At the same time that the world was rocked by climate-related unnatural disasters, the social unrest sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin forced a long-overdue racial reckoning with regard to over-policing, mass incarceration, and other...

In examining how badly the United States bungled its COVID-19 pandemic response, it is worth going back to the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic. Author after author cautioned that the next pandemic would overwhelm the United States health system and that the...

Waste is built into modern culture. Yet the problem of what to do with all that waste remains unresolved. The Western over-consumptive lifestyle relies on the highly racialized transfer of the burdens associated with managing waste away from certain communities and onto others. Indeed, our...

True cryptocurrency believers posit a world with virtually limitless applications for the block chain. They tout the prospect of a globally accepted currency that works with lightning speed, costs virtually nothing, and guarantees 100% security and anonymity while eliminating the need to trust...

In the twentieth century, traditional notions of state sovereignty underwent a profound transformation. Emerging principles of human rights and sustainable development revolutionized thinking about the responsibilities states have within their own territories. Sovereignty in its Westphalian...

This paper was presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law as part of a panel considering the 2012 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development. It critiques the "Green Economy," a theme of the Rio 20 Conference, by emphasizing the core indeterminancy of the...

The Trump Administration has expressed its intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. However, may of the states and cities that together make up the United States have declared that they "are still in." This draft chapter for a forthcoming book by the Environmental Law...

The natural disasters of 2017-19 have exposed weaknesses in our preparation for disaster and climate change. What if we had paid attention — before disaster ensued — to how environmental protection and planning can prevent and minimize the harm that disasters cause to people, their housing,...

These remarks delivered at the 2008 ASIL meeting, critique the notion of progress as it is deployed in discussion of international law. Drawing on human rights and environmental law, this brief essay describes the disconnect between progress in enacting international law and progress in...

Agricultural companies are merging at a remarkable rate. The ensuing ag-biotech behemoths will have unprecedented control over global food production. The companies claim that this industry consolidation will not only benefit shareholders, but will serve the public by promoting food security and...