Law Commons^™

Regulating Co2 Emissions Post-West Virginia V. Environmental Protection Agency, Rebecca J. Davis, Justin Blount

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court expressly adopted the major questions doctrine and used it to invalidate the Clean Power Plan, a rule intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. This opinion has been controversial and has left many commentators concerned that it may hamper the ability of administrative agencies to aggressively and flexibly regulate.

This Article analyzes this opinion and the impact it may have on ongoing efforts to regulate carbon dioxide emissions at the federal level. It then examines economic theory underpinning environmental regulation, developing technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, …

Taking The Public Out Of Public Lands: Shifts In Coal-Extraction Policies In The Trump Administration, Jessica Owley

Articles

No abstract provided.

There’S No Such Thing As A Free Trade (Agreement): The Environmental Costs Of The Trans-Pacific Partnership, Paul Nuñez

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The global community is quickly approaching the limits of the carbon budget meant to keep the effects of climate change below 2 degrees Celsius. Yet, the Countries involved in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership only incrementally strengthened the environmental protections contained within the agreement compared to other recent Free Trade Agreements. As with most Free Trade Agreements, the environmental community fears that any beneficial effect from the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s environmental provisions will be more than outweighed by its environmentally destructive consequences. The investor protection provisions are especially concerning to many environmental groups as these protections allow companies to sue governments to …

Empowerment, Fairness, Integration: South African Answers To The Question Of Constitutional Environmental Rights, Eric Christiansen

Publications

This Article will assess the current level of constitutional protection provided by the South African Constitution and its potential to facilitate and influence the uncertain rise of constitutional environmental rights in the modern era. Following this Introduction, Part II recreates and examines the process by which environmental protections became part of the post-apartheid South African Constitution, drawing from original source research. Part III provides a detailed analysis of the textual right that arose from the constitutional process and reviews the core environmental case law of the Constitutional Court so far. And the final section, Part IV, analyzes the viability of …

The Great Lakes As An Environmental Heritage Of Humankind: An International Law Perspective, A. Dan Tarlock

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Since 1985, the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have cooperated to prevent almost all diversions of water from the Great Lakes basin. In 2005, the eight states signed an Agreement to create a tiered system of reviews for diversions and a draft interstate Compact, which creates a binding process to regulate diversions. This cooperation is primarily a state initiative, supported by the federal governments in both countries, which has paid little attention to the international character of the lakes. This Essay argues that there are three major benefits to the region from the …

Wisdom Across The Atlantic: North America And The European Experience, Paul S. Kibel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Some Thoughts On The North American Free Trade Agreement, Political Stability And Environmental Equity, Colin Crawford

Publications

This Article will focus on NAFTA and NAFTA's supplemental environmental side agreement - the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (Supplemental Agreement) -in light of recent events. In doing so, it will suggest that recent events in Chiapas demand a re-evaluation of NAFTA's environmental protections. This is not at all to suggest that stronger environmental protection alone would avert future Zapatista insurrections. The inequities of Mexican land distribution and the poverty of southern Mexican states such as Chiapas have historical roots that will hardly be rectified by more vigorous enforcement of environmental laws.

The argument is divided into two main …