EDITOR'S NOTE.

• Author: Slabisak, Sara

Protest

To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men. The human race has climbed on protest. Had no voice been raised Against injustice, ignorance, and lust, The inquisition yet would serve the law, And guillotines decide our least disputes. The few who dare, must speak and speak again To right the wrongs of many. Speech, thank God, No vested power in this great day and land Can gag or throttle. Press and voice may cry Loud disapproval of existing ills; May criticise oppression and condemn The lawlessness of wealth-protecting laws That let the children and childbearers toil To purchase ease for idle millionaires. Therefore I do protest against the boast Of independence in this mighty land. Call no chain strong, which holds one rusted link. Call no land free, that holds one fettered slave. Until the manacled slim wrists of babes Are loosed to toss in childish sport and glee, Until the mother bears no burden, save The precious one beneath her heart, until God's soil is rescued from the clutch of greed And given back to labor, let no man Call this the land of freedom. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1) Welcome, reader, to the first issue of the next fifty years of Environmental Law: the nation's oldest and most comprehensive student-edited environmental law review. We are so glad you are here. It has been an honor to serve as Editor in Chief during such an important and historic milestone in our journal's legacy of cutting-edge legal scholarship. (2) Indeed, what a time it has been, in general, to be a law student.

1. AN ANTHEM AGAINST SILENCE

   The poem above takes its place as the epigraph of this Editor's Note because of its timelessness. As an anthem for our own time, it is just as applicable today--with as much relevance and inspiring force (3)--as it was over a century ago. It is also well-suited to celebrate the past half-century of Environmental Law scholarship, which, at the time of its founding in 1970, was the first law review journal of its kind, filling the void--or rather, silence--in an area of law that has only grown in importance over the last fifty years.

   The sphere of environmental law encompasses a multitude of competing interests. If you listen, you will hear from east to west, growing sounds of discontent and deep unrest. To be sure, while I have toiled these past three years behind books, tomes, and treatises, this nation has also labored, at times, collectively, with a great social reckoning. The nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd have not just highlighted the pervasiveness of outrageous conduct against minorities but have made clear how deeply rooted systemic racism is in our nation and its myriad impacts on people of color--including on our environment and natural resources, and in who suffers most from environmental harm and...