JASON J. CZARNEZKI

Only in my home state of Wisconsin does Packers pregame edge out the President, do schools close at early for a 8:30pm game, and the bars open at 9am. The Green Bay Packers play tonight for the opening game of the NFL Season. Between the first-place Brewers, the promising Badgers football team, and World Champion Packers, little work is getting done in Milwaukee, Green Bay and the rest of the state. The level of interest in sports in the Midwest is just so much greater than in New England and certainly Vermont. And since my blog is picked up by a number of avenues, you’ll just have to bear with this non-law, non-environmental, non-political post. Go Packers.

http://chinaenvironmentalgovernance.com/2011/09/08/china-goes-eco-communist-on-car-manufacturers/

This is a very interesting Op-Ed about why Al Gore doesn’t have the credibility to criticize Obama since Gore was equally timid on environmental issues when he was running for President. The piece also lays out why sprawl is a driver for many environmental and energy concerns in the U.S.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/08/26/why-al-gore-is-off-base-criticizing-president-obama-as-timid

Gore rebukes Obama – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0911/Gore_rebukes_Obama.html?showall

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-china-legal-cooperation-fund-announces-new-grants-2011-08-29

http://vtdigger.org/2011/09/05/officials-visit-battered-pocket-of-south-royalton/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/business/global/china-changes-direction-on-car-sales.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=china&st=cse

Now that water has receded and some roads are passable, Vermonters are beginning to see the full scope of the destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. Irene was brutal and her damage uneven. We were largely unaffected in Montpelier, with some downtown business being hit hard. South Royalton, home of Vermont Law School, suffered $10 million in damage and many colleagues and students literally lost everything. While the last Vermont town that was completely cut-off was reached by ATVs on Friday, some Vermonters still cannot get out of their homes. And yesterday, we drove through Waterbury, located just north of Montpelier. The downtown district and nearby homes were near completely destroyed. The insides of entire homes lay piled upon the streets…appliances, toys, clothes, insulation, dry wall. It will take Vermont years to recovers, and, with winter quickly approaching (it could snow next month), many basic road and bridge fixes cann;t get done this seasons. Many grade schools are still closed and may not open for weeks, schools lost all their art supplies and pianos, and the state office buildings in Waterbury are closed indefinitely having suffered over $4 million in damage. I would like to make the following announcement:

FEMA Support from Vermont Law School the Land Use Clinic
The Land Use Clinic is assisting community members with FEMA forms, insurance claims, and other property damage-related Irene help. For more information, call 802-831-1028 or go to the law school library between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday or between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.

Since I’m always asking the Yirka question for what to include or not to include in my own library, here’s by most recent book list.

Just Read:
Duncan Hewitt, China: Getting Rich First
David Wise, Tiger Trap

Currently Reading:
Ben Hewitt, Making Supper Safe

Ordered or in Stack to Read:
Henry Kissinger, On China
Richard McGregor, The Party: The Secret World of China’s Community Rulers

Simon Winchester, The Man Who Loved China
Tim Johnson, Tragedy in Crimson

Is anywhere aware of a grant that pays for scholars to simply read for an entire year to simply expand their knowledge? Heck, I’d even be willing to write a few book reviews. But a more serious question: Can anyone recommend good books on the history of European environmentalism?

This NY Times article is scary and begins: "Do environmental regulations kill jobs?" Wow, is this the wrong question. Environmental regulations might hurt jobs and might create some jobs too, but also, and more importantly, a complete lack of environmental law mean that we’re killing people (since I am not convinces that either individuals or corporations can be relied upon and trusted to keep us health and safe in the face of potential profits). I’m at a loss at the willingness of the global community (here, I’m pointing directly at the U.S. and China) to fully appreciate the link between environmental harm and public health. And the arguable lack of ethic and morality that allows so many of our choices in this debate (e.g., antibiotics in animal feed purely to increase growth; lack of air quality regulation despite asthma in kids), and there is continual underestimation of the economic benefits of environmental regulation (e.g., ecosystem services, lower heath care costs; less illness). I’m currently reading "Making Supper Safe" by Ben Hewitt and he raises this concerns directly in looking at food safety regulation and it’s impact on public health.