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A Balanced Prescription For More Effective Environmental Regulations, W. Kip Viscusi
A Balanced Prescription For More Effective Environmental Regulations, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Government agencies increasingly base the structure and approval of environmental regulations on a benefit-cost test. For regulations that pass this test, total benefits exceed total costs. Under a benefit-cost framework, the degree of regulatory stringency is set at an economically efficient level whereby the tightness of the regulation is increased up to the point where the incremental benefits equal the incremental costs. Setting regulatory standards to achieve the efficient degree of pollution control does not fully discourage entry into polluting industries, provide compensation to those harmed by pollution, or establish meaningful incentives for effective enforcement. This article proposes that the …
Introduction: Governing Wicked Problems, J. B. Ruhl, J. Salzman
Introduction: Governing Wicked Problems, J. B. Ruhl, J. Salzman
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
“Wicked problems.” It just says it all. Persistent social problems—poverty, food insecurity, climate change, drug addiction, pollution, and the list goes on—seem aptly condemned as wicked. But what makes them wicked, and what are we to do about them? The concept of wicked problems as something more than a generic description has its origins in the late 1960s. Professor Horst Rittel of the University of California, Berkeley, Architecture Department posed the term in a seminar to describe “that class of social system problems which are ill-formulated, where the information is confusing, where there are many clients and decision makers with …
Is The Endangered Species Act Ecopragmatic?, J.B. Ruhl
Is The Endangered Species Act Ecopragmatic?, J.B. Ruhl
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The Article evaluates the Endangered Species Act using Dan Farber's theory of eco-pragmatism. Eco-pragmatism employs environmental baselines, a moderated precautionary principle, and adaptive management to mediate environmental policy issues. I conclude that the ESA reflects some of these attributes, but does not coherently assemble a truly eco-pragmatic framework.