For more than a century, the United States took the lead in
organizing responses to international environmental problems.
The long list of environmental agreements spearheaded by the
United States extends from early treaties with Canada and Mexico
on boundary waters and migratory birds to global agreements
restricting trade in endangered species and protecting against
ozone depletion. In the last two decades, however, U.S.
environmental leadership has faltered. The best-known example is
the lack of an effective response to climate change, underscored
by the U.S. decision not to join the Kyoto Protocol. But the
attention climate change receives should not obscure the fact
that the United States has also failed to join a large and
growing number of treaties directed at other environmental
threats, including marine pollution, the loss of biological
diversity, persistent organic pollutants, and trade in toxic
substances. Today the Center for Progressive Reform publishes
Reclaiming Global Environmental Leadership: