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JDAnnotation 6-2 edited {JD-Annotation 6-2.docx} 1. Full Citation “Six Chemicals in Soft Plastic Toys Banned Across Eu…

{JD-Annotation 6-2.docx}
1. Full Citation
“Six Chemicals in Soft Plastic Toys Banned Across Europe,” Environment News Service, July 6, 2005, available at http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2005/2005-07-06-05.asp, accessed April 2013.
2. Where did/does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials?
Author not found: The website is looked into instead.
Environment New Service was established in 1990 by Sunny Lewis and Jim Crabtree. The website news service exists to present environmental news “in a fair and balanced manner.” It prides itself on being the first to get stories on the latest environmental issues, such as natural disasters, politics, legislation, conferences, demonstrations, legal action, international agreements, sustainable development, climate change, energy, nuclear issues, public health, air quality, drinking water, oceans and marine life, land use, forests, wildlife, hazardous materials, toxics, solid waste and recycling, transportation, environmental economics and the built environment.
3. What are the topics of the text?
This article is a news report on the banning of phthalates in children’s toys in the EU.
4. What is the main argument of the text?
This article makes the argument that the EU is proud of and supports this ban on phthalates, with the undertone of agreement and support for this progressive regulatory action.
5. Describe 3 ways the argument is supported.
Quotes from large stakeholders such as members of the EU and Greenpeace are quoted throughout the article.
The emphasis on the safety of children throughout the article makes the regulation seem a no brainer
6. What three quotes capture the text?
“In the debate before the vote, Rapporteur Antonios Trakatellis of Greece, a medical doctor, called for the application of the precautionary principle in this case, given that "the risk assessment is not yet complete."” Para 6.
“"Toxic chemicals have no place in children’s toys," said Kyprianou. "Our action on phthalates shows that when a risk is identified, the EU can act effectively to protect the health of its children.”” Para 14
"The chemical and toy industries fought hard to prevent today's decision - but the forces of good have finally won out," Greenpeace said.” Para 18
7. Three questions about environmental risk and precaution?
Is the risk to children such a strong motivator that it would override otherwise conservative views on regulation, such as the regulation of High fructose Corn Syrup?
What is the difference between a potential medical risk to your child through phthalates and a risk to your child through climate change in the eyes of the US regulations?

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JDAnnotation 5-2 edited {JD-Annotation 5-2.docx} 1. Full Citation Ann Thryft, “Will RoHS Laws Go Global?” Nikkei Elect…

{JD-Annotation 5-2.docx}
1. Full Citation
Ann Thryft, “Will RoHS Laws Go Global?” Nikkei Electronics Asia (May 2007), available at http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/HONSHI/20070424/131614/, accessed April 2013.
2. Where did/does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials?
Ann Thryft is an award winning technology trade journalist, specializing in writing for design enegineers and managers. She received her BA in cultural anthropology from Stanford University.
3. What are the topics of the text?
This text covers the electronics waste regulations being enacted by California and China, which follow the spirit of the EU’s RoHS regulations, which have been causing complaints from the US manufactures.
4. What is the main argument of the text?
This text argue that these two new regulations will be just as progressive and restrictive as the EU’s RoHS regulation, and therefore electronic manufacturing companies should get used to the idea.
5. Describe 3 ways the argument is supported.
The article supports this claim with a review of California’s EWRA (2007), which specifically mimics the RoHS directive.
The article then discusses how China’s Ministry of Information Industry rendition of the RoHS laws, which are significantly more restrictive then the EWRA
6. What three quotes capture the text?
“As a result of all this, not long from now, RoHS-like laws governing manufacturing are likely to be a global fact of doing business for electronics manufacturers everywhere.” Para 2
“Many manufacturers have therefore found it much more difficult to prepare for this transition than for the EU switchover.” Para 11
“In the US, an increasing number of different state-by-state regulations have already caused confusion among electronics manufacturers and distributors that are trying to keep track of all of them.” Para 3
7. Three questions about environmental risk and precaution?
How much of the regulation of products and manufacturing be standardized across the world such that there is equal competition and streamlined manufacturing processes?
Should companies just take the precautionary approach and go with the tightest regulations globally, in order to avoid any hassles down the road?

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JD-Annotation 5-2.docx uploaded

JDAnnotation 4-2 edited {JD-Annotation 4-2.docx} 1. Full Citation Weiss, Andrew. “Causal Stories, Scientific Informati…

{JD-Annotation 4-2.docx}
1. Full Citation
Weiss, Andrew. “Causal Stories, Scientific Information, and the Ozone Depletion Controversy: Intrusive Scenarios in the Policy Process.” In Controversial Science: From Content to Contention, 225 – 240. SUNY Series in Science, Technology, and Society. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
2. Where did/does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials?
Weiss graduated from Williams College in 1968 with a BA in Political Economy, and a PhD in Economics from Standford University in 1977. He is the founder and CEO of Weiss Asset Management and a Professor Emeritus at Boston University. His focus in in economics.
3. What are the topics of the text?
The chapter focuses on the idea of using causal stories in the absence of scientific consensus to draw out a shift in policy through the use of persuasive stories that link a cause and effect.
4. What is the main argument of the text?
The text argues that the use of causal stories in the Ozone Controversy in the United States allowed for the regulation of CFC’s to happen before there was conclusive scientific evidence that said that CFCs were indeed linked to the creation of the Ozone hole.
5. Describe 3 ways the argument is supported.
The argument supports itself by first laying out the framework of creating a causal story and then using that story to create a new status quo of policy.
The chapter uses a case study of the Ozone hole controversy to show how the use of a causal story argument was used to drive the policy shift towards a more precautionary approach.
6. What three quotes capture the text?
“…the science that favored the political consensus … .was used to justify proposed action, and the science that opposed the political consensus… was largely ignored.” Page 236.
“The role of science in this controversy was extreamely limited. As noted previously, the first stage of political action, the regulation of aerosols, was only loosely connected to scientific conclusions.” P. 234
“The lack of agreement within the scientific community during the political consensus illustrates how limited the conditions are under which the impact of science on policymaking is significant.” P. 236
7. Three questions about environmental risk and precaution?
What is the significance of the role of science in the convergence and divergence of US-EU policy regulation?
Does one superpower value science more than the other, and what are the results?
Would an emphasis on the authoritative role of science create for more or less progressive regulations of risk?

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JDAnnotation 3-2 edited {JD-Annotation 3-2.docx} 1. Full Citation Merrill, Richard A. "Food safety regulation: re…

{JD-Annotation 3-2.docx}
1. Full Citation
Merrill, Richard A. "Food safety regulation: reforming the Delaney Clause." Annual review of public health 18.1 (1997): 313-340.
2. Where did/does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials?
Richard Merrill is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Virginia School of Law. He received his BA and MA degrees from Oxford University in 1961, and his LL.B. from Columbia University School of Law in 1964. He is an expert in administrative, environmental, and food and drug related law. In 1975 he served 2 years as chief counsel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
3. What are the topics of the text?
This article looks at the holes in the Delaney Clause, and ways the clause is causing issues in regulating the health and safety of food products.
4. What is the main argument of the text?
This text argues that the Delaney Clause and the policy based off of it, is restrictive and hazardous, as it limits the FDA and EPA’s actions. The text has a sub-argument against the strict administrative control over how regulatory bodies should act, as the micromanagement would bog down the process.
5. Describe 3 ways the argument is supported.
A review of the food and drug safety laws passed in the US is given to provide context and background on the current legislative atmosphere.
The chapter does a review of how the Delaney Clause made the FDA’s job more difficult by a section on the increase in carcinogenic substances and their process with dealing with it.
6. What three quotes capture the text?
“This survey of food safety regulation is a peculiarly American story. It reflects both the cautious, incremental approach to problems that characterizes much US legislation and—increasingly—a distrust of administration.” P. 338
“The US Congress has retained for itself primary authority to decide not only how “safety” should be pursued, but what “safety” means.” P. 338
“r. I emphasize authorities and actions
aimed at purposeful “additives” to the food supply, and, correspondingly, focus
on efforts to identify and control potential chronic hazards to human health.” P. 315
7. Three questions about environmental risk and precaution?
How much power should be given to individual institutions to decide on the best methods and definitions of risk control and analysis?
Is a centralized and universal definition of safety possible or beneficial?
What is the purpose of the Delaney Clause in modern regulation? Has it outgrown its usefulness?

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JD-Annotation 3-2.docx uploaded

Annotation 1-2 (follow up edited {JD-Annotation 1-2.docx} 1. Full Citation Schreurs, M. A., Selin, H., & VanDeveer, S. D. (…

{JD-Annotation 1-2.docx}
1. Full Citation
Schreurs, M. A., Selin, H., & VanDeveer, S. D. (2009). Expanding transatlantic relations: implications for environment and energy politics. Transatlantic Environment and Energy Politics. Comparative and International Perspectives. Surrey and Burlington. Ashgate Publishing.
2. Where did/does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials?
Dr. Miranda Schreurs is the Director of Environmental Policy Research Centre at the Freie Universitat Berlin. Her work focuses on comparative environmental politics and policy in Europe, US and East Asia. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan and her MA and BA from the University of Washington.
3. What are the topics of the text?
This chapter serves as an introduction to the policy divide seen in environmental regulations between the US and the EU. In part, the chapter also serves to explain the massive power and influence wielded by the two superpowers, and their ability to either work together to make great strides forward, or clash and bring all progressive action to a standstill. The chapter advocates for a look at EU-US relations from multiple levels, from supernational to subnational, to see all the similarities and differences between policy.
4. What is the main argument of the text?
This chapter serves as an introduction to the book, which looks at case studies of policy around environmental issues, in both the US and the EU. The conclusion to be drawn from this analysis of case studies is that although at the national/supernational level of comparison there has been a divide with the EU (in recent years) being more progressive, several US states have been similar to EU regulations, and the regulatory convergence and divergence changes over time.
5. Describe 3 ways the argument is supported.
The chapter details the influence of the two superpowers through a discussion of their various bodies of government, economic hold over other countries, and previously held colonies sharing similar interests.
The chapter also goes into, briefly, some of the regulations that the EU and US have agreed upon in the past few decades, to show convergence, as well as a few where one superpower lead the other in terms of regulation, showing the lag time that seems to exist.
The chapter then details what the book will be discussing is chapters ahead, outlining the chapter case studies.
6. What three quotes capture the text?
“…some of the differences between the EU and the US are being mitigated
by a range of forces, including transnational actors and sub-national policy
diffusion, and international legal developments” p. 18
“This historical pattern of close EU-US cooperation however has changed
as different policy styles and approaches came to dominate on the two sides
of the Atlantic” p. 7
“Growing
EU market power, driven by the size of the EU market and the EU’s ability
to impose common standards, results in increased opportunities for Europe to
challenge the US in setting de facto global product and regulatory standards” p. 6
7. Three questions about environmental risk and precaution?
Is the very idea of having global super powers a risky approach to global regulation?
Should the US and EU dissolve their control over other countries in order to allow other nations to develop regulatory power?
Would a single global super power, unopposed in the regulatory arena, be worse than having these two superpowers oppose each other and cause a standstill in global problem solving?

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JD-Annotation 1-2.docx uploaded