Law Commons^™

Strategies For Making Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Tools 'Takings-Proof', Michael Allan Wolf

Michael A Wolf

While the costs of some Sea-Level Rise (SLR) adaptation tools are undeniably daunting, the American legal system poses an additional, potentially budget-busting impediment — the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Officials at all governmental strata and from all three branches should keep the demands made by the Takings Clause, as interpreted by the judiciary, in mind as they choose tools from the diverse SLR-adaptation toolbox, as they justify their choices to the electorate and other constituencies, as they put those tools to use, and as they defend that use from litigants claiming abuse. This …

Conceptualizing Climate Justice In Kivalina, Marissa Knodel

Seattle University Law Review

Due to climate change, indigenous communities in Alaska are forced to develop in ways that adversely affect their livelihoods and culture. For example, decreases in sea ice, increases in the frequency of sea storms, and melting permafrost have so accelerated the erosion of one barrier island that an entire village faces relocation. These indigenous communities, which have contributed little to causing climate change, are limited in their ability to adapt. After examining three broad questions about the effects of climate change on indigenous communities, this Article reaches four preliminary conclusion about relocation as a climate adaptation strategy and its relations …

Nimby: Not In Mexico's Back Yard? A Case For Recognition Of A Human Right To Healthy Enviroment In The American States, Scott D. Cahalan

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

International Trade Law And The U.S.-Eu Gmo Debate: Can Africa Weather This Storm?, Michelle K. Mcdonald

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Sue And Settle: Demonizing The Environmental Citizen Suit, Stephen M. Johnson

Seattle University Law Review

In the spring of 2013, industry groups and states began a concerted lobbying effort to oppose citizen enforcement of the federal environmental laws. The United States Chamber of Commerce and lobbyists for states created a catch-phrase—“sue and settle”—to demonize citizen enforcement and the federal government’s practice of settling lawsuits it is destined to lose in court. The Chamber alleged that the federal government, by settling lawsuits brought by citizens groups rather than defending them in court, was colluding with those non-governmental organizations and excluding other affected parties to reallocate the agencies’ priorities and obligations. Federal environmental laws establish a central …

The Executive And The Environment: A Look At The Last Five Governors In New York, Patricia E. Salkin

Pace Environmental Law Review

Gubernatorial leadership is the single most important indicator of how sustainable New York will be when it comes to issues of environmental protection and conservation. In preparing for the Kerlin Lecture, one of the things that struck me is that New York governors for at least the last thirty years have consistently identified the critical economic, social, and environmental challenges facing this state. Is it simply political rhetoric to decry that the state is in terrible fiscal shape, that programs need to be funded to help those is need, and that we must pay attention to stewarding the environment today …

The Missing Link: U.S. Regulation Of Consumer Cosmetic Products To Protect Human Health And The Environment, Valerie J. Watnick

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article explores these lax regulatory efforts and their connection to risk assessment, and proposes changes to our current toxics regulatory paradigm. Part I of this article explores our current regulatory approach for consumer cosmetics. Part II discusses the specific and dire concerns regarding chemicals that are suspected carcinogens and those suspected of disrupting the human endocrine system. The article argues in Part III that because the framework for our current regulation of consumer cosmetic products is not designed to be protective of human health, our regulatory paradigm must shift dramatically in the future if this is to become our …

Tackling Climate Change: Don't Forget Energy Efficency, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

Todd S. Aagaard and Joel B. Eisen write that one option available for states under the EPA's high-profile Clean Power Plan is relying on greater efficiency in energy usage and other demand-side strategies such as "demand response," which involves programs to reduce consumption at specific times of high electricity demand. However, a federal court recently cast a cloud over demand response's future.

Beyond Tax Credits: Smarter Tax Policy For A Cleaner, More Democratic Energy Future, Felix Mormann

Faculty Scholarship

Solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies have the potential to mitigate climate change, secure America’s energy independence, and create millions of green jobs. In the absence of a price on carbon emissions, however, these long-term benefits will not be realized without near-term policy support for renewables. This Article assesses the efficiency of federal tax incentives for renewables and proposes policy reform to more cost-effectively promote renewable energy through capital markets and crowdfunding.

Federal support for renewable energy projects today comes primarily in the form of tax incentives such as accelerated depreciation and, critically, tax credits. Empirical evidence reveals that …

Still An Issue: The Taking Issue At 40, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

In October 2013, with the launch of Touro Law Center’s new Institute on Land Use and Sustainable Development Law, the Touro Law Review held a symposium to commemorate the 40th anniversary of “The Taking Issue: A Study of the Constitutional Limits of Governmental Authority to Regulate the Use of Privately-Owned Land Without Paying Compensation to the Owners” (The Takings Issue), the Council on Environmental Quality’s seminal report by Fred Bosselman, David Callies and John Banta. For this symposium Touro Law Review assembled some of today’s leading luminaries to reflect on how the taking issue has evolved and to assess where …

A Submission To The Joint Standing Committee On Treaties On The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (Kafta), Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Australia and South Korea have signed a new free trade agreement - the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA). Is it a fair trade fairytale? Or is it a dirty deal done dirt cheap? Or somewhere in between? It is hard to tell, given the initial secrecy of the negotiations, and the complexity of the texts of the agreement There has been much debate in Parliament over the transparency of the trade agreement; the scope of market access provided under the deal; the impact of the investment chapter, with its investor-state dispute settlement clause; the intellectual property chapter; the environment chapter; …

The Costs And Consequences Of Suburban Sprawl: The Case Of Metro Atlanta, Robert Bullard, Glenn Johnson, Angel Torres

Robert D Bullard

No abstract provided.

Webmail At Work: The Case For Protection Against Employer Monitoring, Marc A. Sherman

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Facts, Fiction, And Perception In Hydraulic Fracturing: Illuminating Act 13 And Robinson Township V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania, Joshua P. Fershee

Joshua P Fershee

Hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas is perhaps the most polarizing energy issue in the United States and around the world, and Pennsylvania has emerged as an example of passionate views both for and against hydraulic fracturing for shale gas. To limit local government restrictions on gas drilling, the Pennsylvania legislature passed Act 13 in September 2012, and the Act largely eliminated the ability of local governments to restrict oil and gas operations through zoning. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Act 13 in December 2013.

This Article reviews how Act 13 came to be, highlights the key provisions of …

El Principio De Precaución En La Jurisprudencia Constitucional Colombiana: Incertidumbre Científica Y Omisiones Selectivas, Camilo Ossa, Daniel Monroy

Camilo Ossa

En el presente artículo se propone hacer una lectura crítica al principio de precaución, buscando profundizar, de manera específica, algunas cuestiones que minan el equilibrio del principio como instrumento guía para la toma decisiones de quien corresponde tomarlas. Así, el artículo está estructurado en dos partes, (i) por un lado se aborda la cuestión teórica, desarrollando la concepción que, en la doctrina, se tiene frente al principio, teniendo en cuenta dos aspectos esenciales como son: las implicaciones que supone afronta la “incertidumbre científica”, elemento fundamental del principio; y, la defensa de la tesis según la cual en muchos casos la …

"I Entered During The Day, And Came Out During The Night": Power, Environment, And Indigenous Peoples In A Globalizing Panama, Osvaldo Jordan

Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy

The story of the Ngobe widow Isabel Becker, living in the Province of Bocas del Toro in Northwestern Panama, who entered at mid-day to an unknown business tower in Panama City, and was not able to leave that building until mid-night, may easily be interpreted as yet another of countless cases of local indigenous women being abused by the mighty power of corrupt governments and multinational corporations. For the casual observer, the same plot could be laid out in almost any country in the humid tropics: Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Brazil or Guatemala. Yet, under the surface of what Paul Farmer …

Environmental Impact Assessment In Post-Colonial Societies: Reflections On The Proposed Expansion Of The Panama Canal, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy

Panama's destiny has been shaped by its geographic location at the crossroads of international trade. Lacking mineral wealth or extensive arable lands, the country has prospered or declined based on the use made by others of the country's major resource-the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is a potent symbol of Panamanian identity, a reminder of Panama's lengthy colonial history, and an important generator of income for the modem Panamanian nation.

Regulating Mass Surveillance As Privacy Pollution: Learning From Environmental Impact Statements, A. Michael Froomkin

A. Michael Froomkin

US law has remarkably little to say about mass surveillance in public, a failure which has allowed the surveillance to grow at an alarming rate – a rate that is only set to increase. This article proposes ‘Privacy Impact Notices’ (PINs) — modeled on Environmental Impact Statements — as an initial solution to this problem. Data collection in public (and in the home via public spaces) resembles an externality imposed on the person whose privacy is reduced involuntarily; it can also be seen as a market failure caused by an information asymmetry. Current doctrinal legal tools available to respond to …

Gandhi’S Nightmare: Bhopal And The Need For A Mindful Jurisprudence, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

No abstract provided.

Cashing In On Green: Casino Development And Sustainability, Emily Mikles

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

The development of the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, MD has created its fair share of contention and controversy for local residents. The typical residential concerns surrounding casino development- disparate impacts on surrounding businesses, employment concerns, and economic impact-are not raising eyebrows in the Baltimore area; rather, residents are concerned about the environmental impacts of the casino construction and development project. Several lawsuits have been filed attempting to halt casino construction due to the chemical contaminants that are seeping into the soil and into the bay through storm drains. These suits raise an interesting issue that some state legislatures and casino …

The International Sugar Trade And Sustainable Development: Curtailing The Sugar Rush, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Citizen Suits And The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: An Assessment Of Multidistrict Litigation And The Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals' Decision In Center For Biological Diversity, Inc. V. Bp America Production Co., Johnathan Ashton

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 brought numerous environmental lawsuits in the United States as a result of the destruction of local economies whose livelihood relied on the now damaged ecosystems. Due to negligence by two of the highest-ranking supervisors, BP pled guilty to criminal charges brought against them. Their actions resulted in the deaths of eleven men working on the rig when it exploded, as well as the resulting oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. This plea resulted in four billion dollars of fines and penalties. However, this case proved that private citizens need a way to …

Federal Wild Lands Policy In The Twenty-First Century: What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, Michael Blumm, Andrew B. Erickson

Faculty Articles

The protection of federally owned wild lands, including but not limited to designated wilderness areas, has long been a cardinal element of the American character. For a variety of reasons, designating wild lands for protection under the Wilderness Act has proved difficult, increasingly so in recent years. Thus, attention has focused on undesignated wild lands, that is, unroaded areas managed by the principal federal land managers, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). These areas can benefit from a kind of de facto protected status if they are Forest Service areas that have been inventoried for …

Still An Issue: The Taking Issue At 40, Patricia E. Salkin

Touro Law Review

In October 2013, with the launch of Touro Law Center’s new Institute on Land Use and Sustainable Development Law, the Touro Law Review held a symposium to commemorate the 40th anniversary of “The Taking Issue: A Study of the Constitutional Limits of Governmental Authority to Regulate the Use of Privately-Owned Land Without Paying Compensation to the Owners” (The Takings Issue), the Council on Environmental Quality’s seminal report by Fred Bosselman, David Callies and John Banta. For this symposium Touro Law Review assembled some of today’s leading luminaries to reflect on how the taking issue has evolved and to assess where …

The Law And Economics Of Corporate Social Responsibility And Greenwashing, Miriam A. Cherry

All Faculty Scholarship

In this symposium article, I explore the concept of greenwashing in more depth. In the first part of the article, I start with first principles, looking at the origins of greenwashing, its definitions, and identifying theeconomic incentives that lead firms into the practice. The second part of this article examines the legal structure that allows greenwashing to occur, and with it, explores the pervasiveness and extent ofgreenwashing. The third part of this article articulates the harms of greenwashing. Intuitively, greenwashing involves deception, falsity, and hypocrisy that reflexively seem problematic. Precisely identifying the actual harm inflicted by some forms of greenwashing, …

The Role Of Civil Society In Environmental Governance In The United States And China, Robert V. Percival, Zhao Huiyu

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Scientific, Legal, And Ethical Foundations For Texas Water Law., Gabriel Eckstein, Amy Hardberger

Faculty Articles

Water law is the field of law concerned with the ownership, control, and use of water resources, both surface and subsurface. Although most closely related to property law, recent developments in other legal fields, especially in environmental law, have heavily influenced the interpretation, application, and development of water law. As a result, water law today encompasses a broad perspective and often takes into account individual and community rights, environmental issues, commerce and economics, and other societal and legal concerns. Significantly, modern water law is also an interdisciplinary practice. In light of the continuously expanding body of knowledge of the hydrologic …

Preface To Protecting The Environment Through Land Use Law: Standing Ground, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Protecting the Environment Through Land Use Law: Standing Ground takes a close look at the historical struggle of local governments to balance land development with natural resource conservation. This book updates and expands on his four previous books, which established a comprehensive framework for understanding the many ways that local land use authority can be used to preserve natural resources and environmental functions at the community level. Standing Ground describes in detail how localities are responding to new challenges, including the imperative that they adapt to and help mitigate climate change and create sustainable neighborhoods. This body of work emphasizes …

Reaching Out For Green Policies: National Environmental Policies In The Wto Legal Order, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

The WTO does not squarely address the issue of jurisdictional ambit of national policies (affecting trade). And yet, absent some agreement as to what trading nations can and cannot do, the WTO loses much of its effectiveness. In the absence of explicit regulation of the issue in the WTO contract, one would reasonably expect WTO Members to behave in line with the postulates governing allocation of jurisdiction embedded in public international law. WTO practice evidences neither an explicit acceptance nor a refusal of these rules.