Investment provisions in trade and investment treaties: the need for reform

This repository item contains a policy brief from the Boston University Global Economic Governance Initiative. The Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI) is a research program of the Center for Finance, Law & Policy, the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. It was founded in 2008 to advance policy-relevant knowledge about governance for financial stability, human development, and the environment.Nations of the world are currently negotiating a variety of significant trade and investment treaties that cover upwards of eighty percent of the world economy. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would further integrate a number of Pacific-Rim nations; the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would be a treaty between the United States and European countries. The United States and others are also negotiating major bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with China and India

Agency Action, Finality and Geographical Nexus: Judicial Review of Agency Compliance With NEPA\u27s Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Requirement After Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation

In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition of the need to address the complex and interrelated impacts that result from human interaction with the environment. One of the most effective tools for evaluating these impacts has been the preparation of programmatic environmental impact statements (EISs) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The status of programmatic EISs, however, has been called into question by the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, which has been interpreted by numerous commentators as heralding the end of programmatic environmental lawsuits. Even more significantly, Lujan has been cited by some courts declining to review federal agency actions with widespread environmental impacts. In Lujan, the Supreme Court held that an environmental advocacy organization lacked standing to challenge the Bureau of Land Management\u27s (BLM) administration of the land withdrawal review program under which the agency determined which federal lands under its administration would be available for mining and other commercial uses. Although several years have passed since the Court decided the case, exactly what type of programmatic lawsuits are ostensibly precluded under Lujan remains unclear

A study of the ozonolysis of isoprene in a cryogenic buffer gas cell by high resolution microwave spectroscopy

We have developed a method to quantify reaction product ratios using high resolution microwave spectroscopy in a cryogenic buffer gas cell. We demonstrate the power of this method with the study of the ozonolysis of isoprene, CH2=C(CH3)-CH=CH2, the most abundant, non-methane hydrocarbon emitted into the atmosphere by vegetation. Isoprene is an asymmetric diene, and reacts with O3 at the 1,2 position to produce methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), formaldehyde, and a pair of carbonyl oxides: [CH3CO-CH=CH2 + CH2=OO] + [CH2=O + CH3COO-CH=CH2]. Alternatively, O3 could attack at the 3,4 position to produce methacrolein (MACR), formaldehyde, and two carbonyl oxides [CH2=C(CH3)-CHO + CH2=OO] + [CH2=O + CH2=C(CH3)-CHOO]. Purified O3 and isoprene were mixed for approximately 10 seconds under dilute (1.5-4% in argon) continuous flow conditions in an alumina tube held at 298 K and 5 Torr. Products exiting the tube were rapidly slowed and cooled within the buffer gas cell by collisions with cryogenic (4-7 K) He. High resolution chirped pulse microwave detection between 12 and 26 GHz was used to achieve highly sensitive (ppb scale), isomer-specific product quantification. We observed a ratio of MACR to MVK of 2.1 +/- 0.4 under 1:1 ozone to isoprene conditions and 2.1 +/- 0.2 under 2:1 ozone to isoprene conditions, a finding which is consistent with previous experimental results. Additionally, we discuss relative quantities of formic acid (HCOOH), an isomer of CH2=OO, and formaldehyde (CH2=O) under varying experimental conditions, and characterize the spectroscopic parameters of the singly-substituted 13C trans-isoprene and 13C anti-periplanar-methacrolein species. This work has the potential to be extended towards a complete branching ratio analysis, as well towards the ability to isolate, identify, and quantify new reactive intermediates in the ozonolysis of alkenes

A comparison of head and manual control for a position-control pursuit tracking task

Head control was compared with manual control in a pursuit tracking task involving proportional controlled-element dynamics. An integrated control/display system was used to explore tracking effectiveness in horizontal and vertical axes tracked singly and concurrently. Compared with manual tracking, head tracking resulted in a 50 percent greater rms error score, lower pilot gain, greater high-frequency phase lag and greater low-frequency remnant. These differences were statistically significant, but differences between horizontal- and vertical-axis tracking and between 1- and 2-axis tracking were generally small and not highly significant. Manual tracking results were matched with the optimal control model using pilot-related parameters typical of those found in previous manual control studies. Head tracking performance was predicted with good accuracy using the manual tracking model plus a model for head/neck response dynamics obtained from the literature

Dairy Herd Management

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