Many participants in the global warming debate recounted in this Article appear either to have been unaware of or have chosen to ignore numerous commitments made by the United States pursuant to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or Convention).¹ For instance, on numerous occasions members of the U.S.

On January 5, 2002, the fourth day of the 102d annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in New Orleans, Louisiana, the section on environmental law sponsored a well-attended, provocative panel discussion entitled "Global Climate Change Policy and Perspectives." The session was moderated by Prof. Mark Squillace of the University of Wyoming Law School. Participants included Haroon S.

Climate change is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the United States and the international community.¹ The Bush Administration's rejection² of the Kyoto Protocol (the Protocol)³ and related activities have focused a significant amount of public attention on the issue, both at home and abroad.

The George W. Bush Administration's refusal to deal seriously with the problem of global warming, perhaps the greatest environmental problem of our time, requires that the international community think seriously about alternative ways of inducing or even compelling the United States to meet its global responsibilities. One strategy being considered is litigation. There are a variety of forms that global warming litigation could take. Plaintiffs harmed by global warming could bring actions in U.S.

Editors' Summary: The controversial Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in December 1997, is the first major step toward implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol sets targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by industrialized countries. This Dialogue focuses on the provisions of the Protocol that are concerned with carbon absorption by terrestrial ecosystems. It also examines the provisions' potential for creating effective and sustainable management of forests and associated biodiversity.

The federal public lands—national forests, parks, and rangelands—are widely known for their vast natural resources: timber; range; minerals; watersheds; wildlife; and sweeping vistas of incredible beauty and diversity. No less notable are the cultural resources found on the public lands. Some of the earliest withdrawals of public lands from homesteading or other disposition occurred because of their cultural and historic importance.

There can be no sustainable development without sustainable transportation. It is an essential component not only because transportation is a prerequisite to development in general but also because transportation, especially our use of motorized vehicles, contributes substantially to a wide range of environmental problems, including energy waste, global warming, degradation of air and water, noise, ecosystem loss and fragmentation, and desecration of the landscape. Our nation's environmental quality will be sustainable only if we pursue transportation in a sustainable way.

Editors' Summary: The recently completed 105th Congress provided the nation with a legacy of unparalleled legislative inactivity. Few, if any, of the legislative initiatives earmarked as priorities passed as bitter partisan debate ruled on Capitol Hill. This Comment analyzes how such partisanship and subsequent congressional lethargy created the environmental successes, controversies, and failures of the 105th Congress.

Over the past several years, considerable public and private efforts in this country have been directed at reducing the risk of cancer that human exposure to high levels of radon gas poses. These efforts appear to have succeeded in raising public awareness of radon and in increasing testing for radon. For the most part, however, these efforts have been directed toward homeowners and have not addressed the problem of radon in residential rental properties. Yet, in 1989, nearly 34 million homes—over one-third of all housing units in the country—were rental units.

Although the 104th Congress did not begin officially until January 4, 1995, its significance was apparent as soon as the polls closed on November 8, 1994. When the votes were tallied, Republicans had acquired majorities in both the Senate and the House for the first time in 40 years. And they were quick to proclaim the beginning of a revolution in congressional lawmaking.