Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970

Widespread public preoccupation with environmental quality is a recent development, and one that has provided the impetus for a thorough examination of existing governmental structures in order to establish a functional system for the environment’s protection and improvement. Commenting on this development, a leading environmental lawyer recently noted: “[T]he explosion of concern for the environment, at every private and governmental level, is the great political phenomenon of the last twelve months.” As concern has grown about the quality of the environment, so too has skepticism increased about the ability of present institutions to cope with the problem. A constitutional amendment has even been suggested as a necessary prerequisite to adequate protective measures.