Environmental Law Commons^™

The Wind Blows In Virginia Too—Deconstructing Legal And Regulatory Barriers To The Development Of Onshore, Utility-Scale Wind Energy In Virginia, Mark L. (Buzz) Belleville

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Thorium’S Glow: Lighting The Way For Safe, Cheap Energy Production, Zachary Hawari

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Measuring Brief (Save Our Climate), John Jurucich, Mary Margaret Roark

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

Best Brief – Save Our Climate

Measuring Brief (Sylvanergy), Josh Fortenbery, Cameron Jimmo, Kathryn Roberts

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

Best Brief – Sylvanergy

Measuring Brief (Granger), Christopher M. Becker, Robert A. Marcum, Bennett T. Richardson

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

David Sive Award for Best Brief Overall.

2016 Bench Memorandum

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

2016 National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition Problem

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

Protect Our Communities Foundation V. Jewell, Benjamin W. Almy

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Protect Our Communities Foundation v. Jewell, the Ninth Circuit upheld a right-of-way grant issued by the BLM for the development of the Tule Wind energy facility in the McCain Valley in southern California. In its decision to uphold the district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the Defendants, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) standards of compliance for a satisfactory Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”). The specific challenges raised by the Plaintiffs and addressed by the court were to the Statement of Purpose and Need, the Project Alternatives, the Mitigation Measures, and the “Hard Look” …

Case Study On The Galapagos Islands: Balance For Biodiversity & Migration, Cesar E. Neira

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

In this comment, the author will examine the Special Organic Law of the Galapagos. To better understand the impacts of the law, the comment will examine some of the more notable provisions of the 1998 version, and a few of the amended changes in 2015. Throughout this comment, themes such as migration and preserving biodiversity will be discussed. As we will see, this notion of balancing human needs and ecosystem in the islands is not always straight-forward.

Trouble In Paradise: Maintaining The Eu Ideal For Environmental Policy In Eestern Europe, Amanda L. Harb

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Ten Central and Eastern European nations have joined the EU in the last decade. The conditions for joining the EU are scrupulous and expansive, covering everything from: election rules, food product labels, and battery disposal. CEE states who are newly inducted into the EU are currently striving to successfully implement the complete extent of collected EU law. Eastern Europe has long lagged behind the west in environmental policy. Extreme industrialization and widespread deregulation over the last century produced many areas with environmental degradation. The idea is that by adopting European environmental policy, Eastern European states can cash in on European …

Too Many Humans, Dwindling Resources, And Not Enough Space, Jorge T. Martinez

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper will address the often-overlooked subject of human overpopulation and examine the role it plays in the environmental health of our planet. Part I will define overpopulation and how it is determined, as well as briefly examine animal overpopulations and their effects on the environment. Part II will turn to human population trends, the carrying capacity of humans on earth, and the environmental consequences of human overpopulation. The environmental issues currently faced in China, India, Africa, and other densely populated areas will be explored. Part III will analyze some of the legal solutions that have been implemented to curb …

Equal Protection For Animals, Pat Andriola

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper presents a simple argument: through a Dworkinian moral reading of the Constitution, nonhuman animals fall under the Supreme Court’s equal protection doctrinal framework for suspect classification. Therefore, nonhuman animals are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The moral principle underlying equal protection is the ensuring of government’s empathetic and equitable treatment toward not just subgroups of humans (which have been judicially delineated by social constructs of race, gender, sexuality, and other defining characteristics), but toward all sentient beings who may become victim to the “tyranny of the majority.

Michigan V. Epa: Money Matters When Deciding Whether To Regulate Power Plants, Ruby Khallouf

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Natural Resources Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Extraterritoriality, Externalities, And Cross-Border Trade: Some Lessons From The United States, The European Union, And The World Trade Organization, Max S. Jansson

Pace Environmental Law Review

In this article, process and production method (PPM) rules are analyzed under three jurisdictions: the United States, the European Union (EU), and the World Trade Organization (WTO. The approach is justified by the fact that their rules on interstate trade reflect very similar basic objectives related to anti-protectionism. Moreover, the regimes, to a large extent, share the same structure of rules on prohibition balanced with rules on justification. All in all, the regimes reveal similar syntax. The comparability of the U.S. Dormant Commerce Clause Doctrine with both WTO law and EU free movement law has been highlighted already in previous …

City Sustainability Reporting: An Emerging & Desirable Legal Necessity, Adam J. Sulkowski

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article will begin with a brief history of sustainability reporting, including recent developments related to its adoption by cities. The author will then review two major trends that, considered together, indicate sustainability reporting should be viewed as an emerging legal necessity for municipalities in the United States. First, the exemption shielding cities from the disclosure requirements of securities laws has eroded. Second, sustainability disclosures now fit the definition of what must—as a matter of materiality, if not specific mandates—be reported to investors. This means that the cities that have collectively issued over $3.67 trillion in securities2 should all be …

Incentive Regulation, New Business Models, And The Transformation Of The Electric Power Industry, Inara Scott

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The electric utility sector is in the midst of paradigmatic change. Market forces include decreased load growth, technological advances in distributed energy resources, pressures for decarbonization, and demands for increased efficiency and new utility services. Meanwhile, as the utility monopoly is undermined and profits slow, financial analysts signal increasing risk to potential utility investors. Suggestions for transforming the existing regulatory structure abound. At the broadest level, such proposals reflect an established divide between energy policy, which traditionally focuses on economics and markets, and environmental law, which is based in the protection of natural resources and ecosystems. To marry the two …

Economic Solutions To Nuclear Energy's Financial Challenges, Zachary Robock

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Note presents a legal, economic, and regulatory roadmap to drive long-term innovation in sustainable energy generation. Next-generation nuclear power, which fundamentally mitigates many safety and nuclear waste issues, is the focus of this Note; however, the economic concepts can be applied to encourage solar, wind, advanced battery, and other sustainable technologies with high upfront costs and low long-term variable costs. Advanced nuclear energy generation is economically competitive on a long-term levelized cost basis, but suffers from a timing issue—a large amount of capital is needed upfront, with repayment over several decades, during which time significant capital costs can accrue …

Drought And California's Role In The Colorado River Compact, Ciara Dineen

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Lessons For New York: Comparative Urban Governance And The Challenge Of Climate Change, Andrea Mcardle

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Epa's Authority To Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under Clear Air Act Section 111(D) And The Clean Power Plan, Rick A. Waltman

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Congress, Give Renewable Energy A Fair Fight: Passage Of The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act Would Give Renewable Energy The Financial Footing Needed To Independently Succeed, David C. Magagna

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Urban Microgrid: Smart Legal And Regulatory Policies To Support Electric Grid Resilienccy And Climate Mitigation, Kevin B. Jones, Sylvia J.S. Bartell, Daniel Nugent, Jonathan Hart

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Urban Energy, Hannah J. Wiseman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Growing domestic energy development—the extraction of fuels and construction of electricity generation facilities—poses new challenges to a country accustomed to importing much of its energy. As has always been the case, fuel in the form of oil, gas, sunlight, wind, water, or other energy sources must be extracted wherever it happens to be found. Compounding this challenge is the fact that some of our most abundant remaining energy sources exist in low concentrations and are widely distributed. As we tap these sources in ever more numerous locations, energy development bumps up against certain human population centers. The City of Fort …

Electric Vehicles: Rolling Over Barriers And Merging With Regulation, Mark Detsky, Gabriella Stockmayer

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Electric vehicles are merging into the mainstream of transportation. Although the technology still comprises a small fraction of the current market, it ismorewidely available due to competitivepricing, technological improvements, and available state and federal incentives. The benefits of electric vehicles include reduced fossil fuel emissions and associated climate change mitigation, new independence from oil-driven policies in foreignmarkets and international relations, and potential opportunities for increasing and complementing renewable energy electric resources. The risks of widespread electric vehicle deployment are largely thought to involve potential impacts on existingutility generation,distribution, and transmission systems and how the costs of any needed changes to …

Waste Management Vs. Climate Mitigation: How Co2 Sparked A Clash Of Environmental Values, Wesley Dyer

Pace Environmental Law Review

The looming threats of climate change dominate global politics, national and economic security, science, and environmental policy. As such, global, national, regional, local, federal, and state strategies are being developed to slow and mitigate the devastating effects of a warming climate. One such strategy that is slowly being used on a global and national scale is geologic sequestration, where carbon dioxide (CO₂) is captured, compressed to a supercritical state, and injected underground for permanent removal from the atmosphere. At the same time, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulates the transport, storage, and disposal of solid and …

Regulating Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer Under The General Duty Clause, Drew Levinson

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article explores how the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) general duty clause can be utilized to prevent catastrophes such as the explosion in West, Texas.

Part II of this Article describes the dangers associated with ammonium nitrate. More specifically, it looks at prior accidents to understand the magnitude of these unanticipated explosions. Part III looks at our current approach to regulating ammonium nitrate fertilizer and the shortcomings of this regulatory regime. Part IV provides an overview of the CAA’s general duty clause. Furthermore, it describes how the general duty clause can be applied to ammonium nitrate fertilizer facilities and the …

Climate Change Effects On Snow Conditions And The Human Rights Of Reindeer Herders, Stefan Kirchner

Pace Environmental Law Review

By ignoring the needs of indigenous livelihoods, traditional forms of land use that have long been sustainable, new forms of land use and the construction of infrastructure threaten the right of indigenous peoples to engage in traditional livelihoods. It is the aim of this article to analyze the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of primary and secondary effects of climate change. For the purposes of this paper, the term “primary effects” will be used to describe immediate effects of climate change. This includes temperatures which move around freezing instead of being solidly below freezing.

Primary effects of climate …

Nuclear Stalemate: Indefinite Above-Ground Storage Is A Temporary, Albeit Safe Band-Aid For A Serious Wound, Steven D. Melzer

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note focuses on the validity and wisdom of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approach: the September 2014 Rule and accompanying Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), as well as their combined potential to significantly alter the trajectory of spent fuel storage and disposal in the United States. Part I will explain the relevant history helpful to understand the political battles and legal issues surrounding spent fuel disposal and the Yucca Mountain project. Parts II and III will analyze the implications of the new Continued Storage Rule and why it likely satisfies all applicable statutory requirements and judicial orders. Part IV will …

Emerging Issues: Transcanada V. Obama Administration – 15 Billion For Cancellation Of Keystone Xl Pipeline Project, Aviana Cooper

University of Baltimore Journal of International Law

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP and TC Oil Pipeline Operations Inc., subsidiaries of TransCanada Corporation (“TransCanada”), lost their seven-year bid with the United States (U.S.) Government for a permit to complete the $5.4 billion oil pipeline connecting Canada and the U.S. On November 6, 2015, President Obama announced that Secretary of State, John Kerry, through powers under Executive Order 13337, had denied the application for a border crossing permit, prohibiting construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline Project. Following this denial, on January 6, 2016, TransCanada filed a complaint to the District Court of Texas against members of the Obama Administration, requesting …