When the 111th Congress convenes, a priority for environmental policy leaders should be to ensure sustainable soils. The escalating crisis in soil destruction and nonpoint source pollution is tied to a decades-long reluctance to curb the environmental impacts of agriculture.
Movies frequently entertain us with icons of wise leadership. Yoda in Stars Wars is the serene, all-knowing one who teaches Luke Skywalker the ways of The Force to save the galaxy. Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in Karate Kid rescues the boy and goes on to mentor him to be at the top of his fighting rank. He could do all this because he had a "brown belt"... from JC Penney. But in the real world, what does it take to lead?
Imagine a world in which retailers and manufacturers know where every consumer item is at all times. From manufacture to the point of sale, every consumer item can be tracked individually along the supply chain. Out-of-stocks are virtually eliminated. Imagine finding every item on your list, every time you go into a store--any store. Would you spend less? According to the retail industry you would.
Editor's Summary
This issue of Environmental Law Reporter News & Analysis is devoted to excerpts from Agenda for a Sustainable America, edited by John C. Dernbach and published in 2009 by ELI Press. Copies can be ordered by calling 1-800621-2736 or visiting http://www.eli.org.
Editor's Summary
Editor's Summary
Editor's Summary
Although the United States led sustainability reforms in international financial institutions in the 1980s and 1990s, these environmental and social considerations were not given sufficient attention during the last presidential administration. The United States is still in a position to continue positive change on these issues, however, and can do so by encouraging multilateral development banks and export credit agencies to integrate social and environmental considerations into their lending decisions.
Editors' Summary: As Congress begins the second session of the 98th Congress, we assess both the results of the first session (see Comment, 14 ELR 10005) and the prospects for the second. For the latter task, a crystal-ball gazing exercise, we have enlisted the help of two of the sharpest-eyed observers of congressional trends available: Philip Cummings, Minority Counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Bud Ward, Editor of The Environmental Forum. Mr. Cummings analyzes the chances for Senate action; Mr. Ward those in the House.
Editors' Summary: As Congress begins the second session of the 98th Congress, we assess both the results of the first session (see Comment, 14 ELR 10005) and the prospects for the second. For the latter task, a crystal-ball gazing exercise, we have enlisted the help of two of the sharpest-eyed observers of congressional trends available: Philip Cummings, Minority Counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Bud Ward, Editor of The Environmental Forum. Mr. Cummings analyzes the chances for Senate action; Mr. Ward those in the House.
Editors' Summary: This Comment surveys the environmental activity of the first session of the 98th Congress. Congress' oversight of the executive branch contributed to headline-grabbing changes in the administration of federal programs. But while busy checking the initiatives of the Reagan Administration, Congress enacted no major new environmental laws, despite proposals before it in the areas of air quality, water quality, hazardous waste, toxics, nuclear energy, public lands, and natural resources.