Editor's Summary: This Article describes the current state of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's financial reporting requirements of corporate environmental liabilities and risks. The difficulty in quantifying these liabilities to meet the "materiality" standard under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has led to a proposal by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) to cumulatively assess the financial impact of a company's environmental liabilities.

Editor's Summary: Most people agree that unjustified cruelty to animals should be avoided. Consequently, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting such abuse. Yet when the owner of an animal is suspected of engaging in abuse or neglect, the animal is usually seized or impounded by the state or local authority. This often results in the animal being left in a shelter for a long period of time while the state prepares its case. The authors argue that extended shelter stays are not only unnecessary, but they do not serve in the animal's or the owner's best interest.

Editor's Summary: California's Proposition 65 is by now a well-known regulatory tool for warning consumers about the potentially toxic components of products they consume or to which they are exposed. Rechtschaffen and Williams argue that while Proposition 65 has been subject to some abuses, it has also brought about important reductions in exposures to toxic substances. To make their point, they examine product reformulations caused by enforcement of Proposition 65's warning requirements over the past five years.

Editors' Summary: Information is a key factor in shaping and regulating environmental behavior from various perspectives: that of a stockholder looking into the sound nature of an investment, of a consumer choosing a product, or of a government official determining compliance with law. The authors of this Article set out to identify and collate what they thought would be a significant amount of environmental compliance information available on the Internet that could serve these purposes.

Editors' Summary: In the United States, property has been viewed as a safeguard on individual autonomy and a necessity for personal freedom. It is therefore no surprise that property rights issues have increasingly become the center of debate, with concerns over environmental protection conflicting with economically self-interested land uses. Yet, as Prof. Francisco Benzoni explains in this Article, understandings of property often grow out of more fundamental conceptions of human nature.

Editors' Summary: The devastation and toll in human life and suffering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are still revealing themselves. Some believe much of this was preventable, and that steps must be taken today to ensure that the recovery from these disasters leaves the Gulf Coast and its residents with greater economic, social, and environmental security. On October 17, 2005, ELI invited members and friends who had a front seat to the events leading up to this disaster, and who will play a key role in the recovery, to share their thoughts and experiences.

Editors' Summary: Tribal fishing economies that survived thousands of years are now on the brink of collapse. Tribal harvest in the Columbia Basin today is less than 1% of what it was in aboriginal times, and in the Puget Sound region, tribal harvest has plummeted 90% from levels in the mid-1980s. Native American tribes, therefore, are now forcing the courts to confront the issue. In this Article, Prof. Mary Christina Wood explores three pending cases in which tribes are seeking protection of their fisheries in the Pacific Northwest.

Editors' Summary: As in the United States, acid rain is becoming quite problematic for the People's Republic of China. Unlike the United States, however, China does not have a comprehensive trading program for controlling sulfur dioxide (SO2), a primary cause of acid rain. After comparing the different legal regimes of China and the United States, Heather Jarvis and Wei Xu examine the U.S. acid rain SO emissions cap-and-trade program.

Editor's Summary: Plant genetic resources are essential to feeding the world's population. With the goal of guaranteeing food security through the conservation, exchange, and sustainable use of the world's plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well as the fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from its use, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations adopted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in November 2001, after seven years of negotiation.

Editor's Summary: Several cities have developed innovative initiatives to combat global warming in the absence of concerted federal regulatory action. One such city is Seattle, Washington. In April 2000, the city directed its municipal utility, Seattle City Light, to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions through efficiency, renewable energy, and offsets. In July 2001, City Light became the first U.S. utility to commit to reaching zero net greenhouse gas emissions. Yet this program has not come without its challenges.