Can you remember a day when you opened your morning newspaper without finding a dramatic and disturbing story about some environmental crisis that's either here already or lurks just around the corner? That would be a rare day. On one day the story may be about global warming, on the next it may be about overpopulation, or air pollution, or resource depletion, or species extinction, or sea-level rise, or nuclear waste, or toxic substances in our food and water.

In May 2000, in a town of 4,800 people in southern Ontario, 7 people died and more than 2,300 became seriously ill from drinking tap water contaminated with Escherichia coli (e-coli). The loss of life and the staggering degree of illness devastated the small town community. Even today many Walkerton residents continue to suffer adverse health effects while feelings of frustration and insecurity persist.

I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.

—Confucius¹

The environmental movement has come a long way since the first half of the 20th century, when such forward thinkers as John Muir and Aldo Leopold helped shape worldwide environmental policy with their articles and books on preservation. Despite their good intentions, rapid industrialization still resulted in a slew of nightmares: Love Canal; Times Beach; the air pollution episodes of the 1960s; and Bhopal, India.

The ESA mandates protection of endangered and threatened species on an individual species and project basis.¹ A species is only protected by the ESA when it is listed as endangered or threatened, and its critical habitat is designated.² Once a species has been listed, a number of provisions providing for its protection are triggered. The primary provisions for species conservation are § 7(a)(1) conservation obligations and § 4(f) recovery plans.

Introduction

This Article examines what the term "cooperation" means in major federal policies, state audit privilege/immunity laws, and state self-disclosure policies and rules in existence as of September 2003.

The United States is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Framework Convention),¹ which requires parties to implement programs and measures to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.

Introduction

In a previous Article in ELR,¹ the authors examined issues related to international greenhouse gas emissions trading under the as-yet unratified Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.² This Dialogue builds upon, and assumes the reader's knowledge of, the previous Article.

Efficient combustion largely prevents the formation of many criteria pollutants.