Animal Law Commons^™

Biodiversity And Mom, John C. Nagle

Journal Articles

In December 1973, Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The law was the latest, and greatest, federal effort to prevent wildlife from becoming extinct. The members of Congress who voted for the law always mentioned bald eagles, grizzly bears, whooping cranes, alligators, and whales—the animals, in short, that today are most likely to be memorialized as Beanie Babies. They were also aware of the species that had already disappeared from the earth, such as the passenger pigeon and the great auk. Such images yielded an overwhelming vote in favor of the law. President Nixon signed it on December 28, …

The Commerce Clause Meets The Delhi Sands Flower-Loving Fly, John C. Nagle

Journal Articles

Is the Endangered Species Act constitutional? The D.C. Circuit considered that question in National Association of Home Builders v. Babbitt in 1997. More specifically, the case considered whether the congressional power to regulate interstate commerce authorized the ESA's prohibition upon building a large regional hospital in the habitat of an endangered fly that lives only in a small area of southern California. The three judges on the D.C. Circuit approached the question from three different perspectives: the relationship between biodiversity as a whole and interstate commerce, the relationship between the fly and interstate commerce, and the relationship between the hospital …

Playing Noah, John C. Nagle

Journal Articles

The biblical story of Noah and the ark has been cited by numerous writers as a justification for the protections contained in the Endangered Species Act. In that story, Genesis reports that God instructed Noah to save two of every species from the flood that would destroy life on earth, and that after doing so God established a covenant with Noah and the animals that were saved. The story has inspired writers and activists to posit a duty to imitate Noah today when we struggle to provide the resources and the will to protect all species, however popular or obscure, …

Why Chinese Wildlife Disappears As Cites Spreads, John C. Nagle

Journal Articles

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) proves that popularity does not assure success. CITES is one of the oldest and most popular international environmental treaties. Yet after twenty-three years and the approval of over 125 nations, wildlife continues to become extinct and endangered at an unhindered rate. Why?

The explanation for this paradox can be found by comparing the state of wildlife in China and the United States. Both countries are parties to CITES. Their efforts to enforce CITES are very different, but they both reveal the limitations of the current treaty …