Environmental Law Commons^™

Energy Justice And Renewable Rikers, Rebecca Bratspies

University of Miami Law Review

Unsustainable energy practices generate the lion’s share of global carbon emissions as well as staggering levels of deadly particulate pollution. Replacing the current dirty, fossil fuel-based system with affordable, clean energy is both a human rights imperative and a climate change necessity. This transition, which has already begun, creates the opportunity to do things differently. By confronting the structural racism embedded in existing energy structures, we can build a just transition rather than just a transition. This Article uses New York City’s Renewable Rikers project as a case study to explore how we might take advantage of the intersections between …

Till The Rivers All Run Dry: Equal Sovereignty And The Western Water Crisis, Simon Ciccarillo

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Across the United States, a countless number of people rely on groundwater for basic necessities such as eating, drinking, agriculture, and energy-creation. At the same time, overuse combined with increasingly dry conditions throughout the country, tied to the increasingly unpredictable and devastating impacts of climate change, threaten this fundamental building block of society. Nowhere is this problem more pernicious than the American Southwest. The Colorado River Basin has always been the epicenter of water disputes between communities and states. Bad policies, unhelpful federal actions, and sluggish Supreme Court decisions stop the painful but necessary steps to address the increasingly dire …

Federal Common Law, Climate Torts, And Preclusion, Tom Boss

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Municipalities have been trying for decades to hold energy companies accountable for their role in the climate change crisis. In an effort to prevent suits, these companies are pushing the novel legal theory that federal common law provides a basis for jurisdiction in federal court over these claims. Once in federal court, the defendants argue that the very federal common law that served as the basis for removal has been displaced by the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. This would then justify dismissal of the entire case for failure to state a claim. Luckily for the plaintiffs, nearly all …

Using Federal Public Lands To Model A New Energy Future: Why The Biden Administration Should Prioritize Renewable Energy Development On Public Lands, Meghen Sullivan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Oil and gas extraction on public lands and waters is responsible for twenty percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. If American public lands were their own country, they would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. As of 2020, only twenty percent of total U.S. electricity generation came from renewable energy sources. While renewable energy development on public lands has increased, most renewable energy comes from private lands. However, public lands contain immense renewable energy potential; for example, it is estimated that half of this country’s geothermal resources are found on public lands. Despite underutilized renewable energy potential …

Shifting Away From Coal Power: Prioritizing Ratepayers And Communities Vs. Shareholders?, Shanti Gamper-Rabindran

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cuba's Energy Future: Options Based On Renewables And Non-Carbon-Based Sources, Colin Crawford

FIU Law Review

My intention is to research and write on article on Cuba's energy future. Specifically, I plan to consider the options for a sustainable energy future using renewable energy sources and not carbon-dependent sources. This analysis will require both an examination of the island's historical energy challenges as well as consideration of the options for developing a sustainable energy infrastructure with international governmental (e.g. UN, World Bank etc.) and regional governmental (e.g. EU) support- an analysis that will also require consideration of the island nation's socialist political system and its willingness to engage internationally. The topic is one, clearly, with implications …

Municipal Law—A Wedge In Climate Initiatives: How State Legislatures’ Preemption Of Local Government’S Role In Climate Change Policy And Arkansas’ Act 308 Of 2021 Are Misplaced., Travis Golliher

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Energy Grid Decarbonization: A Tale Of Resistance And Compliance In Florida, Rachel Tennant

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Vecinos Para El Bienestar De La Comunidad Costera V. Ferc, Malcolm M. Gilbert

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The D.C. Circuit Court remanded three Brownsville, TX LNG approval orders to FERC for failing to adequately explain conclusions around environmental justice and climate concerns. The Court ordered FERC to reevaluate whether the projects are in the public interest. The LNG terminals and pipeline will disproportionately impact low-income, minority communities, and substantial greenhouse gas emissions from production and export will contribute to anthropogenic climate change. This case note explores the role that environmental justice and climate change play in federal agency decision-making processes, analyzes the legal framework for the Court's decision, and discusses how the outcome of this litigation could …

An Instrumental Perspective On Power-To-Gas, Hydrogen, And A Spotlight On New York’S Emerging Climate And Energy Policy, Tade Oyewunmi

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tragedy Of The Energy Commons: How Government Regulation Can Help Mitigate The Environmental And Public Health Consequences Of Cryptocurrency Mining, Jeff Thomson

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The use of cryptocurrencies in daily life has continued to rise over the last decade and shows no signs of slowing down. Although cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, provide numerous tangible benefits to society, the process of mining these cryptocurrencies is extremely energy intensive. Accordingly, a tragedy of the energy commons has resulted whereby the monetary incentive to mine cryptocurrencies has distorted our collective ability to care for our shared energy resources. The current system allows for industrious individuals to set up cryptocurrency mines in regions that have access to plentiful and cheap energy sources, utilize this energy to power their …

Preemption, I Think Not: Evaluating California’S Stored Energy Procurement Law Against Ferc Order 841, Raymond Richards

Pace Environmental Law Review

California’s Energy Storage Systems procurement mandate is a groundbreaking measure designed to supply more clean and reliable energy to the state by allowing the capture of power produced now to be used later. While this technology is still developing, a ready market for such resources will help advance capabilities and bring down cost. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) Order 841 will springboard storage technology in regions covered by Regional Transmission Organizations (“RTOs”) by allowing storage providers non-discriminatory and accommodating access to the FERC wholesale markets. Although FERC’s new Order speaks directly to the issue of storage technology, it should not …

Maralex Resources, Inc. V. Barnhardt, Bradley E. Tinker

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Maralex Resources v. Barnhardt, Maralex and property owners brought an action to protect private property from BLM inspections of oil and gas lease sites. The Tenth Circuit looked at the plain meaning of a congressional statute and held in favor of Maralex, finding that BLM lacked authority to require a private landowner to provide BLM with a key to inspect wells of their property. The Tenth Circuit held BLM has the authority to conduct inspections without prior notice on private property lease sites; however, it is required to contact the property owner for permission before entering the property.

Energy Re-Investment, Hari M. Osofsky, Jacqueline Peel, Brett H. Mcdonnell, Anita Foerster

Indiana Law Journal

Despite worsening climate change threats, investment in energy—in the United States and globally—is dominated by fossil fuels. This Article provides a novel analysis of two pathways in corporate and securities law that together have the potential to shift patterns of energy investment.

The first pathway targets current investments and corporate decision-making. It includes efforts to influence investors to divest from owning shares in fossil fuel companies and to influence companies to address climate change risks in their internal decision-making processes. This pathway has received increasing attention, especially in light of the Paris Agreement and the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw …

The Threat Is Real: Protecting The Energy Infrastructure From Cyberattacks, Patricia Blotzer

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lights Are On: Shining A Spotlight On The Retail Energy Market Reveals The Need For Enhanced Consumer Protections, Carrie A. Scrufari

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eminent Domain And Oil Pipelines: A Slippery Path For Federal Regulation, Natalie M. Jensen

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dual Environmentalism: Demand Response Mechanisms In Wholesale And Retail Energy Markets, Sarah M. Main

Pace Environmental Law Review

This note argues that a dual jurisdictional approach to demand response programming is better suited to mitigate environmental harms than an “either-or” regulatory model. Through an exploration of FERC’s authority over wholesale demand response, state authority over retail-level demand response, and implications for electricity and capacity markets arising out of the Court’s decision in FERC v. EPSA, this note will offer effective legal mechanisms for mitigating environmental costs, while fostering environmental benefits. The next section of this note analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of state and federal regulatory approaches to demand response in isolation.

Based on this assessment, this note …

Murray Energy Corporation V. Mccarthy, Sarah M. Danno

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Holding that the widespread effects of environmental regulation on the coal industry constituted sufficient importance, the Northern District of West Virginia ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct analysis on employment loss and plant reduction resulting from regulatory effects. In admonishing the EPA’s inaction, the court ruled that the Agency had a non-discretionary duty to evaluate employment and plant reduction. Furthermore, the court held that the EPA’s attempt to put forth general reports in place of required evaluations was an invalid attempt to circumvent its statutory duty.

The Water-Energy-Climate Nexus Under International Law: A Central Asian Perspective, Anatole Boute

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Water, energy, and climate change are intrinsically related to each other but are nonetheless subject to different international legal regimes. The fragmented nature of water, energy, and climate governance represents a challenge for the sustainable management of resources in the energy and water landscape of the 21st century. Regulatory choices in one field can potentially undermine the policy objectives pursued in the other fields. Promoting conventional and unconventional energy production for energy security purposes increases pressure on the availability of fresh water resources and contributes to climate change. Climate change exacerbates the scarcity of water resources, which leads to increasing …

Toxic Confinement: Can The Eighth Amendment Protect Prisoners From Human-Made Environmental Health Hazards?, Brenna Helppie-Schmieder

Northwestern University Law Review

What would you do if you realized a nearby factory or energy operation was making everyone in your town sick? You might try to rally your neighbors in protest, take legal action, or cut your losses and move away. But what if your options were more limited? What if you were forced to stay? This is the situation for prisoners across the country who live in prisons located near dangerous energy industry operations.

The increased reliance on incarceration in recent times has resulted in prisons being built on undesirable land, often the same land occupied by the energy industry. This …

Power E-Mergency: Combining Renewable Energy With Current Battery Technology For Emergency Medical Professionals, Caitlyn Portz

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Between Shale Gas In China And Unconventional Fuel Development In The United States: Water, Environmental Protection, And Sustainable Development, Paolo D. Farah, Riccardo Tremolada

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

China is believed to have the world's largest exploitable reserves of shale gas, although several legal, regulatory, environmental, and investment-related issues will likely restrain its exploitation. China's capacity to face these hurdles successfully and produce commercial shale gas will have a crucial impact on the regional gas market and on China’s energy mix, as Beijing strives to decrease reliance on imported oil and coal, and, at the same time, tries to meet growing energy demand and maintain a certain level of resource autonomy. The development of the unconventional natural gas extractive industry will also provide China with further negotiating power …

Recovering From The Recovery Narrative: On Globalism, Green Jobs And Cyborg Civilization, Michael Burger

Akron Law Review

In this Essay, I make a preliminary foray into this new narrative terrain, identifying several emerging legal storylines that have arisen in the wake of climate change disruptions and that I predict will prove influential in the coming years. In Part I, I discuss the ways in which new perceptions of scale are re-defining human beings’ attachments to a sense of “place” or “dwelling” and are shaping new attitudes about what constitutes the local, posing potential problems for existing federalism schemes. In Part II, I discuss the ways in which America’s long history of nationalizing nature manifests in the discourse …

The North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta): Good For Jobs, For The Environment, And For America, Thomas J. Schoenbaum

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Edison Co. V. State Of Montana: Constitutional Limitations On State Energy Resource Taxation, Nancy K. Stalcup

Pepperdine Law Review

This note examines the case of Commonwealth Edison Co. v. State of Montana, where the United States Supreme Court analyzed and defined the permissible limitations of state energy resource taxation. While the Court adhered to the test of constitutional taxation established in Complete Auto Transit Inc. v. Brady, which strongly upheld a state's sovereign right to tax a local incident of interstate commerce, the Court failed to realize the practical ramifications of its ruling in the context o the nation's energy problems.

Energy, Environment And Lng: Perceptions And Perspectives Of Kaleidoscopic Issues, Robert E. Lutz

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Energy In The Eighties—Energy Law Symposium: Lng In Southern California, Robert E. Lutz

Pepperdine Law Review

In Malibu, California, on November 15, 1980, Pepperdine University School of Law hosted a symposium which focused on energy decision-making and the attorney's role in the energy regulatory process. A cross section of viewpoints was represented including: officers from the utility companies; personnel from federal and state regulatory agencies; landowners from the proposed siting area; and others who play an important role in deciding whether and how to bring LNG to California. The Symposium provided a forum for a panel discussion of the siting process. Western Liquefied Natural Gas's attempt to bring liquefied natural gas to Southern California was used …

The Real Challenge To The Polish Revolution: Cleaning The Polish Environment Through Privatization And Preventive Market-Based Incentives, G. Nelson Smith Iii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Energy And Environmental Justice: How States Can Integrate Environmental Justice Into Energy-Related Proceedings, James M. Van Nostrand

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.