Book Review: The Rule of Five

Ashlee Carrasco, University of New Mexico - School of LawFollow

Abstract

The Rule of Five reads like a novel that ought to be adapted for the big screen, despite its accurate overview of the landmark Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v. EPA. Richard J. Lazarus does an excellent job of honoring the legacy of those who fought long and hard to bring the issue of climate change to the Supreme Court for the first time. While the decision in Massachusetts v. EPA was a landmark decision handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States, the potential to bore the reader with procedural history and legal jargon was ever-present. However, Lazarus injects humanity and passion into a very technical case that only legal professionals or environmentalists would typically understand. The Rule of Five does not provide a mechanical approach to the history of this historic case. Instead, the book provides an engaging account of passionate legal professionals pursuing their dreams of protecting the Earth, their trials and tribulations, and, ultimately, their massive victory against the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”).