was through, at most, passing reference in courses such as Municipal Law, Torts, or International Law. Twenty-five years later, the scene is remarkably changed. All Canadian law schools offer at least one such course. Many offer more. There are specialized law reports and journals, loose-leaf services, newsletters, casebooks, and national and provincial organizations devoted to research, education, and law reform. This flurry of activity reflects society’s recognition of the importance of the environment. It also reflects the fact that law is one of the tools essential to environmental protection. Every day, courts and other tribunals in our country are called on to resolve disputes among parties such as governments, agencies, business, and private citizens, each of whom has a role to play in ensuring that our children will have a clean, healthy, and esthetically acceptable planet on which to reside. As a judge, I appreciate the immense contribution made by my former academic colleagues to the clarification and explanation of law and legal systems. Academics are able to specialize in a way that most judges cannot. Judges must resolve specific cases; academics can take the long, wide view. I often turn to books and articles written by academic commentators to help me understand both the narrow and the broad aspects of a case that I have to decide.