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Deciphering The Chemical Soup: Using Public Nuisance To Compel Chemical Testing, Albert C. Lin
Deciphering The Chemical Soup: Using Public Nuisance To Compel Chemical Testing, Albert C. Lin
Albert C Lin
The problem of toxic ignorance plagues modern society. On a daily basis, each of us is exposed to hundreds of chemicals, the vast majority of which have been subject to little or no testing to determine whether they are toxic to humans or the environment. Many of these chemicals may turn out to be harmless. Some, however, may cause cancer, reproductive defects, and other harms. In toto, chemicals are believed to be responsible for tens of thousands of deaths per year. The systematic failure of manufacturers and distributors to test chemical substances is a rational response to marketplace incentives, tort …
Evangelizing Climate Change, Albert Lin
Evangelizing Climate Change, Albert Lin
Albert C Lin
Any effective response to climate change must address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from individuals, who are responsible for nearly one-third of total annual emissions. A leading proposal for doing so, developed by Michael Vandenbergh and Anne Steinemann, advocates the disclosure of information about an individual’s emissions, resulting harms, and steps that can be taken to reduce emissions. Providing information on individuals’ contribution to climate change will be important in countering common misconceptions that individual activities do not matter to the environment. Such proposals, however, give insufficient attention to the role of personal values. Values matter to efforts to change individual …
Virtual Consumption: A Second Life For Earth?, Albert C. Lin
Virtual Consumption: A Second Life For Earth?, Albert C. Lin
Albert C Lin
Consumption is at the root of many of the world’s greatest environmental challenges, yet laws or policies that directly address consumption are rare. Virtual worlds such as Second Life offer the intriguing prospect of displacing a substantial amount of real-world consumption without running afoul of the political and economic obstacles that proposals to reduce consumption often face. In the interactive online reality of virtual worlds, players adopt an “avatar” and participate in an electronic world that mirrors the real world in striking ways. As this Article explains, virtual worlds offer opportunities, experiences, and pleasures that satisfy many of the basic …