ABSTRACT

The Precautionary Principle as the Law of Planetary Defense: Achieving the Mandate to Defend the Earth Against Asteroid and Comet Impacts While There is Still Time

By Evan Seamone

The Article’s perspective is a crucial one to domestic and international lawmakers because it introduces a basis for instituting immediate measures to combat unpredictable harm, rather than a traditional treaty-based approach requiring near-unanimity, endless debate, and misplaced reliance on notions of good will. By providing a template for action supported by a firm legal foundation, this Article provides a recipe to address a wide range of international threats besides asteroid and comet impacts. This Article is also one of the first to examine the relationship between natural threat mitigation and the recent set of Homeland Security directives requiring a uniform approach to disaster response. With increasing recognition that domestic disaster response agencies must cooperate internationally to fulfill their domestic duties, this Article enables international organizations to appreciate the influence of this new policy on common global concerns. A number of agency officials from the Department of Homeland Security to the British National Space Centre and the Polish Space Office are anticipating this most recent installment, and I am confident that the piece will be cited and used in international policymaking on this vital issue. The analysis is especially apropos given the United Nations’ recent push to address this issue. (See UN Doc. A/AC.105/819.)