Law Commons^™

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: The Codification Of A Potential Technology, Maureen O`C. Walker, Murray A. Bloom

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Rapid technological advancement has been the hallmark of post-industrial societies for more than a quarter of a century. This progress is forever disrupting our established legal systems. Nowhere is this tension more evident than in the discoveries of the developing energy industry. An exception to this process is the infant industry of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). The United States Congress recently enacted legislation establishing the legal framework for the OTEC process, which has not yet been proven on a commercial scale.

OTEC is a form of solar energy that takes advantage of the vertical temperature differentials in those regions …

The Role Of Unilateral State Action In Preventing International Environmental Injury, Richard B. Bilder

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This discussion suggests that unilateral state action to prevent international environmental injury is likely to play an important and continuing role in efforts to deal with international environmental problems. It also suggests the futility of attempting to characterize unilateral action as inherently either desirable or undesirable. While multilateral actions seem generally preferable to unilateral action, effective multilateral arrangement in many cases may not be practically attainable. Unilateral action may be the only feasible alternative to inaction. Under these circumstances, a respectable argument can be made for the propriety of unilateral action on at least an interim basis pending achievement of …

Acid Precipitation In North America: The Case For Transboundary Cooperation, Douglas M. Johnston, Peter Finkle

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Long-range air pollution has emerged as a serious environmental problem in Europe and North America since the early 1950s. The most critical aspect of this problem is the movement over very long distances of airborne pollutants which eventually are deposited in harmful acid compounds. These pollutants originate in a multiplicity of stationary and mobile emission sources. Because the original pollutants undergo chemical changes during the atmospheric transport, the pollutants which ultimately cause damage are chemically different from the original emissions. Moreover, the pollutants, which are usually deposited in the form of rain or snow, cause harm only in special physical …