Law Commons^™

Environmental Justice And Domestic Climate Change Policy, Alice Kaswan

Alice Kaswan

This article argues that, except in California, environmental justice considerations have not received sufficient attention in climate change policy debates. It explores the environmental justice implications of emerging domestic climate change policies and provides policymakers with specific suggestions on how to integrate environmental justice concerns. The article begins by introducing the environmental justice movement and its central principles, and then explores the limited integration of environmental justice concerns in existing climate change policies.

The article then clarifies existing debates about the environmental implications of greenhouse gas cap and trade programs by providing a detailed assessment of their distributional benefits and …

Climate Change, Constitutional Consignment, And The Political Question Doctrine, James R. May

James R. May

Recently states and individuals have turned to federal common law causes of action to provide equitable and legal relief for climate change. Thus far, every federal court to consider these claims has held that they raise non-justiciable political questions consigned to the coordinate branches. These courts reason that federal courts lack jurisdiction over climate cases because climate change is textually committed elsewhere, there are no judicial standards to apply, and the elected branches have yet to render an initial policy determination about the subject. This article concludes that these courts either misapply or misapprehend the doctrine. It concedes that federal …

Of Happy Incidents, Climate, Federalism, And Preemption, James R. May

James R. May

This Article examines the shape of things to come in the overlapping realm of federalism and preemption. It questions whether and to what extent notions of federalism shape how federal law - or the absence of it - preempts states from taking measures to address climate change. A burgeoning body of legal scholarship mulls whether federal law ought to preempt state action. There is yet relatively spare legal scholarship on preemption reflecting recent developments in the courts and at EPA. Part One explains how federalism principles have shaped responses to climate change. It observes how allowing states to take steps …