The Geography of Climate Change Litigation Part II: Narratives of Massachusetts v. EPA

Abstract

This Article aims to interweave two current crises for law and policy in the United States: (1) the extent of our commitment to international law and (2) the approach we will take to regulating global climate change. Using law and geography as a lens, the Article considers the ways in which contrasting approaches to international legal theory might each narrate the significance of Massachusetts v. EPA. The Article then argues that achieving progress on transnational regulatory governance of climate change requires a simultaneous engagement of these multiple narratives. Such an approach would maximize much-needed opportunities for creative policymaking in this area and in international lawmaking more broadly.

Keywords: climate change, legal pluralism, international law, judicial dialogue, law and geography, international legal theory