Seeing the Global Forest for the Trees: How U.S. Federalism Can Coexist With Global Goverance of Forests

Authors

Blake Hudson, Louisiana State University Law CenterFollow
Erika Weinthal

Abstract

Both international forest and climate negotiations have failed to produce a legally binding treaty that addresses forest management activities - either comprehensively or more narrowly through carbon capture - due, in part, to lack of US leadership. Though US cooperation is crucial for facilitating both forest and climate negotiations, the role of federalism in constraining these trends has been given scant attention. We argue that, as embodied in the US Constitution, federalism complicates the US’s role in creating any legally binding treaty that directly regulates land uses (e.g. forest management). Because federalism reserves primary land use regulatory authority for state governments, voluntary, market-based mechanisms, like REDD and forest certification, should be included within any binding treaty aimed at forest management, in order to facilitate US participation.

Comments

1 J. Nat. Resources Pol'y Res. 353 (2009)

Date of Authorship for this Version

2009

Repository Citation

Hudson, Blake and Weinthal, Erika, "Seeing the Global Forest for the Trees: How U.S. Federalism Can Coexist With Global Goverance of Forests" (2009). Journal Articles. 160.
https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/faculty_scholarship/160