Environmental torts and civil punishment a view from the United States

Abstract

This article presents, in its first part, a general expositive overview regarding responsibility for environmental damages on US law, outlining its key guidelines, as well as a brief parallel regarding its differences with Brazilian law. In the second part, the main aspects of punitive damages on US law are discussed, including a description of the circumstances under which states in the U.S. permit punitive damages. In both parts of the text the main jurisprudential cases that concern the topics discussed and that support the legal grounds of the responsibilities that fall upon the defendant are indicated. The approach taken is inductive, according to US common law.