Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Law

Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble Dec 2008

Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble

Scholarly Works

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided cases in 2008 that addressed the scope of agency discretion in several contexts. In an issue of first impression under the Clean Air Act (CAA),the court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) properly exercised its discretion in not objecting to the issuance of an operating permit to a power company that the agency had earlier formally accused of violating the CAA. In another case, the court held that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had the discretion to protect endangered species while administering the National Flood Insurance Act and …


Earth Jurisprudence A Pathfinder, Glen-Peter Ahlers Sr. Oct 2008

Earth Jurisprudence A Pathfinder, Glen-Peter Ahlers Sr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


The Role Of Community Values In Wind Energy Development: Exploring The Benefits And Applications Of Community Wind For Reducing Local Opposition To Wind Energy Systems, Amanda Vaccaro Aug 2008

The Role Of Community Values In Wind Energy Development: Exploring The Benefits And Applications Of Community Wind For Reducing Local Opposition To Wind Energy Systems, Amanda Vaccaro

Georgetown Law Student Series

Worldwide, wind energy generation is growing rapidly as a cleaner and less invasive alternative to traditional fossil-fuel energy sources. Yet, in the United States, the advancement of wind energy has been stunted by three factors: (1) the uncertainty of the federal Production Tax Credit; (2) the lack of transmission lines connecting wind projects to electricity grids; and (3) enduring local cultural and aesthetic objections to wind turbines. Frustrated with the imbalanced allocation of costs and benefits imposed by most wind energy projects, some individuals and municipalities have deployed zoning laws, nuisance claims, or environmentalist arguments to discourage wind energy development …


Like A Nation State, Douglas Kysar, Bernadette A. Meyler Aug 2008

Like A Nation State, Douglas Kysar, Bernadette A. Meyler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Using California's self-consciously internationalist approach to climate change regulation as a primary example, this Article examines constitutional limitations on state foreign affairs activities. In particular, by focusing on the prospect of California's establishment of a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading system and its eventual linkage with comparable systems in Europe and elsewhere, this Article demonstrates that certain constitutional objections to extrajurisdictional linkage of state GHG emissions trading systems and the response that these objections necessitate may be more complicated than previously anticipated. First, successfully combatting the Bush Administration's potential claim that state-level climate change activities interfere with a federal executive …


Shifting Ground To Address Climate Change: The Land Use Law Solution, John R. Nolon Jul 2008

Shifting Ground To Address Climate Change: The Land Use Law Solution, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article conceives and describes a Land Use Stabilization Wedge: a strategy that aggregates these five wedges and further organizes strategic energies. This builds on Socolow’s optimistic assertion that “an excuse for inaction based on the world’s lack of technological readiness does not exist.” I assert that the existing legal authority of state and local governments to regulate and guide land use and building is a powerful “technology already deployed somewhere in the world.” The Land Use Stabilization Wedge aggregates several of Socolow’s initiatives and employs multiple mitigation techniques available to citizens in every locality in the country.


The Externalities Of Nuclear Power: First, Assume We Have A Can Opener . . ., Karl S. Coplan May 2008

The Externalities Of Nuclear Power: First, Assume We Have A Can Opener . . ., Karl S. Coplan

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The nuclear power industry has latched on to global warming as an argument for its renaissance. Although even industry proponents acknowledge that the problem of disposing of spent nuclear fuel remains unsolved, the industry routinely assumes this problem will be solved in the future. Unfortunately, this is the same assumption made by nuclear energy proponents at the beginning of the nuclear industry fifty years ago. We haven’t solved the nuclear waste problem in the past half century, and there is no reason to think we will be more likely to do so in the next one. Like the shipwrecked economist …


Should States Have Greater Standing Rights Than Ordinary Citizens?: Massachusetts V. Epa's New Standing Test For States, Bradford Mank Jan 2008

Should States Have Greater Standing Rights Than Ordinary Citizens?: Massachusetts V. Epa's New Standing Test For States, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In Massachusetts v. EPA, 127 S. Ct. 1438 (2007), the Supreme Court held that carbon dioxide (CO²) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) are air pollutants within the meaning of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Although its decision on the merits is important, the Court's conclusion that Massachusetts had standing to file suit because states are entitled to more lenient standing criteria may have a greater impact in the long-term on legal doctrine. In Massachusetts, the Supreme Court for the first time clearly gave greater standing rights to states than ordinary citizens. The Court, however, failed to explain to what extent …


Self-Policing In A Targeted Enforcement Regime, Sarah L. Stafford Jan 2008

Self-Policing In A Targeted Enforcement Regime, Sarah L. Stafford

Faculty Publications

This paper adds to the debate over whether self-policing can increase environmental protection by considering an issue that has been ignored in previous models—that self-policing may influence future enforcement. The model combines self-policing with targeted enforcement and allows for both deliberate and inadvertent violations. As expected, rewarding self-policers with more lenient future enforcement increases auditing, remediation, and disclosure of inadvertent violations. Self-policing can also serve as a complement to deliberate compliance and can thus further increase environmental performance. However, under reasonable conditions, self-policing can be a substitute for deliberate compliance and could therefore be detrimental to environmental protection.


The Managerial Turn In Environmental Policy, Cary Coglianese Jan 2008

The Managerial Turn In Environmental Policy, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Resolving The Spent Fuel Issue For New Nuclear Power Plants, Fred P. Bosselman Jan 2008

Resolving The Spent Fuel Issue For New Nuclear Power Plants, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Expedited Partner Therapies For Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Legal And Policy Approaches, Lindsay Wiley, James G. Hodge Jr., Erin Fuse Brown, Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya Jan 2008

Expedited Partner Therapies For Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Legal And Policy Approaches, Lindsay Wiley, James G. Hodge Jr., Erin Fuse Brown, Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


Kyoto Comes To Georgia: How International Environmental Initiatives Foster Sustainable Commerce In Small Town America, Peter A. Appel, T. Rick Irvin, Julie M. Mcentire, J. Chris Rabon Jan 2008

Kyoto Comes To Georgia: How International Environmental Initiatives Foster Sustainable Commerce In Small Town America, Peter A. Appel, T. Rick Irvin, Julie M. Mcentire, J. Chris Rabon

Scholarly Works

This Article posits that in response to adoption of Kyoto Protocol targets by governments and multi-national corporations overseas that comprise significant portions of the global economy as well as global financial markets, businesses and state and local governments in the U.S. are also being driven by necessity to undertake sustainable commerce initiatives. Businesses in the EU and other Kyoto-compliant regions that have implemented sustainable commerce programs now require overseas vendors and suppliers-including those in the U.S.-to implement their own sustainable commerce initiatives as a condition of approved supplier status. New EU environmental regulations developed in part to meet Kyoto-specified emissions …


Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble Jan 2008

Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble

Scholarly Works

In 2007 the Eleventh Circuit interpreted the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Rapanos v. United States, regarding the federal government’s jurisdiction over waters under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), and held that in order for federal jurisdiction to exist over a water that is not navigable in fact, the water must have a “significant nexus” with a water that is navigable in fact. Also under the CWA, the court partially reversed a granting of summary judgment to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, holding that the department had improperly excluded some types of evidence in approving Florida’s 2002 …