Limitations of tort law

Think about tort law litigation as one of society’s policy choices for dealing with the damages caused by pollution–the legal claims of trespass, negligence, strict liability, and nuisance are all different ways of deciding when we will make polluters pay for the costs of pollution. In other words, tort law litigation is one course of action to reach the goal of pollution control, given current conditions. Why do people who are harmed by pollution damage still bring these common law tort claims? What barriers do they face to winning? What are the conditions that make tort law an effective policy for reaching the pollution control goal? In which circumstances would you favor using a tort law approach? What are the conditions that make tort law an ineffective policy for reaching the pollution control goal? In which circumstances would you favor using a different approach, such as direct regulation of pollution?