Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for ObjectivityDrawing insight from a diverse array of sources -- including moral philosophy, political theory, cognitive psychology, ecology, and science and technology studies -- Douglas Kysar offers a new theoretical basis for understanding environmental law and policy. He exposes a critical flaw in the dominant policy paradigm of risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis, which asks policymakers to, in essence, "regulate from nowhere." As Kysar shows, such an objectivist stance fails to adequately motivate ethical engagement with the most pressing and challenging aspects of environmental law and policy, which concern how we relate to future generations, foreign nations, and other forms of life. Indeed, world governments struggle to address climate change and other pressing environmental issues in large part because dominant methods of policy analysis obscure the central reasons for acting to ensure environmental sustainability. To compensate for these shortcomings, Kysar first offers a novel defense of the precautionary principle and other commonly misunderstood features of environmental law and policy. He then concludes by advocating a movement toward environmental constitutionalism in which the ability of life to flourish is always regarded as a luxury we "can" afford. |
Contents
1 | |
REGULATING FROM NOWHERE | 23 |
THE PERILS OF PREDICTION | 69 |
THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE OTHER | 121 |
OUR ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE | 201 |
Other editions - View all
Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for Objectivity Douglas A. Kysar No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
Ackerman action agency agent agent-relativity Amartya Sen approach argued argument assessment behavior Bruce Ackerman Cass causal chapter choice climate change collective conception constitutional context cooling water intake cost-benefit analysis costs and benefits decision deontological difficult discounting ecological EcoN efficiency emissions empirical environment environmental law ENVTL EPA’s equity ethical evaluation find first fish five flow framework future global goals greenhouse gas harm human hurricane identified impact individuals influence instance intergenerational intergenerational equity justice Kip Viscusi liberal life-forms moral natural normative normative ethics officials opportunity costs optimization philosophical political community pollution potential precautionary principle preferences problem proposed protection question reason reflect regarding regulation regulatory responsibility risk sacrifice safety scientific significant simply social species specific standard Stavins sufficiently Sunstein supra note sustainability theory Thomas Nagel tion utilitarian valuation welfare economics welfare economists welfare maximization well-being