Law Commons^™

Nothing Is Real: Protecting The Regulatory Void Through Federal Preemption By Inaction, Robert L. Glicksman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Whether a federal statute preempts state law has important implications for the allocation of power between the federal and state governments. One aspect of preemption doctrine that has received relatively little scholarly attention is whether the federal government's failure to act is capable of preempting state law and, if so, when. In the regulatory context, Congress must first decide whether as a normative matter it should preempt state law despite its decision not to regulate activities regulated by states. Once Congress has done so, the courts may need to interpret federal legislation to determine whether Congress has decided to preempt …

Beyond Westphalia: Competitive Legalization In Emerging Transnational Regulatory Systems, Errol E. Meidinger

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 7 in Law and Legalization in Transnational Relations, Christian Brütsch & Dirk Lehmkuhl, eds.

This paper analyzes several emerging transnational regulatory systems that engage, but are not centered on state legal systems. Driven primarily by civil society organizations, the new regulatory systems use conventional technical standard setting and certification techniques to establish market-leveraged, social and environmental regulatory programs. These programs resemble state regulatory programs in many important respects, and are increasingly legalized. Individual sectors generally have multiple regulatory programs that compete with, but also mimic and reinforce each other. While forestry is the most developed example, similar …

Keynote Address: We Must Take America Back, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

I want to talk about what is happening in the United States, and the connection between the environment and democracy, and the corrosive impact of excessive corporate power and the impact to democracy everywhere. But particularly I want to focus on American democracy.

The Animal Question: The Key To Coming To Terms With Nature, Jim Mason

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulating Evolution For Sale: An Evolutionary Biology Model For Regulating The Unnatural Selection Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Mary Jane Angelo

UF Law Faculty Publications

In recent years, there has been an explosion in the genetic manipulation of living organisms to create commercial products. This genetic manipulation has, in effect, been a directed change in the evolutionary process for the purpose of profit. This deliberate alteration of the path of evolution has brought with it a panoply of novel environmental, human health, and economic risks that could not have been foreseen when U.S. environmental and health protection laws evolved. U.S. environmental law has not evolved to keep pace with these dramatic changes in the evolution of our biological systems. Thus, completely new approaches are needed …

Depiction Of The Regulator-Regulated Entity Relationship In The Chemical Industry: Deterrence-Based V. Cooperative Enforcement, Robert L. Glicksman, Dietrich Earnhart

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

For years, scholars and environmental policymakers have conducted a spirited debate about the comparative merits of two different approaches to enforcement of the nation's environmental laws - the coercive (or deterrence-based) and cooperative approaches. Supporters of the coercive model regard the deterrence of violations as the fundamental purpose of environmental enforcement. These supporters also regard the imposition of sanctions, which make it less costly for regulated entities to comply with their regulatory responsibilities and avoid enforcement than to fail to comply and run the risk of enforcement, as the most effective way for inducing regulated entities to comply with their …

A Jurisprudence Of Ideology, Robert L. Glicksman, James May

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Chief Justice Rehnquist figures prominently in recent historic environmental case law addressed by the Supreme Court. Although generally critical of federal environmental laws, the skepticism stemmed from an interest in the protection of state rights and protection of private property rights rather than a general challenge to federal regulation. His jurisprudence reflects three “guideposts” to consider environmental concerns: limiting the scope of federal power, protecting state sovereignty from encroachment by the federal government, and protecting the rights of private property owners against intrusions resulting from regulation by government. In limiting the scope of federal power, Rehnquist specifically supported limitations on …

The Comparative Effectiveness Of Government Interventions On Environmental Performance In The Chemical Industry, Robert L. Glicksman, Dietrich Earnhart

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Effective enforcement is crucial to achieving the objectives of the federal environmental statutes. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the importance of effective enforcement, calling it a critical aspect of environmental governance and committing itself to the maintenance of a "credible deterrent" to regulatory violations. Despite the central role of enforcement to achievement of environmental statutory goals, relatively little is known about why regulated entities either do or do not comply. In particular, empirical studies of environmental enforcement are not plentiful, in part because comprehensive data on compliance and enforcement have been difficult to obtain. Although EPA and …

Environmental Ethics And Cost-Benefit Analysis, Stephen Clowney

Stephen Clowney

Genetically Modified Organisms And Justice: The International Environmental Justice Implications Of Biotechnology, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

In September 2006, a WTO dispute settlement panel issued its long-awaited decision in favor of the United States in the dispute between the U.S. and the European Union over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The ruling was based on narrow procedural grounds, and did not resolve the controversy over the safety of GMOs, over the right of countries to regulate GMOs more stringently than conventional products, or over the consistency of the EU's GMO regulatory regime with WTO requirements. The debate over GMOs continues unabated. Unfortunately, the high profile dispute between the U.S. and the EU has eclipsed the important debate …

Overcoming The Behavioral Impetus For Greater U.S. Energy Consumption, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

In The Heat Of The Law, It's Not Just Steam: Geothermal Resources And The Impact On Thermophile Biodiversity, Donald J. Kochan, Tiffany Grant

Donald J. Kochan

Significant research has been conducted into the utilization of geothermal resources as a ‘green’ energy source. However, minimal research has been conducted into geothermal resource utilization and depletion impacts on thermophile biodiversity. Thermophiles are organisms which have adapted over millions of year to extreme temperature and chemical compositions and exist in hot springs and other geothermal resources. Their ability to withstand high temperatures makes them invaluable to scientific and medical research. Current federal and California case law classify geothermal resources as a mineral, not a water resource. Acquisition of rights to develop a geothermal resource owned or reserved by the …