JASON J. CZARNEZKI

My last post on food safety drew some interest, so you might be interested in this post by my friend Alex Wang entitled "Is that Rat Meat in My Lamb? – Food Safety in China."

Here’s my new article "Challenges to China’s Natural Resources Conservation & Biodiversity Legislation." The Abstract:

Despite China’s legislative attempts to conserve its natural resources and, in turn, protect biodiversity, Chinese law remains ineffective in pursuit of these goals due to struggles with implementation and enforcement, engendering legislation with economic values rather than ecological ones, and a lack of public participation. This Article provides an overview of Chinese biodiversity and conservation legislation and suggests that China can improve biodiversity legislation through increasing the public role in conservation efforts, increased liability and enforcement, and improved administration coordination.

The public health consequences as a result of food contamination due to Chinese industrialization are only becoming more serious. Given that I have lived in China and have friends in China, this is of deep concern. But given the large amount of Chinese food products this should be everyone’s concern. More attention need to be given to the intersection of environmental quality and public health. Recently the WSJ wrote about rice polluted by cadmium in China and the Times wrote about lead in Chinese green tea. I wrote an Op-Ed entitled "Are Food Imports from China Safe," and a more scholarly piece on the topic, now posted on SSRN, entitled, "Global Environmental Law: Food Safety & China." The Abstract:

This Article makes the case for food security law and policy as a component of global environmental law in recognition of the global economy, trade liberalization, and concerns for food safety and environmental harm. It further lays out rule of law as a significant force in mitigating food safety concerns and pollution in China. Part II explores global food safety concerns in the context of U.S.-China relations, while Part III shows how cooperative agreements are emerging in global environmental governance as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration now has an on-the-ground presence in China. Part IV shows how increased rule of law may mitigate environmental harm and food safety concerns in China. The Article concludes by making the case that increased international cooperation on traditionally domestic issues is both likely and desirable, and makes the case for increased rule of law efforts in the developing world.

The full article is available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2133551

It’s amazing what random things pop up if you Google your name. I found:

(1) A notice of my move to Pace with reports of other lateral moves. Informative.

Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports: Lateral hires with tenure, 2012-13

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2013/05/lateral-hires-with-tenure-2012-13.html

(2) A blog post about my Dubitante article. Surprising to find.

Word of the day: Dubitante | The MiLW Blog
http://milawyersweekly.com/milwblog/2012/08/27/word-of-the-day-dubitante/

(3) And a truly bizarre dramatic reading of the back cover of my book by a computer with a British female voice. Why on earth would a business do this?!?!

Law Book Review: Everyday Environmentalism: Law, Nature, and Individual Behavior by Jason Joseph … – YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-google&gl=US&hl=en&v=B13xmaQQTPM&nomobile=1

Env Law Profs and/or NYC friends: I am working on a paper about environmental and public health regulation in urban centers. What are the major successful/unsuccessful/notable/hated/liked environmental and public health initiatives and programs proposed or promulgated by Mayor Bloomberg or the NYC Council over the last few years? Please email me or comment. Thanks!

You are invited to join the Environmental Law Institute

in celebrating the release of

Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Law

edited by:
Mary Jane Angelo, Jason J. Czarnezki, and William S. Eubanks II

Thursday, May 30, 2013 from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Environmental Law Institute
2000 L Street NW, Suite 620
Washington, DC 20036

Light refreshments will be served.

R.S.V.P. by May 24 to Melodie DeMulling at demulling

Buy the book by clicking here.

In the groundbreaking Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Law, leading environmental legal scholars Mary Jane Angelo, Jason Czarnezki, and Bill Eubanks, along with five distinguished contributing authors, undertake an exploration of the challenging political and societal issues facing agricultural policy and modern food systems through the lens of environmental protection laws. Through this exploration, the authors seek to answer difficult questions about the need for new approaches to agricultural policy and environmental law to meet 21st century concerns surrounding climate change, sustainable agriculture, accessibility to healthy foods and the conservations of natural resources and ecosystem services. This is the first book to examine both the impact of agricultural policy on the environment and the influence of environmental law on food and agriculture.

Contributing authors include:Teresa Clemmer, Hannah Connor, John H. Davidson, George Kimbrell and J.B. Ruhl

Amtrak Subsidy Gone, States Must Pay the Freight to Keep Rail Routes
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/us/as-amtrak-aid-ends-states-face-decision-on-local-routes.html?from=homepage

My new report is “States as Market Participants in the U.S. and the EU? Public purchasing and the environment”:

A much discussed topic in the European Union is how public procurement may be used to support general societal goals, such as good
environmental protection. But to what extent is it actually possible for public authorities to use procurement in order to achieve non-economic goals? In this report, the situation in Europe is compared with the one in the United States. American states can encourage, and in some cases require, public institutions to purchase products manufactured in that state (i.e., a geographic preference), due to the so called market participant exception.

http://sieps.se/en/publikationer/states-as-market-participants-in-the-us-and-the-eu-public-purchasing-and-the-environment-20132

Angelo, Czarnezki and Eubanks’ Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Law | Legal Solutions
http://legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/Academic-Coursebook/Angelo-Czarnezki-and-Eubanks-Food-Agriculture-and-Environmental-Law/p/100093655

http://www.sieps.se/en/seminarier/23-april-public-procurement-and-the-environment-states-as-market-participants-in-the-us-and-eu