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Criminologists in the United States have been reporting for some years that environmental crime is one of the fastest-growing types of crime in that country. A likely reason for this is that US regulatory agencies. unlike their counterparts in Australia. take seriously dIe task of enforcing environmental law. Not only is the US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) the most enthusiastic enforcer of environmental law in the world today'but the US economy has been performing better than any other. giving the lie to the assertion that such rigorous enforcement inevitably leads to higher costs for producers and consequently. job losses. Environmental law enforcement in the US is seen as a strong deterrent by predominantly white collar perpetrators (who are more easily deterred by the strong pOSSibility of detection and prosecution than other types of criminals). This policy is also generally supportl! d by the rest of …