Law Commons^™

The Changing Tides Of Action To Address Ocean Acidification In Maine, Ivy L. Frignoca, Heather R. Kenyon

Maine Policy Review

As carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise worldwide, ocean acidification has become a consequence that threatens both human and natural processes. On a global scale, ocean acidification is relatively well understood. However, the complex ecosystem of the nearshore environment presents challenges for monitoring and addressing ocean acidification. In a state such as Maine, whose communities heavily depend on the health of the coastal environment, understanding this threat becomes critically important.

In 2014, Maine’s legislature established a six month study commission to investigate this problem and produce recommendations. The commission proposed a coast-wide monitoring network that could identify and use a …

A Reflection Of Change: Evolutions In International Water Law Principles Through The Lens Of Euphrates-Tigris Dispute, Maeve Sullivan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As climate change intensifies, water scarcity will increase. Coupled with a growing global population, water security is a major modern challenge. To bring stability to international watercourses, states must establish effective sharing agreements. On this matter, international water law can help. International water law captures some of the major principles and considerations that states must account for while considering issues related to water security. This paper uses primary interviews and secondary sources to identify some of the major characteristics, features, and developments in international law to develop a conceptual framework for the topic. It then moves into a case study …

Climate Justice In The Anthropocene And Its Relationship With Science And Technology: The Importance Of Ethics Of Responsibility, Paolo Davide Farah, Alessio Lo Giudice

Connecticut Law Review

Climate change is a global phenomenon. Therefore, globalization is the necessary hermeneutical horizon to develop an analysis of the metamorphosis climate change could cause at a political, social, and economic level. Within this horizon, this Article shows how the relationship between the concept of the Anthropocene epoch and the request for justice allows for framing a climate-justice and intergenerational equity–focused political interpretation of the effects of climate change. In order to avoid reducing such an interpretation to merely an ideological critique of capitalism, the conception of climate justice needs to be grounded in a rational, ethical model. This Article proposes …

International Advisory Proceedings On Climate Change, Benoit Mayer

Michigan Journal of International Law

Several island states are expected to be severely harmed by climate change and rising sea levels. In late 2021, several island states launched two legal initiatives aimed at requesting advisory opinions of international courts on the law applicable to climate change. In the hope of fostering more action to combat climate change, these states are asking international courts to clarify the obligations of states to cut greenhouse gas emissions and pay reparations for harm already caused.

This article provides the first comprehensive assessment of the feasibility and desirability of international advisory proceedings on climate change. It analyzes recent developments and …

The Future Of Pandemics: Land Use Controls As Means Of Preventing Zoonotic Disease, Bailey Andree

Pace International Law Review

Zoonotic diseases are increasing in frequency as climate change worsens around the world, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the inadequate mechanisms in place to counteract disease spread. This article reviews various zoonotic diseases and their patterns of spread, highlighting land use change as the key driver of disease to demonstrate the need for legal intervention. International land use law is a little-developed subsect of environmental law that holds the key to combating this disease spread, and this article proposes solutions through this legal lens. Land use techniques which may be used to combat disease spread include conservation laws, setback …

Power Play: The President's Role In Shaping Renewable Energy Regulation And Policy, Luke Bartol

Honors Projects

With the impacts of climate change becoming more and more apparent every day, finding means of effective action to mitigate its effects become increasingly critical. While localized work can play an important role, federal action is necessary to have the most widespread and effective impact, especially on interconnected issues such as clean energy. Congressional action is the avenue of change at this level, however in an increasingly partisan and divided environment, progress on this front is far short of what is needed.

Looking to the president is logical here, both as a single actor more insulated from partisan fights, but …

Just Transition Litigation In Latin America: An Initial Categorization Of Climate Litigation Cases Amid The Energy Transition, Maria Antonia Tigre, Lorena Zenteno, Marlies Hesselman, Natalia Urzola, Pedro Cisterna-Gaete, Riccardo Luporini

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Just transition litigation is a novel field representing a sub-set of climate change litigation cases that is under-researched and studied. The report provides a novel comparative analysis of legal developments found in 20 just transition litigation cases in four Latin American countries and questions whether initiatives for achieving energy transformation in the region may have erred in failing to consider key just transition principles or dimensions, leading applicants to bring legal cases to claim their rights or demand more just solutions. The cases found – limited to the energy sector – not only question decarbonization policies or projects (in typical …

Climate Change And The Threat To U.S. Jails And Prisons, Laurie L. Levenson

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Destabilized World: The Effects Of Climate Change On Armed Conflict And International Humanitarian Law, Chase Doctor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The effects of climate change are becoming more pronounced, and they will have an increasingly destabilizing effect on societies around the globe. This research paper utilizes primary source material (e.g. interviews with field experts) and secondary source material to analyze the relationship between climate change and armed conflict, and the response of international humanitarian law. The consequences of climate change, like changing weather patterns, will increase global migration and strain the resources of host communities. This phenomenon, in addition to other climate-induced factors, may increase the likelihood of armed conflict breaking out. The case studies of the Darfur conflict in …

Equitable, Affordable And Climate-Cognizant Housing Construction, Shelby D. Green

Arkansas Law Review

In this Article, I recount some of the history of unwise and improvident land use policy and practices that have led to gross inequities and to the climate-exposed state, not only in terms of where people were assigned spaces to live, but how. I go on to suggest that communities should be designed with intent, with regard for the threats of climate change as well as accessibility to those historically excluded.

Making Net Zero Matter, Albert C. Lin

Washington and Lee Law Review

In recent months, dozens of countries and thousands of businesses have pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions. However, net zero often means different things to different entities, and it is often uncertain how net zero pledges—which set targets years or decades from the present—will be met. This Article considers the motivations behind net zero pledges, highlights the underappreciated role of carbon removal in net zero efforts, and identifies mechanisms for encouraging the accomplishment of net zero goals. Two key strategies are essential to making net zero targets matter. First, society should develop and implement accountability and enforcement mechanisms …

Climate-Induced Stressors To Peace: A Review Of Recent Literature, Ayyoob Sharifi, Dahlia Simangan, Chui Ying Lee, Rose Reyes, Tarek Katramiz, Jairus Carmela C. Josol, Leticia Dos Muchangos, Hassan Virji, Shinji Kaneko, Thea Kersti Tandog, Leorence Tandog, Moinul Islam

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a threat to global peace and security. This paper intends to provide a better understanding of the nature of interactions between climate change and events that undermine peace through a systematic review of recent literature. It highlights major methodological approaches adopted in the literature, elaborates on the geographic focus of the research at the nexus of climate change and peace, and provides further information on how various climatic stressors, such as extreme temperature, floods, sea-level rise, storms, and water stress may be linked to different events that undermine peace (e.g. civil conflict, crime, intercommunal …

Past The Tipping Point, But With Hope Of Return: How Creating A Geoengineering Compulsory Licensing Scheme Can Incentivize Innovation, Brooke Wilson

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This Note explores the patenting of geoengineering technologies and issues arising from the early stages of this high-risk, high-reward technology. This Note focuses on one possible solution to solving the issues surrounding the patenting of geoengineering technology: Creating a specialized compulsory licensing scheme.

On Environmental, Climate Change & National Security Law, Mark P. Nevitt

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article offers a new way to think about climate change. Two new climate change assessments — the 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA) and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel’s Special Report on Climate Change — prominently highlight climate change’s multifaceted national security risks. Indeed, not only is climate change a “super wicked” environmental problem, it also accelerates existing national security threats, acting as both a “threat accelerant” and “catalyst for conflict.” Further, climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events while threatening nations’ territorial integrity and sovereignty through rising sea levels. It causes both internal displacement …

Before Disaster Strikes: Preparing America To Be Disaster Resilient, Cole Hoyt

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Major natural disasters in the United States are occurring more frequently and are causing more damage and destruction than ever before in the nation’s history. With the increased number and intensity of natural disasters, America’s failing infrastructure and current resiliency plan are inadequate to successfully prepare and respond to such catastrophic events. As a direct result, natural disasters in the United States cause scores of deaths and injuries, inflict billions of dollars’ worth of damage per disaster, and make it increasingly more difficult for Americans to recover and return to a sense of normalcy.

The World Health Organization (“WHO”), offers …

Governance Of Arctic Shipping: Rethinking Risks, Human Impacts And Regulation, Aldo Chircop, Floris Goerlandt, Claudio Aporta, Ronald Pelot

OER Texts

This open access book is a result of the Dalhousie-led research project Safe Navigation and Environment Protection, supported by a grant from the Ocean Frontier Institute’s the Canada First Research Excellent Fund (CFREF). The book focuses on Arctic shipping and investigates how ocean change and anthropogenic impacts affect our understanding of risk, policy, management and regulation for safe navigation, environment protection, conflict management between ocean uses, and protection of Indigenous peoples’ interests. A rapidly changing Arctic as a result of climate change and ice loss is rendering the North more accessible, providing new opportunities while producing impacts on the Arctic. …

Decarbonization In Democracy, Shelley Welton

All Faculty Scholarship

Conventional wisdom holds that democracy is structurally ill-equipped to confront climate change. As the story goes, because each of us tends to dismiss consequences that befall people in other places and in future times, “the people” cannot be trusted to craft adequate decarbonization policies, designed to reduce present-day, domestic carbon emissions. Accordingly, U.S. climate change policy has focused on technocratic fixes that operate predominantly through executive action to escape democratic politics — with vanishingly little to show for it after a change in presidential administration. To help craft a more durable U.S. climate change strategy, this Article scrutinizes the purported …

Climate Change And Human Rights: Shaping The Narrative For Reflexive Responses From Civilization’S Leadership To Counter And Abate Climate Change And Enhance The Role Of Human Rights In The Rule Of Law, Michael Donlan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article offers a bold new legal process for enhancing and upgrading the rule of law to enable civilization to cope with and counter the mounting damage and injustice caused by climate change. Climate change, once an unimaginable threat, is now a brutal, ubiquitous game changer that is leading inexorably to the demise of all humanity. Only by enhancing the rule of law and melding international law with domestic law can civilization fashion a coherent, global action plan for survival.

For almost three centuries greenhouse gases have been emitted around the world by the burning of fossil fuel, and—most alarming—these …

Responsibility To Protect, Libya To Japan, Linda A. Malone

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

Environmental Consciousness For The Politically Autonomous: The Basque Country, Miranda L. White

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

When discussing the issue of political autonomy, the usual topics that are taken into consideration are based around human rights, language, culture, society or economics. Those are the most commonly discussed for good reason, as they are important for the rights and freedoms of a community itself. However, this research paper aims to investigate further into the discussion of the environmental effects of political autonomy in Spain, specifically in the matter of autonomous competencies for waterway and air management. Therefore, in order to test such a hypothesis, this study will use the Basque Country of Spain as the subject, and …

Clean Energy Justice: Charting An Emerging Agenda, Shelley Welton, Joel B. Eisen

All Faculty Scholarship

The rapid transition to clean energy is fraught with potential inequities. As clean energy policies ramp up in scale and ambition, they confront challenging new questions: Who should pay for the transition? Who should live next to the industrial-scale wind and solar farms these policies promote? Will the new “green” economy be a fairer one, with more widespread opportunity, than the fossil fuel economy it is replacing? Who gets to decide what kinds of resources power our decarbonized world? In this article, we assert that it is useful to understand these challenges collectively, as part of an emerging agenda of …

Earth Alienation And Space Exploration: Uncharted Territory For Sociology, Sam Arroyo

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Public Participation During Reactive, Crisis-Driven Drought Planning Versus Proactive, Preparedness Planning, C. Anna Ulaszewski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Droughts are occurring globally and should be recognized as a global issue and drought planning should use a proactive approach on the part of the world community. However, much drought planning, even in developed and highly developed countries, is reactive and programs are often poorly coordinated sometimes with unforeseen negative consequences for marginalized and disenfranchised populations. Literature pertaining to planning strategy for existing, drought crises is nominal and often contributes to patterns of reactiveness and resulting inequity. To gain a better understanding of crisis-driven planning and the participatory process, this gap was viewed through the lenses of institutional analysis and …

Collaborative Strategies For Sea Level Rise Adaptation In Hampton Roads, Virginia, Carol Considine, Emily Steinhilber

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

[Introduction] The Hampton Roads region is located in southeastern Virginia where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. The region includes seventeen municipal governments and has a large federal government presence with 26 federal agencies represented (See Figure 1). The region has a population that exceeds 1.7 million and is home to the deepest water harbor on the U.S. East Coast. Hampton Roads' economy is dependent on the local waterways and houses the world's largest naval facility, the sixth largest containerized cargo complex and supports a thriving shipbuilding and repair industry as well as a tourism industry. However, the region's …

Electricity Markets And The Social Project Of Decarbonization, Shelley Welton

All Faculty Scholarship

Decarbonization is the process of converting our economy from one that runs predominantly on energy derived from fossil fuels to one that runs almost exclusively on clean, carbon-free energy. If pursued on the scale that experts believe necessary to prevent dangerous climate change, the infrastructure changes required to decarbonize the United States will have significant social and cultural implications. States aggressively pursuing decarbonization have adopted policies reflecting their understanding that decarbonization is a social project implicating numerous value choices. Various state decarbonization policies combine the aim of decarbonization with job promotion, economic development, income redistribution, urban revitalization, open-space preservation, and …

Climate Change Challenges For Land Conservation: Rethinking Conservation Easements, Strategies, And Tools, W. William Weeks, Jessica Owley, Federico Cheever, Adena R. Rissman, M. Rebecca Shaw, Barton H. Thompson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Climate change has significant consequences for land conservation. Government agencies and nonprofit land trusts heavily rely on perpetual conservation easements. However, climate change and other dynamic landscape changes raise questions about the effectiveness and adaptability of permanent conservation instruments like conservation easements. Building upon a study of 269 conservation easements and interviews with seventy conservation-easement professionals in six different states, we examine the adaptability of conservation easements to climate change. We outline four potential approaches to enhance conservation outcomes under climate change: (1) shift land-acquisition priorities to account for potential climate-change impacts; (2) consider conservation tools other than perpetual conservation …

Going Negative: The Next Horizon In Climate Engineering Law, Tracy Hester, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

As the global community struggles to turn the Paris Agreement’s commitments into meaningful emission reductions and the United States turbulently reverses its climate policies, the potential role of “negative emissions technologies” and other climate engineering approaches is drawing increasingly serious attention. These technologies are engineering on the grandest scale: climate engineering seeks to offset the effects of anthropogenic climate change by either altering the solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface or changing the composition of the atmosphere itself. Specifically, negative emissions technologies would directly remove greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the ambient air and help to remove accumulated atmospheric carbon dioxide …

A Landscape Of Thermal Inequity: Social Vulnerability To Urban Heat In U.S. Cities, Bruce Coffyn Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A combination of the urban heat island effect and a rising temperature baseline resulting from global climate change inequitably impacts socially vulnerable populations residing in urban areas. This dissertation examines distributional inequity of exposure to urban heat by socially disadvantaged groups and minorities in the context of climate justice. Using Cutter’s hazards-of-place model, variables indicative of social vulnerability and biophysical vulnerability are statistically tested for their associations. Biophysical vulnerability is conceptualized utilizing a urban heat risk index calculated from summer 2010 LANDSAT imagery to measure land surface temperature , structural density through the normalized difference built-up index, and vegetation abundance …

The Arctic: Science, Law, And Policy, Charles H. Norchi, Paul A. Mayewski

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In 1959, Sir Charles Snow (C.P. Snow) delivered a lecture at Cambridge University entitled The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution in which he identified a duality of cultures. There were the scientists and the humanists--two dimly acquanited cultures that rarely communicated, and when they did it was usually at cross-purposes. One culture was contentedly unknowing and skeptical of science, and the other was marginal to the great social questions of the time. For C.P. Snow, the polarization and lack of communication between the two groups could be fatal to the Western World. The 21st century has also revealed polarized …

Environmental Justice And The Clean Power Plan: The Case Of Energy Efficiency, Cecilia Martinez

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.