Learning from BP's disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico means understanding why extraction technology innovations flourished while cleanup and prevention technologies stagnated. Only then can we fruitfully identify the kinds of changes to the governance regime that might prevent this sort...

This article suggests that were federal environmental regulators to view themselves as human rights decisionmakers, we might well see a new kind of regulatory decisionmaking emerge — one not only more responsive and transparent, but also more likely to enjoy the trust of the American public....

It is commonplace to note that the world is experiencing an unprecedented rate of change. The "boundary shattering force[s]" of globalized markets and new technologies are likely to continue smashing through pre-existing social and political fault lines for the foreseeable future. This rate of...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

This short essay for the Environmental Law Collaborative explores law's role in framing discussions of sustainability. It suggests that we need to think of sustainability not as a set of practices but as set of organizing principles by which to restructure the core, yet largely invisible...

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...