Growing public concerns about environmental degradation and the compromised integrity of the earth's ecological system spurred Congress to pass the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the first law to focus such environmental concerns into a comprehensive national policy.Though NEPA has had a positive effect on U.S. environmental policy and the national quality of life, this book shows how federal courts and agencies have failed to implement many of the values and goals fundamental to the success of NEPA. To explain this divergence, Matthew J. Lindstrom and Zachary A. Smith examine NEPA's origins, address how it had been implemented and enforced, and highlight its shortcomings. Lindstrom and Smith argue compellingly that if NEPA were fully and properly implemented, it would prove to be a valuable tool for balancing the needs of the world population and the protection of the earth's environment.