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Environmental Protection, The Military, And Preserving The Balance: “Why It Matters, In War And Peace”, Kurt Smith

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

International military operations around the world are major actors on the world stage of global pollution. The United States military remains subject to federal, state, and local environmental laws. However, many exemptions exist to assist the military despite its status as a global polluter. Many environmental policies have incrementally developed over the last one-hundred years largely as a reaction to the most extreme circumstances. Scientific knowledge continues to increase our awareness of the lasting impacts of policy decisions relating to the environment, giving rise to the precautionary principle, that notion that we should do no lasting harm, in our care …