“The last thing anybody wants to do is to litigate. Litigation is simply a mechanism for getting us to a negotiating table where people will negotiate in good faith. We're not going to be able to outspend our opponents. We're not going to be able to influence the political process, which they've succeeded in capturing.. We can't compete with a political process in which hundreds of millions of dollars [are contributed by] polluters every year. The one place they can't capture with money is the courts. It's the thing that gives us equality at a negotiating table, because we know we can litigate as well as anybody.”
– Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Co-founder of the modern Keeper movement
Coastkeeper is based on the very basic premise we all have a right to clean water - to fish, to swim in or surf, dive, kayak, or to otherwise enjoy. The City and the Port District hold the land in trust for the people. In fact, the water is why many of us moved here and remain here. Beyond the environmental impacts of pollution on our waters, sensitive habitat and marine life, clean water is essential to our very health, to our way of life and to our tourist-based economy. Clearly it is not that we can't afford clean water - we cannot afford NOT to have clean water. And with the right to clean water comes the responsibility to take an active role in protecting our resources. San Diego Coastkeeper helps our individual members to do just this.
Most environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, allow citizens and citizen groups to step into the role of regulator and to enforce the laws of this nation and protect our valuable reasons. These laws represent a truly impressive form of democracy. When groups like Coastkeeper step in, though, it is almost always to force compliance with the minimum requirements of the law.
Government regulators are charged with enforcing these laws. For citizen groups to bring a lawsuit, they must demonstrate that the regulators are not enforcing the law. The reasons for this lack of enforcement can be many: lack of adequate resources, being understaffed or lack of funds; to disagreements over legal requirements. At times, the regulated communities can inappropriately influence regulatory agencies.
Coastkeeper fills a critical niche. If resources are the issue, our willingness to pursue enforcement augments the ability of the regulatory community to do its job. And if the issue is one of choice (where a regulatory agency has resources but refuses to pursue enforcement), then citizen groups are needed to watch the watcher.
Coastkeeper makes every effort to work with violators when possible. In fact, most potential cases are resolved before an action is filed, and the vast majority of cases that are filed are settled before they reach court. Coastkeeper would much prefer valuable resources go towards water protection and restoration than litigation. But in those cases where settlement and negotiation prove unsuccessful, we must be and are willing and able to pursue litigation. And we need to demonstrate this willingness to litigate to help persuade others in similar circumstances to improve their pollution prevention practices before they're even on our radar. For this reason, we choose our cases very carefully - to get the biggest bang for the buck.