210
laws primarily governing one or another nexus resource can require intentional
consideration of environmental impacts, which often include impacts on nexus
resources.
In this chapter, we provide an overview of US law vis-à-vis international law and
in light of the US federalist system, which gives individual states greater leeway than
is found in the sub-national jurisdictions of many other countries. We then examine
key laws at the national, state, and local levels that address one or more FEW components. This chapter demonstrates that attention to FEW impacts is currently rather
fragmented in the USA. In order to change this, state and federal regulatory agencies
in the USA must develop procedures that require the integrated assessment of nexus
impacts across all three FEW sectors for every action taken on one of those sectors.
There is a pressing need for information and quantitative tools to support integrated
planning of FEW resource development and use, in an effort to avoid unwanted and
unsustainable scenarios in coming years. Although the FEW nexus is fairly evident,
these three sectors have historically been regulated and managed separately; and
despite growing concern over these trends, decision makers often remain ill-informed
about their drivers and ill-equipped to deal with possible outcomes. Such quantitative
tools (data and models) that can support more effective governance of FEW systems
are explored in further details in Chaps. 14 and 15, respectively. At the heart of this
discussion lies the question of the role science plays in informing policy, and the
responsibility policymakers have to consider scientific expertise when formulating
laws and policies. We return to that question in the final chapter of this textbook.
8.1.1 Framing International and US Governance at the Nexus
The relationship between the US and international governance is a two-way, iterative one. In some cases, domestic law shapes international norms, while in other
cases, the reverse is true. For example, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 passed in the
aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill required double hulls for new vessels carrying oil in US waters. This motivated the adoption of an equivalent requirement
internationally under the 1992 MARPOL Convention.
Once the US Senate approves international treaties and the President ratifies
them, those treaties become domestic law.
1
However, from a practical perspective,
implementation in the domestic sphere often requires the creation of new laws and
regulations consistent with treaty obligations.
Examples of international agreements that impact the food–energy–water nexus
in the USA include:
1. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources
Agreement between eight states and two Canadian provinces to regulate
1 It is common to speak of Congress “ratifying” a treaty, but it is the president who ratifies the treaty
only after two-thirds of the Senate has provided “advice and consent.”
B. Kinne and D. Magee
laws primarily governing one or another nexus resource can require intentional
consideration of environmental impacts, which often include impacts on nexus
resources.
In this chapter, we provide an overview of US law vis-à-vis international law and
in light of the US federalist system, which gives individual states greater leeway than
is found in the sub-national jurisdictions of many other countries. We then examine
key laws at the national, state, and local levels that address one or more FEW components. This chapter demonstrates that attention to FEW impacts is currently rather
fragmented in the USA. In order to change this, state and federal regulatory agencies
in the USA must develop procedures that require the integrated assessment of nexus
impacts across all three FEW sectors for every action taken on one of those sectors.
There is a pressing need for information and quantitative tools to support integrated
planning of FEW resource development and use, in an effort to avoid unwanted and
unsustainable scenarios in coming years. Although the FEW nexus is fairly evident,
these three sectors have historically been regulated and managed separately; and
despite growing concern over these trends, decision makers often remain ill-informed
about their drivers and ill-equipped to deal with possible outcomes. Such quantitative
tools (data and models) that can support more effective governance of FEW systems
are explored in further details in Chaps. 14 and 15, respectively. At the heart of this
discussion lies the question of the role science plays in informing policy, and the
responsibility policymakers have to consider scientific expertise when formulating
laws and policies. We return to that question in the final chapter of this textbook.
8.1.1 Framing International and US Governance at the Nexus
The relationship between the US and international governance is a two-way, iterative one. In some cases, domestic law shapes international norms, while in other
cases, the reverse is true. For example, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 passed in the
aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill required double hulls for new vessels carrying oil in US waters. This motivated the adoption of an equivalent requirement
internationally under the 1992 MARPOL Convention.
Once the US Senate approves international treaties and the President ratifies
them, those treaties become domestic law.
1
However, from a practical perspective,
implementation in the domestic sphere often requires the creation of new laws and
regulations consistent with treaty obligations.
Examples of international agreements that impact the food–energy–water nexus
in the USA include:
1. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources
Agreement between eight states and two Canadian provinces to regulate
1 It is common to speak of Congress “ratifying” a treaty, but it is the president who ratifies the treaty
only after two-thirds of the Senate has provided “advice and consent.”
B. Kinne and D. Magee