Law Commons^™

The International And Domestic Law Of Climate Change: A Binding International Agreement Without The Senate Or Congress?, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

This Article asserts that neither Senate advice and consent nor new congressional legislation are necessarily conditions precedent to the United States' becoming a party to a binding agreement to be adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to be held in Paris in December 2015. Depending on the form of such an agreement, which is presently under negotiation, the President's Climate Action Plan could provide sufficient domestic legal authority for the conclusion of all or part of such a binding international instrument as an executive agreement, as well as …

Engineering The Climate: Geoengineering As A Challenge To International Governance, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

The challenge of global climate change has attracted recommendations for remediation from a number of professions, including engineering. The possibilities suggested for “geoengineering” the climate generally fall into one of two categories: (1) carbon capture and storage; and (2) solar radiation management. Specific and often controversial proposals include the aerial dispersion of aerosols, launching reflective gratings into orbit around the Earth, and seeding the oceans with iron filings. These proposals share a number of characteristics, including the following: (1) they can often be undertaken within the territorial jurisdiction of a single state or in areas beyond national jurisdiction; (2) they …

Book Review, The Law Of Adaptation To Climate Change: U.S. And International Aspects, David Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Environmental Law And Sustainability After Rio, David Wirth

David A. Wirth

Review of an accessible collection of essays from around the world, offering insights into legal and political issues surrounding environmental law and sustainability.

Globalization And The Environment: Why All The Fuss?, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

The relationship between globalization and environmental policies presents more nuances than the popular paradigm of free trader versus self-serving protectionists, the familiar model of environmentalist battling greedy polluters, or the outmoded view of a progressive multilateral agenda juxtaposed against a parochial, inward-looking domestic one. This piece sets out a structural and analytical framework for addressing the major issues in the field -- including (1) unilateral trade-based measures to protect the environment; (2) science-based tests applied through trade agreements; (3) disciplines on foreign investment that may have a "chilling effect" on environmental regulation; and (4) the relationship between free trade agreements …

The International Trade Regime And The Municipal Law Of Federal States: How Close A Fit?, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

The International Organization For Standardization: Private Voluntary Standards As Swords And Shields, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

Private voluntary standards such as the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO’s) 14000 series have played an increasingly important role in encouraging corporations to adopt more sustainable business models on their own initiative and not in direct response to governmentally mandated requirements. ISO standards have a number of benefits, including promoting international uniformity; elevating environmental issues within an enterprise; promoting international trade; and providing a minimal level of environmental performance in countries with less than adequate regulatory infrastructure. Concerns about ISO standards include the relationship to public regulation; and ISO 14001’s essentially procedural, as opposed to performance-based, character. International trade agreements …

The Uneasy Interface Between Domestic And International Environmental Law, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Globalizing The Environment, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Legitimacy, Accountability, And Partnership: A Model For Advocacy On Third World Environmental Issues, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

To date, there has been little effort to define the characteristics of responsible environmental reform efforts by private citizens and organizations in the United States on foreign environmental problems, such as the quality of foreign aid. Moreover, there have been virtually no attempts to identify a principled role for American lawyers in Third World environmental issues. This Essay will respond to these lacunae by articulating a new approach to advocacy based on a partnership model. In Part I, this Essay identifies the need for American public interest advocates to establish partnerships with directly affected groups on Third World environmental issues. …

Hazardous Substances And Activities, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

This piece analyzes and critically evaluates the enormous number and variety of international instruments addressing the regulation of hazardous substances and activities, from consumer products to nuclear power plants. International authorities are categorized according to regulatory theory, ranging from hazard identification and testing to disposal. Other regulatory approaches include limitations on pollutant releases, prevention of and response to industrial accidents, and international trade in toxic chemicals and waste. Multilateral norms originating from global and regional institutions, UN specialized agencies, and non-UN organizations are analyzed. The piece addresses both "hard" (binding or conventional) and "soft" (nonbinding) instruments, correlating legal form with …

Make Trade Rules Attuned To The Ecological Needs And Interests Of Future Generations: Cli Recommendation No. 15, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

This recommendation observes that international trade agreements as currently structured do not establish minimum standards so as to protect the climate for present and future generations. Accordingly, it advocates potential strategies that could be employed in future rounds of international trade negotiations to mobilize the international trade regime in the pursuit of climate-friendly policies. These strategies include, among others, the elimination of climate-degrading subsidies, the liberalization of trade in climate-friendly goods and services, and the promotion of climate-friendly investments (particularly in the energy sector). In addition, the recommendation proposes a modification in trade rules to account for the greenhouse-gas intensity …

The President, The Environment, And Foreign Policy: The Globalization Of Environmental Politics, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

By comparison with domestic environmental issues, international environmental diplomacy is distinguished by the far greater role of the Executive Branch, and in particular the President, in making law. This essay explores the legal consequences of the President's dual role in international environmental diplomacy: his duty faithfully to execute statutory mandates adopted by Congress while also serving as the Nation's chief diplomat and negotiator of international agreements with foreign powers. The piece discusses the legal and policy dynamics surrounding two concrete examples affecting domestic and international environmental policy, in which Presidential power assumes dramatically different forms: (1) climate change, and in …

At War With The Environment, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

In this Article, Professor Wirth reviews the book National Defense and the Environment by Stephen Dycus, a recognized expert in both environmental and national security law. The emphasis of the book is on containing and remediating the environmental excesses of the American defense-industrial complex, with a domestic policy focus. While Professor Wirth considers Dycus’ work an intellectually rewarding and refreshing new entry into the ongoing environment-as-security colloquy, he does not consider the book to be accessible to a general audience given the book’s fundamentally legalistic nature.

Environmental Law And Policy: Nature, Law And Society, Zygmunt Plater, Robert Abrams, Robert Graham, Lisa Heinzerling, David Wirth, Noah Hall

David A. Wirth

This user-friendly book - noted for its comprehensive legal process approach to the depth and complexity of modern environmental law - gives students a solid doctrinal footing in the law and helps build their analytical skills. Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, Fourth Edition, uses the legal process approach, building on a base of common law and constitutional law and continuing on to statutory and administrative law, to illustrate both the structure of the law and how it works.

Among the attributes that have made this classroom-tested casebook a favorite:

coverage not only of the staples of environmental …

Un Regard Extérieur: Back Impact Of European Union Legislation On American Environmental Regulations, David Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

The Eu's New Impact On American Environmental Regulation, David Wirth

David A. Wirth

Due to its increasing size and growing regulatory momentum, the European Union is quickly becoming an alternative power center to the United States in the field of environmental policy. Within the past several years, there has consequently been an emerging and discernible trend of EU policy and law on the environmental laws and policy of United States. This piece explores the new European chemicals legislation on Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) as one example of this back impact. Because REACH will affect virtually all multinational corporations, its impacts will be global, including the United States. The article explores …

Contributing Author, David Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law And Policy: Nature, Law, And Society, David Wirth, Zygmunt Plater

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Unilateral Trade-Based Measures For Protection Of The Marine Environment: A Legal And Policy Perspective, David Wirth, Douglas Caldwell

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Precaution In International Environmental Policy And United States Law And Practice, David Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Current Developments: The Sixth Session (Part Two) And Seventh Session Of The Conference Of The Parties To The Framework Convention On Climate Change, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

International Decisions. European Communities -- Measures Affecting Asbestos And Asbestos-Containing Products, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Teaching And Research In International Environmental Law, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Fulbright Report Of Organization For Security And Cooperation (Osce) Regional Research Program, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

Report on activities conducted with Fulbright support from 1996 to 1997.

Trade Implications Of The Basel Convention Amendment Banning North-South Trade In Hazardous Wastes, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Public Participation In International Processes: Environmental Case Studies At The National And International Levels, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Trade And The Environment: Equilibrium Or Imbalance?, David A. Wirth, Douglas J. Caldwell

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

The Rio Declaration On Environment And Development: Two Steps Forward And One Back, Or Vice Versa, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Reexamining Decisions-Making Processes In International Environmental Law, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.