Law Commons^™

Climate Change And Sustainable Development: The Quest For Green Communities, Part Ii, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This is the second part of Professor John R. Nolon’s two-part series on climate change mitigation through sustainable development law. Part I ran in October 2009 http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/646/. In Part I, I argued that local governments should be partners with federal and state governments in managing climate change. This may sound incongruous to the ears of those listening to the debates over cap-and-trade legislation. In that context, state and local programs that cap, auction, tax, regulate, track, or otherwise attempt to manage greenhouse gas emissions are criticized on a number of grounds. The same can be said when the debate turns …

The International Response To Climate Change: An Agenda For Global Health, Lindsay F. Wiley, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As the international community negotiates a successor to the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is new reason to hope that meaningful action might be taken to prevent devastating climate change. Even the more ambitious mitigation targets currently under negotiation, however, will not be sufficient to avoid a profound effect on the public's health in coming decades, with the world's poorest, most vulnerable populations bearing the disproportionate burden. The influence of historic and current emissions will be so substantial that it is imperative to reduce global emissions while at the same time preparing …

Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Integrating Global Health Into The International Response To Climate Change, Lindsay F. Wiley

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The potentially groundbreaking negotiations currently underway on the international response to climate change and national implementation of commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) include a number of hotly contested issues: (1) what degree of climate change is acceptable as a basis for emissions targets, (2) to what extent and in what ways climate change mitigation should incorporate emissions reductions or increased sinks for developing countries, (3) whether the legal regime governing mitigation can take advantage of the huge mitigation potential of changed practices in the land use and agricultural sectors, (4) how adaptation should be …

Climate Change And Sustainable Development: The Quest For Green Communities, Part I, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This is the first of two commentaries that explore the role of local governments in mitigating and adapting to climate change through sustainable development strategies. They focus on the significant authority to regulate land use and building construction that is delegated to local governments by their states, and how that authority can be coordinated with the roles and responsibilities of state and federal governments to manage climate change and achieve sustainable development.

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Restoring The Public Interest In Western Water Law, Mark Squillace

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

20 slides

Slides: Regional Energy-Water Resilience Under Climate Change, Bonnie G. Colby

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Dr. Bonnie G. Colby, Professor of Resource Economics & Hydrology, University of Arizona

24 slides

Slides: Market-Based Stream Flow Restoration And Mitigation, Amanda Cronin

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Amanda Cronin, Washington Water Trust, Seattle, WA

23 slides

Slides: Water Footprints: Consciousness Raising Meets Risk Management, Steve Malloch

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Steve Malloch, Senior Western Water Program Manager, National Wildlife Federation, Seattle, WA

38 slides

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Slides: Finding Flows: Fish Still Need Water Everyday, Melinda Kassen

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Melinda Kassen, Director of the Western Water Project, Trout Unlimited

12 slides

Slides: Rapanos And The Courts: Navigating Through The Fog, Jim Murphy

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Jim Murphy, Wetlands and Water Resources Counsel, National Wildlife Federation, VT

25 slides

Slides: Climate Change And The Death Of Stationarity: A New Era For Western Water?, Stephen T. Gray

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Steven T. Gray, Wyoming State Climatologist, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

48 slides

Slides: Groundwater Declines, Climate Change And Approaches To Adaptation, Katharine Jacobs

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Katharine Jacobs, Director of the Arizona Water Institute, University of Arizona

37 slides

Slides: Integrated Policy, Planning, And Management Of Water Resources, Robert Wilkinson

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Robert Wilkinson, Ph.D., Director of the Water Policy Program, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California-- Santa Barbara

60 slides

Environmental Law And Global Climate Change., Howard Bromberg

Book Chapters

Contribution by Howard J. Bromberg to Encyclopedia of Global Warming

Carbon Forest Markets And The Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest: Can Market-Based Economic Incentives Save The Forest?, Romulo Silveira Da Rocha Sampaio

Dissertations & Theses

This study is divided into six main chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to situate forests in the global context and providing a detailed description of the Atlantic Rainforest's history, ecological features, geographical and demographical information and its potential contribution to emissions and removals of greenhouse gases. Considering the traditional trend of not valuing ecosystem services, this first chapter introduces the notion of economic incentives to promote forest conservation and regeneration policies highlighting existing market-based approaches. The goal is twofold: first, to compare the Atlantic forest's reality and characteristics with a worldwide deforestation trend; second to provide an understanding of …

Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth’s fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious scarcity. Among others, consequences are likely to include severe flooding, extreme droughts, and meandering border-rivers. This, in turn, will affect human migration patterns, population growths, agricultural activities, economic development, and the environment. This article explores the impact that climate change will have on regional and global freshwater resources and the resulting legal and policy implications that …

Standing And Future Generations: Does Massachusetts V. Epa Open Standing For Generations To Come?, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Many issues, especially potential environmental catastrophes caused by climate change, affect not just the living, but also future generations. The bias in our political system against addressing the interests of future generations poses serious obstacles in solving long-term environmental problems such as global warming. Because future generations cannot vote, unelected federal judges are more suited to protect their interests than the political branches.

An important question is whether anyone has standing to sue on behalf of future generations in the federal courts. The Supreme Court's Article III standing test requires plaintiffs to demonstrate that they have personally suffered an injury …

Using Local Knowledge To Shrink The Individual Carbon Footprint, Katrina Fischer Kuh

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Entire texts have been devoted to exploring the meaning of the term “lifestyle” and sociological understandings of lifestyle are complex and nuanced.For present purposes, however, a more simple articulation of the term will suffice. Lifestyle can mean “mode of living,” including “patterns of action” and “patterns of ways of living.” Without rendering judgment, one observation that can fairly be made about the current lifestyles and associated behaviors of Americans is that they indirectly and directly lead to the emission of a high volume of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”).⁷ Although an American diplomat is said to have remarked in preparing for …

Sustainable Tourism And The Law: Coping With Climate Change, Navamin Chatarayamontri

Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation addresses the critical relationship between the tourism sector and sustainable development, examining global trends and the problems they raise, exploring the current set of solutions being implemented, and offering some new ideas for better managing the relationship. Among these, the most important and comprehensive is the “Climate and Sustainable Tourism Model” a framework developed to encapsulate many of the issues explored in this dissertation and offering insights for policy makers seeking to develop better solutions. Moreover, this dissertation acknowledges the continuing importance of market-based solutions for harmonizing the development of the tourism sector with the demands of sustainability. …

Pursuing Environmental Justice: Obstacles And Opportunities - Lessons From The Field, Helen H. Kang

Publications

This article argues that the clinic‘s clients and similarly situated grassroots groups pursue litigation because the laws do not adequately protect them from pollution at the neighborhood level. Environmental lawsuits filed by such groups result from the conclusion that there is "too much" pollution in the neighborhood—there is elevated background pollution, violations of environmental laws contribute to excess pollution, and litigation is one of the few ways to redress the distributive injustice resulting from pollution created by multiple sources.

Problems Of Equity And Efficiency In The Design Of International Greenhouse Gas Cap-And-Trade Schemes, Jason S. Johnston

All Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that international greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade schemes suffer from inherent problems of enforceability and verifiability that both cause significant inefficiencies and create inevitable tradeoffs between equity and efficiency. A standard result in the economic analysis of international GHG cap and trade schemes is that an allocation of initial permits that favors poor, developing countries (making such countries net sellers in equilibrium) may be necessary not only to further redistributive goals but also the efficiency of the GHG cap and trade scheme. This coincidence of equity and efficiency is, however, unlikely to be realized under more realistic assumptions …

International Climate Negotiations: Opportunities And Challenges For The Obama Administration, David Hunter

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This article is a discussion of the international dimensions of climate change policy facing the newly-elected Obama Administration, focusing on the Kyoto Protocol and subsequent Bali Road Map and Bali Action Plan. The Bali Action Plan set out a framework for negotiating a post-Kyoto agreement with binding commitments on all parties. The agreement is due to be finalized at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009, leaving the Obama Administration less than a year to shape its international climate policy and promote that policy effectively in the international negotiations.

The article addresses …

The News, John Archibald, Carter Beach, Joey Chen, Rama Taib

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

A comic review of environmental issues in the news, featuring an exclusive interview with Shari T. Wilson, Maryland Secretary of the Environmnet.

Climate Change And The Right To Food: A Comprehensive Study, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

Climate change and the policies instituted to combat it are affecting the realiza- tion of the right to food in myriad, often unnoticed ways. This report highlights how – despite the common objective to preserve human welfare for present and future generations – the climate change regime and the human rights regime addressing the right to food have failed to coordinate their agendas and to collab- orate to each other’s mutual benefit. The current climate change regime fails to accurately address the human harms resulting from climate change itself, and is not operating with the necessary safeguards and preventive measures …

Keeping The Endangered Species Act Relevant, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has long been the workhorse of species protection in contexts for which a species-specific approach can effectively be employed to address discrete human-induced threats that have straightforward causal connections to the decline of a species, such as clearing of occupied habitat for development or damming of a river. Its resounding success there, however, has led to the misperception that it can duplicate that record anywhere and for any reason a species is at risk. Yet, is the statute adaptable to the sprawling, sometimes global, phenomena that are wearing down our environmental fabric on landscape scales …

Worst Case And The Worst Example: An Agenda For Any Young Lawyer Who Wants To Save The World From Climate Chaos, William H. Rodgers, Jr., Anna T. Moritz

Articles

Wherever you turn with regard to climate change, you'll hear about the worst, and the worst of the worst, and the worst that will happen after that. Young lawyers should put themselves in the right frame of mind to tackle all these "worsts" that are headed our way.

In the interest of keeping it simple, we would suggest a personal strategy for every young lawyer that would entail: (I) Honoring Knowledge and Learning; (II) Protecting Your Institutions and Loving Your Country; (III) Planning and Conducting Your Personal War on Bad Law; and (IV) Rejecting Defeatism and Impossibility Theorems.

Let's consider …

From Environment To Energy: China's Reconceptualization Of Climate Change, Dongsheng Zang

Articles

Domestically and internationally, by the first half of 2009 it was already questionable whether the Copenhagen Conference could achieve anything. Anthony Giddens warned-in an otherwise inspiring book on climate change-that "doomsday is no longer a religious concept, a day of spiritual reckoning, but a possibility imminent in our society and economy." In such a context, it becomes imperative to revisit some of the fundamental issues in the Kyoto Protocol framework. Are timetables and targets really the best way to regulate climate change? Does the current framework create bad politics? Where are the powerful driving forces towards a low-carbon society?

This …

Combating Global Climate Change: Why A Carbon Tax Is A Better Response To Global Warming Than Cap And Trade, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, David M. Uhlmann

Articles

Global climate change is the most significant environmental issue facing our nation and the world. There no longer is any question that global warming is occurring. Nor is there any serious debate about whether human activity is the root cause. If we fail to make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten to twenty years, we face the possibility of catastrophic environmental harm by the end of this century.

Streamlining Nepa To Combat Global Climate Change: Heresy Or Necessity?, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article discusses the impact of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on the development of noncarbon energy sources and raises the question of whether the NEPA process should be altered to bring clean power online faster. The article examines the ability of the market to respond to the call for rapid adaptation to climate change and for rapid development of noncarbon sources of energy, given the regulatory environment and existing regulatory treatment of NEPA processes. In addition, the article examines examples of current streamlining of the NEPA process in the energy arena. The author notes arguments for and against …