Law Commons^™

Robinson Township V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania: Examination And Implications, John C. Dernbach, James R. May, Kenneth T. Kristl

John C. Dernbach

The International And Domestic Law Of Climate Change: A Binding International Agreement Without The Senate Or Congress?, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

This Article asserts that neither Senate advice and consent nor new congressional legislation are necessarily conditions precedent to the United States' becoming a party to a binding agreement to be adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to be held in Paris in December 2015. Depending on the form of such an agreement, which is presently under negotiation, the President's Climate Action Plan could provide sufficient domestic legal authority for the conclusion of all or part of such a binding international instrument as an executive agreement, as well as …

Robinson Township V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania: Examination And Implications, John Dernbach, James May, Kenneth Kristl

Kenneth T Kristl

In Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held unconstitutional major parts of Pennsylvania’s “Act 13”—a 2012 oil and gas law designed to facilitate the development of natural gas from Marcellus Shale. In so doing, the Court breathed new life into Article I, Section 27 of Pennsylvania’s constitution, which creates public rights in certain environmental amenities and requires the state to “conserve and maintain” public resources “for the benefit of all the people.” This paper describes the decision, explains some of its immediate implications in Pennsylvania, and also explains its importance for public environmental rights and environmental …