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Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Law
Climate Zoning, Christopher Serkin
Climate Zoning, Christopher Serkin
Notre Dame Law Review
As the urgency of the climate crisis becomes increasingly apparent, many local governments are adopting land use regulations aimed at minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The emerging approaches call for loosening zoning restrictions to unlock greater density and for strict new green building codes. This Article argues that both approaches are appropriate in some places but not in others. Not all density is created equal, and compact multifamily housing at the urban fringe may actually in-crease GHG emissions. Moreover, where density is appropriate, deregulation will not necessarily produce it. And, finally, green building codes will increase housing costs and so …
Note: Building Blocks Of A Fundamental Right: A Thought Experiment On The Constitutional Right To A Livable Climate, Melanie Hess
Note: Building Blocks Of A Fundamental Right: A Thought Experiment On The Constitutional Right To A Livable Climate, Melanie Hess
Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies
When civil rights lawyers sought to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson in the years leading up to Brown v. Board of Education, they faced a history of institutionalized segregation and inequality, constitutional acceptance of the “separate but equal” doctrine, and sharp social divisions on the issue. Other landmark cases of rights recognition, such as Obergefell v. Hodges and Roe v. Wade, similarly built upon years of evolution in law, precedent, and social opinion that made them inconceivable before their time. Early versions of the litigation strategies envisioning these judgments might have been tentative and vague, lacking in factual, legal, …
A Catholic Response To Global Climate Change Migration, Michael S. Talbot
A Catholic Response To Global Climate Change Migration, Michael S. Talbot
Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law
This Article examines Catholic Social Teaching’s approach to the challenges of human migration and environmental refugees. By juxtaposing the inadequacies of current international frameworks for protecting environmental migrants with previous sources of Catholic Social Teaching, this Article speculates on the possible moral argument to be made by the Church in support of efforts to fill a gap in the international legal framework around climate change induced migration. Ultimately, the Paper speculates that such an argument would include three components: (1) a broadening of the definition of refugee, (2) a recognition of our interconnected and interdependent lives, and (3) the expectation …
Pope Francis, Environmental Anthropologist, John Copeland Nagle
Pope Francis, Environmental Anthropologist, John Copeland Nagle
Journal Articles
In June 2015, after much anticipation and a few leaks, Pope Francis released his encyclical entitled “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. “Laudato si’” means “praise be to you,” a phrase that appears repeatedly in Saint Francis’ Canticle of the Sun poem. The encyclical itself has been widely praised and widely reported, far more than one would expect from an explicitly religious document. The encyclical is breathtakingly ambitious. Much of it is addressed to “every person living on this planet,” while specific parts speak to Catholics and others to religious believers generally. It surveys a sweeping range of …
How Much Should China Pollute?, John C. Nagle
How Much Should China Pollute?, John C. Nagle
Journal Articles
The debate concerning how much China should pollute is at the heart of international negotiations regarding climate change and environmental protection more generally. China is the world’s leading polluter and leading emitter of greenhouse gases. It insists that it has a right to emit as much as it wants in the future. China interprets the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” to mean that China has a responsibility to help avoid the harmful consequences associated with climate change, but that its responsibility is different from that imposed on the United States and the rest of the developed world. In fact, …
Pornography As Pollution, John C. Nagle
Pornography As Pollution, John C. Nagle
Journal Articles
Pornography is often compared to pollution. But little effort has been made to consider what it means to describe pornography as a pollution problem, even as many legal scholars have concluded that the law has failed to control internet pornography. Opponents of pornography maintain passionate convictions about how sexually-explicit materials harm both those who are exposed to them and the broader cultural environment. Viewers of pornography may generally hold less fervent beliefs, but champions of free speech and of a free internet object to anti-pornography regulations with strong convictions of their own. The challenge is how to address the widespread …
See The Mojave!, John C. Nagle
See The Mojave!, John C. Nagle
Journal Articles
This article examines how the law is being asked to adjudicate disputed sights in the context of the Mojave Desert. The Mojave is the best known and most explored desert in the United States. For many people, though, the Mojave is missing from any list of America’s scenic wonders. The evolution in thinking about the Mojave’s aesthetics takes places in two acts. In the first act, covering the period from the nineteenth century to 1994, what began as a curious voice praising the desert’s scenery developed into a powerful movement that prompted Congress to enact the CDPA. The second act …
The Evangelical Debate Over Climate Change, John Copeland Nagle
The Evangelical Debate Over Climate Change, John Copeland Nagle
Journal Articles
In 2006, a group of prominent evangelicals issued a statement calling for a greater response to climate change. Soon thereafter, another group of prominent evangelicals responded with their own statement urging caution before taking any action against climate change. This division among evangelicals concerning climate change may be surprising for a community that is usually portrayed as homogenous and as indifferent or hostile toward environmental regulation. Yet there is an ongoing debate among evangelicals regarding the severity of climate change, its causes, and the appropriate response. Why? The answer to this question is important because of the increasing prominence of …