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Full-Text Articles in Law
Sustainable Development And Private Global Governance, Douglas A. Kysar
Sustainable Development And Private Global Governance, Douglas A. Kysar
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
This Article utilizes recent controversy over Coca-Cola's alleged depletion of groundwater resources in India as a vehicle for exploring competing conceptions of global environmental governance and the role of private actors within them. Initially, it uses the Coca-Cola groundwater situation to identify core substantive and procedural meanings that lurk within the otherwise ingeniously ambiguous concept of sustainable development. Through this exercise, it is shown that - when properly understood - the sustainable development paradigm stands in considerable tension with the premises of market liberalism that drive such political and economic trends as global market integration; privatization and commodification of water …
Connecticut Nitrogen Credit Exchange Program, Ann Powers
Connecticut Nitrogen Credit Exchange Program, Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Long Island Sound is a cherished national natural resource, surrounded by some of the most densely populated land in the country. It has long provided sustenance, economic opportunities and comfort to the spirit for those who inhabit or visit its shores and waters. Like many of our Nation's water bodies, it drains a substantial and diverse watershed, and suffers a broad range of environmental insults. The problem of most concern is the severe shortage of oxygen in the deep waters of the western part of the Sound during summer months. This hypoxia is attributable to excess nitrogen that fuels the …
Soft Regulators, Tough Judges, Gerrit De Geest, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci
Soft Regulators, Tough Judges, Gerrit De Geest, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci
George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series
Judges have a tendency to be more demanding than regulators. In the United States, a majority of the courts has adopted the rule that the unexcused violation of a statutory standard is negligence per se. However, the converse does not hold: compliance with regulation does not relieve the injurer of tort liability. In most European legal systems, the outcome is similar. We use a framework in which, on the one hand, the effects of tort law are undermined by insolvency and evidence problems and, on the other hand, regulation is expensive in terms of monitoring and information gathering. We show …
Science, Judgment, And Controversy In Natural Resource Regulation, (With H. Doremus), A. Dan Tarlock
Science, Judgment, And Controversy In Natural Resource Regulation, (With H. Doremus), A. Dan Tarlock
All Faculty Scholarship
Natural resource regulation is heavily "scientized," by which we mean both that the current regulatory structure requires the use of science in a wide range of decisions, and that decisionmakers generally emphasize the role of science in those decisions. Nonetheless, critics on all sides of the political spectrum claim to believe that regulatory decisions remain too political and insufficiently scientific. Administration of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Klamath Basin illustrates the challenges of scientifically managing nature. A series of science-based decisions are needed, from species listing to consultation on federal actions. Those decisions carry substantial costs for the …
Disappearing Defendants V. Judgment Proof Injurers: Upgrading The Theory Of Tort Law Failures, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, Barbara Mangan
Disappearing Defendants V. Judgment Proof Injurers: Upgrading The Theory Of Tort Law Failures, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, Barbara Mangan
George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series
Do injurers’ insolvency and victims’ reluctance to sue affect accident prevention in the same way? Are these circumstances less of a problem under the negligence rule than under strict liability? We argue, contrary to the literature, that the answer is, in most cases, negative and make three main points. First, the judgment proof problem and the disappearing defendant problem are shown to have different effects on injurers’ behavior and hence yield dissimilar levels of social welfare. Second, when these two problems occur simultaneously they may have offsetting effects. Third, the negligence rule is superior to strict liability only under some …
Environmental Tribalism, Douglas A. Kysar, James Salzman
Environmental Tribalism, Douglas A. Kysar, James Salzman
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
Recent writings by Dan Farber and J.B. Ruhl have put forward a strong case for "eco-pragmatic" and "radical middle" approaches to environmental policymaking. Rather than debate the merits of such an approach, in this Article we examine whether eco-pragmatic policy development is likely in practice and where it might occur, given the tribal nature of public environmental advocacy. We use the remarkably polarized reaction to Bjorn Lomborg's book, "The Skeptical Environmentalist," as a vehicle to explore the seemingly fundamental divide that exists between warring parties within the environmental law and policy communities. By offering a more complete understanding of why …
Standing And Global Warming: Is Injury To All Injury To None?, Bradford Mank
Standing And Global Warming: Is Injury To All Injury To None?, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
Since global warming potentially affects everyone in the world, does any individual have standing to sue the U.S. EPA or other federal agencies to force them to address climate change issues? Suits addressing global warming raise difficult standing questions because some Supreme Court decisions have stated or implied that courts should not allow standing for plaintiffs who file suits alleging general injuries to the public at large because the political branches of government - Congress and the executive branch - are better equipped to resolve such issues. There is a better argument, however, for courts to recognize standing for plaintiffs …
Inter-American System, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon
Inter-American System, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
No abstract provided.
The (Non)Uniqueness Of Environmental Law, Jay D. Wexler
The (Non)Uniqueness Of Environmental Law, Jay D. Wexler
Faculty Scholarship
In everyday discourse, the label "environmental law" signifies a distinct and unique area of the law. The uniqueness of environmental law stems most obviously from the subject matter of environmental legislation and regulation. But does environmental law also differ from other areas of law with respect to how judges ought to approach deciding cases? Should judges act differently somehow when they are deciding an environmental law case as opposed to, for example, a labor law or banking law case? At least one influential scholar - Richard Lazarus of the Georgetown University Law Center - has argued that the distinctive features …
Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble
Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble
Scholarly Works
In 2004 courts in the Eleventh Circuit addressed several Clean Water Act issues. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals arguably expanded the scope of the injuries a plaintiff may allege to have standing to sue under the Clean Water Act. The court held that the federal court had jurisdiction over a Clean Water Act citizen suit alleging violations of a permit issued by the State of Georgia under its permitting program authorized under the Act. The Eleventh Circuit also addressed whether a Florida state regulation effectively revised or added to the state's Clean Water Act, which mandated water quality standards, …
Environmental Trade Measures, The Shrimp-Turtle Rulings, And The Ordinary Meaning Of The Text Of The Gatt, Howard F. Chang
Environmental Trade Measures, The Shrimp-Turtle Rulings, And The Ordinary Meaning Of The Text Of The Gatt, Howard F. Chang
All Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Energy-Efficiency: The Best Option For A Secure, Clean, Healthy Future, Richard L. Ottinger
Energy-Efficiency: The Best Option For A Secure, Clean, Healthy Future, Richard L. Ottinger
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The risks of dependence on traditional fuels have never been greater or more obvious. Modern civilization and the world economy are facing imminent and clear threats of worldwide terrorism. The oil producing countries of the Middle East are increasingly unstable, confronting the world with potentially calamitous energy and economic disruptions. Domestically, our limited refining capacity creates shortages when demand is high and increases prices even when petroleum supplies are plentiful. Yet most of the world is in a state of denial, happy to bask in the illusory security of temporary Saudi oil production increases. Moreover, these new dangers sit on …
Of Zombie Permits And Greenwash Renewal Strategies: Ten Years Of New York's So-Called "Environmental Benefit Permitting Strategy", Karl S. Coplan
Of Zombie Permits And Greenwash Renewal Strategies: Ten Years Of New York's So-Called "Environmental Benefit Permitting Strategy", Karl S. Coplan
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article analyzes the CWA's provisions ensuring public participation in the permitting process and the history of EPA regulations implementing the public participation requirements. The article then examines the EBPS authorizing legislation, DEC's Technical Guidance concerning its implementation of the EBPS, and some instances of DEC's actual practice implementing the EBPS, and compares these procedures with the public participation requirements contemplated by both the CWA and New York State's own clean water implementing legislation, Environmental Conservation Law Article 17. The article concludes that the procedures adopted by the DEC are inconsistent with both the CWA's public participation requirements, as well …
Iucn As Catalyst For A Law Of The Biosphere: Acting Globally And Locally, Nicholas A. Robinson
Iucn As Catalyst For A Law Of The Biosphere: Acting Globally And Locally, Nicholas A. Robinson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Unique among international organizations, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) operates at the global, regional, and national levels to build governmental capacity to protect the environment. With a membership of over 75 sovereign states and 800 nongovernmental organizations, IUCN functions as an intergovernmental organization at the transnational level while operationally embodying the maxim "think globally, act locally." IUCN acts as a consortium of environmental scientists and professionals, including environmental lawyers who have proposed and secured adoption of significant environmental treaties such as the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and their …
Doing Water Quality Credit Trading Right, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
Doing Water Quality Credit Trading Right, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Theme And Variations In Statutory Preclusions Against Successive Environmental Enforcement Actions By Epa And Citizens, Part Two: Statutory Preclusions On Epa Enforcement, Jeffrey G. Miller
Theme And Variations In Statutory Preclusions Against Successive Environmental Enforcement Actions By Epa And Citizens, Part Two: Statutory Preclusions On Epa Enforcement, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This is the second half of a two-part Article focusing on preclusions against successive enforcement of the environmental statutes. Part One of the Article, printed in Volume 28 of this Journal, examined preclusions against citizen suits and argued that because of the theme-and-variations nature of the preclusion language, that language should be read in accordance with its plain meaning. Part Two, published in this issue, studies the restrictions on enforcement actions by the EPA and reaches the same conclusion.
The Supreme Court's Water Pollution Jurisprudence: Is The Court All Wet?, Jeffrey G. Miller
The Supreme Court's Water Pollution Jurisprudence: Is The Court All Wet?, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Part I of this article sets the stage with a brief survey of federal water pollution control, focusing on the CWA. Part II examines statistical conclusions and inferences from a cursory review of the Court's CWA opinions. Part III examines some of the opinions in a more qualitative manner to determine whether the statistical conclusions withstand analysis and whether the Court understands the CWA. The latter determination requires examining the nature and severity of the Court's misinterpretations of the statute. Part IV examines the Court's decisions with anti-environmental results to determine whether they reflect an anti-environmental bias or the other …
Is Voting Necessary? Organization Standing And Non-Voting Members Of Environmental Advocacy Organizations, Karl S. Coplan
Is Voting Necessary? Organization Standing And Non-Voting Members Of Environmental Advocacy Organizations, Karl S. Coplan
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article will examine the law of standing, and specifically, the conflicting decisions concerning the importance of voting rights in order to establish organizational standing. The article concludes that voting rights should not be essential to the assertion of representational standing. Nevertheless, the article will also consider alternate forms of organization that will improve an organization's chances of establishing representational standing, while addressing the concerns that lead organizations to avoid a voting membership in the first place.