Law Commons^™

Valuing Ecosystem Services In Coastal Management Policy: Looking Beyond The Here And Now, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Global Environmental Constitutionalism, Erin Daly, James May

Erin Daly

No abstract provided.

Allocating Responsibilities For Environmental Cleanup Liabilities Through Purchase Price Discounts, Kenneth Kristl

Kenneth T Kristl

No abstract provided.

The Future We Want And Constitutionally Enshrined Procedural Rights In Environmental Matters, James May, Erin Daly

Erin Daly

No abstract provided.

Inclusionary Eminent Domain, Gerald S. Dickinson

Gerald S. Dickinson

This article proposes a paradigm shift in takings law, namely “inclusionary eminent domain.” This new normative concept – paradoxical in nature – rethinks eminent domain as an inclusionary land assembly framework that is equipped with multiple tools to help guide municipalities, private developers and communities construct or preserve affordable housing developments. Analogous to inclusionary zoning, inclusionary eminent domain helps us think about how to fix the “exclusionary eminent domain” phenomenon of displacing low-income families by assembling and negotiating the use of land – prior to, during or after condemnation proceedings – to accommodate affordable housing where condemnation threatens to decrease …

How Environmental Review Can Generate Pollution: A Case Study, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

State environmental review statutes often require state and local governments to draft an environmental impact statement for any project or permit that might have a substantial environmental impact. One such statute, New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) defines “environmental impact” broadly to include not only traditionally environmental impacts such as pollution, but also social impacts such as increased neighborhood population. As a result, any large-scale development is likely to require environmental review under SEQRA.

In my article, I argue that such stringency harms air quality by discouraging infill development (that is, development in already-urbanized areas). Such development is …

A New Progressive Agenda For Public Health And The Environment, Christopher Schroeder, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

Over the last quarter century, much of the focus of federal regulatory policy in the areas of health, safety, and the environment has been gradually redirected away from protecting Americans against various harms and toward protecting corporate interests from the plain meaning of protective statutes. This book delivers precisely what its title promises, a re-imagining of federal policy in these areas, with particular focus on the regulatory process. It identifies the failings of the current approach to regulation and proposes innovative, straightforward, and practical solutions for the 21st Century. The book is a collaboration among the Member Scholars of the …

Committee On Climate Change, Sustainable Development, And Ecosystems: 2012 Annual Report, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Hydropower: It's A Small World After All, Gina Warren

Gina Warren

Global warming is here. As exhibited by the recent droughts, heat waves, severe storms and floods, climate change is no longer a question for the future, but a problem for the present. Of the many ways to help combat climate change, this article discusses the use of the most abundant renewable energy source on the plant – water. While large-scale hydropower (think Hoover Dam) is unlikely to see increased development due to its negative impact on the environment, fish, and wildlife, small-scale hydropower (think a highly technologically-advanced water mill) is environmentally-friendly and would produce clean, renewable energy to benefit local …

Acting As If Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating The Transition To Sustainability, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

The Ecuadorian Exemplar: The First Ever Vindications Of Constitutional Rights Of Nature, Erin Daly

Erin Daly

The 'Sala de le Corte Provincial' - a provincial court in Ecuador - became the first court ever to vindicate the recently constitutionalized rights of nature. Recognizing the indisputable importance of the rights of nature for present and future generations, the court held the provincial government liable for flooding damages caused by dumping of construction debris. This judicial victory is arguably overshadowed by challenges facing the plaintiffs in seeing the courts order enforced, however. A subsequent case bears witness to the judiciary’s vindication of rights of nature in Ecuador with ever increasing legal effect.

Introduction To International And Domestic Climate Change Regulation, Deepa Badrinarayana

Deepa Badrinarayana

No abstract provided.

Empower The Neighborhood And Save The City: Why Courts Should Permit Neighborhood Control Of Zoning, Kenneth A. Stahl

Kenneth Stahl

Whether cities should delegate zoning authority to neighborhood groups is one of the most hotly contested issues in municipal politics, yet it is also essentially a moot point. Since a bizarre series of Supreme Court cases in the early twentieth century, it has been largely settled that cities may not constitutionally delegate the zoning power to sub-municipal groups, at least where the power is delegated specifically to landowners in a certain proximity to a proposed land use change.

This article argues that courts have erred in prohibiting cities from devolving zoning control to proximate landowners, a scheme I designate a …

Environmental Law And Policy: Nature, Law And Society, Zygmunt Plater, Robert Abrams, Robert Graham, Lisa Heinzerling, David Wirth, Noah Hall

David A. Wirth

This user-friendly book - noted for its comprehensive legal process approach to the depth and complexity of modern environmental law - gives students a solid doctrinal footing in the law and helps build their analytical skills. Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, Fourth Edition, uses the legal process approach, building on a base of common law and constitutional law and continuing on to statutory and administrative law, to illustrate both the structure of the law and how it works.

Among the attributes that have made this classroom-tested casebook a favorite:

coverage not only of the staples of environmental …

Legal Education For Sustainability: A Report On Us Progress, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This article is an overview of sustainability efforts in US law schools. It describes two sets of drivers for these efforts—inside and outside the legal profession. Drivers from within the legal profession include the American Bar Association as well as several state and local bar associations; law firms and other law organisations; and current and prospective law students. Drivers from outside the legal profession include clients, universities and colleges, nongovernmental organisations, and government. This article then describes what US law schools are now doing in the areas of curriculum, research, buildings and operations, community outreach and service, student life, and …

Empower The Neighborhood And Save The City; Why Courts Should Permit Neighborhood Control Of Zoning, Kenneth A. Stahl

Kenneth Stahl

Whether cities should delegate zoning authority to neighborhood groups is one of the most hotly contested issues in municipal politics, yet it is also essentially a moot point. Since a bizarre series of Supreme Court cases in the early twentieth century, it has been largely settled that cities may not constitutionally delegate the zoning power to sub-municipal groups, at least where the power is delegated specifically to landowners in a certain proximity to a proposed land use change.

This article argues that courts have erred in prohibiting cities from devolving zoning control to proximate landowners, a scheme I designate a …

Sprawl In Canada And The United States (Powerpoint), Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

PowerPoints for a speech explaining that sprawl in Canada is (1) less extensive than in the USA and (2) caused partially by government regulation.

The Bp Oil Spill: Marine Pollution, Admiralty Law And State Police Power Under The Oil Pollution Act Of 1990o, John J. Costonis

John J. Costonis

ABSTRACT

Choice of law issues in marine pollution events engage federal admiralty/general maritime law, federal environmental legislation and the reserved powers of the states to protect their natural resources and economic welfare. Admiralty and general maritime law enjoyed center stage throughout the first two thirds of the last century. Federal marine pollution statutes were few and weak, and state initiatives were typically deemed preempted in all but the so-called “marine but local” cases. The equilibrium began to shift in favor of state police powers and federal environmental values in the mid-1960’s in consequence of the Supreme Court’s solicitude for the …

Strategic Spillovers, Daniel B. Kelly

Daniel B Kelly

The traditional problem with externalities is well known: self-interested individuals and profit-maximizing firms often generate harm as an unintended byproduct of their use of property. I examine situations in which individuals and firms purposely seek to generate harm, in order to extract payments in exchange for desisting. Situations involving such “strategic spillovers” have received relatively little systematic attention, but the underlying problem is a perennial one. From the “livery stable scam” in Chicago during the nineteenth century to “pollution entrepreneurs” in China in the twenty-first century, various parties have an incentive to engage in externality-generating activities they otherwise would not …

Brief Of Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents, American Electric Power Co. V. State Of Connecticut, No. 10-174, James R. May, Stuart Banner

James R. May

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Sustainable Development, And Ecosystems: 2010 Annual Report, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Learning From The Global Trade Regime: A Proposal To Help Ameliorate Climate Change By Giving The International Court Of Justice Universal Advisory Jurisdiction, Andrew Strauss

Andrew L. Strauss

No abstract provided.

Who’S Afraid Of The Supremacy Clause? State Regulation Of Air Pollution From Offshore Ships Is Upheld In Pacific Merchant Shipping Association V. Goldstene, Jennifer Hammitt

Jennifer Hammitt

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Crucial Issues In Climate Change And The Kyoto Protocol: Asia And The World (Koh Kheng-Lian, Lye Lin-Heng And Jolene Lin (Eds)), David Hodas

David R. Hodas

No abstract provided.

Cleaning Up Our Rivers, Lakes, And Streams: Water Quality And Widener, Kenneth Kristl

Kenneth T Kristl

No abstract provided.

What Would Coase Do (About Parking Regulation)?, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Like many government regulations, municipal minimum parking requirements exist to prevent externalities- most notably the congestion, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that occur when motorists drive around a city searching for scarce parking. But because such regulations make parking (and thus driving) cheaper and make walking more difficult, such regulations may in fact increase driving, thus increasing congestion, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainable Approaches To Managing Small-Scale Ecosystems: A Case Study Of Vernal Pool Protection In The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, United States Of America, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Out With A Bang: The Collapse Of Yucca Mountain Signals The Rise Of The New U.S. Cooperative Federalism Nuclear Reprocessing Model, Stefani C. Norrbin, Faye E. Jones

Faye E Jones

This Article argues that after the collapse of Yucca Mountain, the U.S. should move away from direct disposal by creating a new government backed, state-run corporation modeled after France’s Areva, to implement nuclear reprocessing in the U.S. This new model will help address the currently bankrupt nuclear waste system in the U.S. by using the money from the Nuclear Waste Fund that was collected for Yucca Mountain to provide financial support to states for nuclear reprocessing projects. Further, by working together, we can promote competition and innovation through state-run corporations backed by federal funding. In order to make the initial …

Recovery Of An Endangered Provision: Untangling And Reviving Critical Habitat Under The Endangered Species Act, Kalyani Robbins

Kalyani Robbins

This article addresses the problems plaguing implementation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There has been long-term confusion among courts, agencies, developers, and environmental organizations regarding the legal, environmental, and economic impacts of designating critical habitat for species listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. At the heart of this difficulty has been a need to understand the degree to which the protections for critical habitat can be distinguished from those for listed species generally. Critical habitat is primarily protected via section 7’s requirement that federal agencies consult with the Fish & Wildlife Service and the …

Cases And Materials On Environmental Law 2nd Edition, Oscar Gray

Oscar S. Gray

No abstract provided.