Online Articles

The United States may finally ratify the Kigali Amendment—with potential implementing legislation already underway

January 15, 2021 by Lawrence Corbeille Air Chemicals Climate change

Sara Zaat, Staff Contributor

Hydrofluorocarbons, an alternative to the ozone-depleting substances that damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer, are potent greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change. These chemicals are scheduled for reduction under international law: the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Will the United States join the majority of U.N. Member States in committing to phasing down its hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption in accordance with international law in a Biden administration?

Imagining a Greener Future for Post-COVID-19

October 25, 2020 by Brooke McClain Delaney Air Chemicals Climate change Fossil Fuels International

By Hyunjin Kim, Staff Contributor

"Normal was a crisis." When we say we want to "go back to normal," do we really mean the world exactly as we left it? Or, could we use COVID as a means of building something better than what we had, perhaps greener?

Duck, Duck, Sued! – CERCLA’s Game of Contribution Tag

April 27, 2019 by Rebecca Strauss Chemicals Litigation

By Sean Murphy, Staff Contributor

Imagine the polluters in a CERCLA Superfund suit sitting in a circle playing Duck Duck Goose. That’s right—this game isn’t just for kids. CERCLA, the Superfund statute lets polluters play a similar game of liability tag in contribution actions. But is CERCLA really all fun and games?

Litigating the Alleged Carcinogenicity of Glyphosate in Monsanto’s Roundup: The Fairness (and Unfairness) of Deciding Causation Independent of Liability

January 17, 2019 by mjb443 Chemicals Litigation

By Leora Friedman, Staff Contributor.

The Northern District of California readies to hear the U.S.’s first federal test case regarding the carcinogenicity of Monsanto’s glyphosate-containing herbicide, Roundup. Controversially, in early January 2019, Judge Chhabria granted Monsanto’s request for bifurcation—agreeing first to litigate glyphosate’s causation to the plaintiff’s cancer and, only afterward, allowing evidence of Monsanto’s alleged efforts to sway agency positions on glyphosate. But can the reliability of scientific studies be determined without considering the institutions that may have housed and/or nurtured them?