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Tiw GEORGETOWN UNiVERSiTY JouiNAL OF TIlE ENVIRONMENT Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 1997 Managing Editors Table of Contents Jeffrey Horn Abigail Sarmac Introduction Jeffrey Horn and Abigail Sarmac Page 1 General Editors Megan Shoup Interview with William Butler Brita Patterson Jeffrey Horn The Journal ofthe Environment interviews Professor William Butler, an adjunct at Georgetown James Story University and the Georgetown Law Center, about his views concerning the environmental field, Sophie Chou his personal involvement, and the role ofstudents in the environmental movement. Page 2 Layout Editor Scott Kaiser The Effects ofWater Management on Vegetation and Fauna in the Florida Everglades Academic Advisor Jennifer Maniscalco This piece examines the original Florida Everglades ecosystem and the effects ofhuman interven Dr. TImothy Beach tion. The author begins with a concise suinmaiy ofthe history ofwater management and agricul ture in south Florida followed by an examination ofthe current trends in nutrient accumulation Cover photograph and its effects on vegetation both independently of and in relationship to altered hydrological by Philip Mulvaney. conditions. Finally, this article explores the effects ofwater management on two animal inhabit ants ofthe Everglades, the American alligator and wading bird populations. Special thanks to Page 4 Timothy Beach, Christopher Joyner Richard Matthew, Envfronmental Security As National Security James Story and Phillip Sze This piece surveys the literature ofthe emerging field of environmental security. It examines the for reviewing and debate ofenvironmental security as national security. commenting on the Page 17 articles in this issue. Infectious Disease as a Security Threat: Special thanks to A Case Study on Cholera Kathyrn Oleskofor Kelly Kirschner her encouragement This piece addresses the resurgence ofCholera in Peru in the early 1990s, situating it within the and support. economic, social, and environmental context that facilitated the evolution of a full-blown epi demic. Presented as a successful battle against re-emerging infectious diseases, the author places Funding provided the issue within the sphere ofnational security. by Georgetown Page 24 University Main Campus Executive Fairness Discourse in International Vice President EnvironmentalLaw ShelbyGuilbert William Cooper This piece argues that the international community should use Thomas Francks “fairness dis course” to reconcile the competing demands ofinternational environmental protection, Published using state sovereignty rights, and economic development States must resolve this ethical tension in order to Pagemaker 5.0. facifitate the fonnulation offair international environmental agreements that secure voluntary compliance. Copyright 1997 Page 31 Page 1 THE GEORGETOWN UNiVERSITY JOURNAL OF THE ENVIRONMENT Volume 1 • Issue 1 Editor’s Introduction Welcome to the inaugural issue of Georgetown University’s Journal of the Environment. In recent years, the environment has received tremendous attention from students, scholars, scientists, public policy analysts, businesses, and governments. In response, Georgetown has taken great strides in environmental education. To support this outgrowth of environmental interest, we have created this journal. As students at Georgetown University, we have undertaken rigorous educational training inside Healy’s hallowed halls. In our classes, students do not work in isolation on their studies. In fact, they often take a genuine interest in the work of their peers. Seminar courses in particular allow students to encourage each other, offer research aids such as source material and contacts, and critique their work. Unfortunately, we rarely find the opportunity to nurture our academic work with other students outside the classroom. Thus, we have established this journal to support the formation of peer networks and provide an outlet for student research and writing. The Journal of the Environment aims to bring together the disparate environmental interests of the Georgetown community. It publishes papers from both graduates and undergraduates, targeting students interested in the environment through classes, extracurricular activities, and work experiences. We draw from a diverse intellectual community, including SFS environmental studies majors, environmental science students in the College, nursing and business students interested in the environment, and graduate students. The journal also depends upon Georgetown professors for their expertise in a variety of environmental disciplines. We hope you enjoy the wide range oftopics addressed by our authors. In this issue, solid scientific research and in-depth policy analysis represent different styles and intellectual approaches that are both crucial to the environmental field. We hope that this issue promotes consideration of different perspectives as well as the inter-disciplinary nature of environmental studies. This publication would not have been possible without the hard work of students, the encouragement from faculty, and the funding and support of the administration. Thanks to you all. We welcome all comments, suggestions, and questions! Please address them to: Journal of the Environment do Dr. Timothy Beach SFS Dean’s Office, ICC 301 Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 Jeffrey Horn Interview with William Butler Pane 2 worldwide influence (both literally and figuratively) that no Interview with Wiffiam Butler other nation can match. Jeffrey Horn 3) What direction do you see environmental policy in the United States moving toward in the 21st century? William A. Butler, an adjunct professor at both Georgetown I think risklbeneflt and costlbenefit analysis will play University and Georgetown Law Center, currently serves as an even larger role, as well as market incentives as compared Counsel to the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He with command and control regulation. I also think that for — — has taught courses in environmental policy & politics and the most serious and intractable environmental environmental & natural resources law. Among his many problems like global warming, the international sphere will distinctions, he was General Counsel and Acting Executive become increasingly important. Director ofthe Environmental Defense Fund, Vice President for Government Relations and Counsel of the National 4) How didyoupersonally get interested in the environmental Audubon Society, a recipient of the National Wildlife field? Federation Resources Defense Award, and a Marshall Scholar I personally became interested in birds and butterffies at Oxford University. He graduated from Stanford with a (not bees!) before I was five because ofthe hobbies of older Bachelor’s in Political Science, received his J.D. from Yale friends and because ofwhere I grew up, a suburb of Detroit Law School, and earned his Ph.D. in Government from where ponds and fields in which I played were rapidly being Harvard University. transformed into housing and shops. Family members encouraged these interests once established and we traveled 1) How would you describe the evolution of the a lot, allowing me to see what now would be called different environmental movement since you began working with it? ecosystems, which in turn heightened my interest in “Natural I began working in the environmental movement (the History.” Environmental Defense Fund) in 1970. Environmental groups at that time (e.g. the Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation) were small, and largely focused on what we now would call conservation issues. “I think a certain intellectual curiosity, Employees were generally wildlife and/or public land diligence, and professional restlessness specialists; few had experience in political advocacy. have brought me to where I am today.” Obviously, the situation now is totally changed. National environmental groups are multimillion dollar businesses, employing lawyers, Ph.D. scientists, mass media experts, experienced fundraisers, and the like. Even smaller, local 5) Which accomplishments in the environmentalfield have environmental organizations or chapters ofnational ones now brought you the greatest satisfaction? are much more skilled and sophisticated on issue advocacy In retrospect, I am proud of individual roles I have and political influence than when I started. Even more played in the efforts to get rid of broad spectrum persistent important than organizational growth and sophistication, pesticides like DDT, as a counsel in the early legal efforts to however, is the role played today nationally and locally of protect porpoises (dolphins) from death in tuna fishermen’s environmental groups as acknowledged stakeholders and nets, and various other landmark legal team efforts. More respected participants in a broad range of societal decisions. generally, I am pleased how many students of mine have Back then, the “little old lady in tennis shoes” stereotype entered environmentally related careers, although I am not was widely believed and in many instances, a characterization honestly sure whether encouraged by or despite my efforts! not far offthe mark. Environmentalists were often not taken seriously. 6) Could you tell us a little about the formation of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)? 2) Do you see the US. as a leading environmental actor in EDF was formed in Long Island by biology teachers the global theater? concerned with the aerial spraying of DDT on Long Island Surely the U.S. is the leading environmental