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New York City Rules! Regulatory Models for Environmental and Public Health
Get PDFScholars have become increasingly interested in facilitating improvement in environmental and public health at the local level. Over the last few years, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York City Council have proposed and adopted numerous environmental and public health initiatives, providing a useful case study for analyzing the development and success (or failure) of various regulatory tools, and offering larger lessons about regulation that can be extrapolated to other substantive areas. This Article, first, seeks to categorize and evaluate these “New York Rules,” creating a new taxonomy to understand different types of regulation. These “New York Rules” include bans, informational regulation, education, infrastructure, mandates, standard-setting, and economic (dis)incentives. In particular, this Article focuses on urban transportation and food systems, including the failed market-based congestion pricing plan for Lower Manhattan; the Citi Bike infrastructure; the proposed “Sugary Drink” ban; informational calorie labeling on food menus; and the emerging compost pollution prevention plan. This Article provides insight into the challenge of matching the proper regulatory tool with any environmental and public health problem, suggesting that certain approaches are more appropriate than others. In general, society requires more forceful nudges than seen to date and, where this kind of push is not possible, policymakers should proceed to lay the groundwork with norm-shifting regulation. Infrastructure shifts are also a successful type of intervention when more intrusive regulation fails. In summary, law proves to be a workable tool to change individual behavior, and major government action can influence social norms and create improved infrastructure
Creating Order Amidst Food Eco-Label Chaos
Get PDFEco-labels, certifications, and seals of approval serve a variety of functions including communicating to businesses and consumers the environmental attributes of a particular product and incentivizing improvements in production. Eco-labels also provide a basis for companies to set measurable sustainability goals for sourcing, improvements, and transparency. As they gain greater traction in the marketplace, however, there has been a massive proliferation of labels, certifications, and green seals of approval. This has led to consumer confusion, inaccurate and misleading claims, and inconsistent standards. A 2009 survey identified about 600 labels that denote some definition of “environmentally friendly” worldwide, including more than 80 on products sold in the United States. The U.S. alone has at least 19 eco-labels and environmental certifications in the food context. Consumer demand for eco-labeled food products has grown in conjunction with knowledge about pesticides and the potential ill effects from consumption, as well as consumer concerns over deforestation, biodiversity, and fair labor. These concerns have expanded the scope of eco-labels from the initial health-based focus. This Article addresses this proliferation of environmental claims through labels and certifications in the food context -- a trend many have argued is necessary to moving the U.S. national food system toward a sustainable future
This Ability: A Business Plan for a Publishing Company Specializing in Books Written by and for Individuals with Disabilities.
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