Region: International

An Inconvenient Treaty

Should the U.S. join an international treaty to limit carbon emissions?  The little-known answer: we already have.  No, this wasn’t a secret Obama Administration initiative.  The treaty was signed by none other than President George H.W. Bush. The treaty is called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC.  The word “framework” can …

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The True North Strong and Dumb

A few months ago, Rhead set a Legal Planet record for attracting comments: 33 (mostly hostile) reactions on a relatively straightforward post about how Canada had achieved the gold medal for “fossilhood”, i.e. most antagonistic to a climate treaty. Well, it appears as if Rhead has understated the matter: Federal Conservatives are downplaying concerns over …

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Climate Change and Tonight’s Debate

A key issue is missing from the list of topics for tonight’s debate. Climate change is a global problem with global impacts, ultimately requiring a global solution.  Climate change is a threat multiplier from the point of view of national security, intensifying the risk of international conflict and terrorism. (See here for more.) It has …

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Good News On U.S. Carbon Emissions

At Copenhagen, President Obama pledged to cut carbon emissions by 17% by 2020 below 2005. According to Resources for the Future (RFF), the most respected think tank on energy issues, the U.S. is “on course to achieve reductions of 16.3 percent from 2005 levels in 2020.”  RFF identifies three contributing factors:  EPA regulations under the …

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Canada’s ocean fertilization flap, and its significance

There’s a ruckus going on over an experiment in ocean fertilization conducted off the coast of British Columbia in July and disclosed this week  (see here, and here).  The Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation, an enterprise of the Haida village of Old Massett, used a large fishing vessel to spread 100 tons of iron sulfate-rich dust …

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So Much for THAT Excuse: China Starts a Cap-and-Trade Program

If there is a somewhat credible reason for the United States not to embark on climate legislation, it is that other major emitters — particularly China — are not doing the same.  I don’t buy it, because China is a much poorer country than the United States is and because the West has received the …

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To See What Is In Front Of One’s Nose…

“… is a constant struggle.” — George Orwell. In my post a couple of days ago, I neglected to mention one huge issue before the Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum.  Although the Court originally granted cert on the issue of corporate liability, the Supremes kicked it back last February for reargument this …

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Should Environmental Lawyers Care about the Alien Tort Statute?

The Supreme Court term tomorrow opens with a bang: Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, which has assumed very large significance in the international human rights community.  But should Legal Planet readers care?  I think that they should. The plaintiffs in Kiobel allege that Royal Dutch Petroleum (better known in the United States as Shell Oil) …

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Your Legal Planet Weekend Movie: Watch the Greenland Ice Sheet Melt!

Forget the cinema or Netflix. Legal Planet can meet your movie viewing needs. This video highlights research done by Dr. Laurence Smith at the UCLA Department of Geography, who spent the summer on the Greenland ice sheet tracking its melting. Somehow seeing the melting happen from the ground has more of an emotional impact for …

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Climate Change and National Security

The two parties disagree sharply about whether climate change can be considered a threat to our national security.  A recent paper by Andrew Guzman (Berkeley) and Jody Freeman (Harvard) summarizes the support for this idea among serious students of national security: In 2008, the National Intelligence Council produced the most comprehensive analysis to date of …

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