Environmental Law Commons^™

Our Oceans Need Sharks: A Comparative Analysis Of Shark And Turtle Conservation Law In Australia And The United States, Gabrielle Stiff Heim

Law Student Publications

The model used for turtle conservation and recovery would be an accurate model for conserving and recovering the endangered shark species, as well. As sharks are crucial to the marine environment, action needs to be taken in the form of policies that parallel those that protect turtles. Specifically, the models of protection for turtles in both Australia and the United States can serve as examples for shark conservation and recovery policies. As sharks are migratory species like turtles, international efforts and treaties are also crucial to providing boundaries and regulations for sharks in the global arena. The future of sharks …

Book Review, The Electric Battery: Charging Forward To A Low-Carbon Future, Joel Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

The Electric Battery is the product of a Vermont Law School team led by Kevin Jones, the school’s Director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment. It is an essential resource for scholars, policymakers and others interested in the future for storage technologies in transportation and electricity, the sectors of the economy that produce the most greenhouse gases. Professor Jones brings considerable expertise to the project, having produced well-regarded reports on smart grid issues, and some projects mentioned in the book – such as the partnership between Tesla and Green Mountain Power – are located in the authors’ home …

From Gorsuch To Gorsuch: Family Reformation On Agency Power, Matthew Noxsel

Florida A & M University Law Review

Although Chevron has drawn extensive scholarship examining its doctrinal origins,17 evolution,18 and impact,19 this is not one of those inquiries. Instead, this Comment seeks to address some of the circumstances and rationale motivating certain people behind Chevron, and therefore the doctrine and its impact will be discussed in short form. Accordingly, Part II of this Comment will use Anne Gorsuch’s service at the EPA as a lens through which to view the conservative revolution that occurred before and during the Reagan years, with an eye toward a subtle change in thinking from previous generations regarding agency regulations. Part III of …

Access To Trade Secret Environmental Information: Are Trips And Trips Plus Obligations A Hidden Landmine?, Dalindyebo Shabalala

School of Law Faculty Publications

Freedom of Information Acts (FOIAs) have been fundamental to enabling access to environmental information. The effectiveness of domestic and international environmental regulatory standards has been dependent on ensuring strong information access regimes, especially for information submitted to governments by firms. However, there has been an ongoing tension between providing and accessing complete regulatory information on the one hand, and the interest in maintaining the economic value of trade secrets. Such tensions have historically been managed at the domestic level within constitutional structures balancing access to information, privacy interests, and economic interests. However, the almost simultaneous advent of international norms and …

Ferc's Small Hydropower Exemption: A Missed Opportunity, Alex B. Clay

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Do Sagebrush Rebels Have A Colorable Claim? The Space Between Parochialism And Exclusion In Federal Lands Management, Ann M. Eisenberg

Faculty Publications

This Article asks whether the troubling nature of the Sagebrush Rebellion and similar movements (e.g., their violence, antienvironmentalism, and racist overtones) has made us overly dismissive of a kernel of truth in their complaints. Commentators often acknowledge that federal lands management may be “unfair” to local communities, but the ethical and legal characteristics of the unfairness concern remain under-explored. Although the Sagebrush Rebellion and federal lands communities are far from synonymous, substantial overlap between the complaints and demands of Sagebrush Rebels and the complaints and demands of many regional local (and state) governments suggests that to explore the one necessitates …

Clean Electrification, Shelley Welton

Faculty Publications

To combat climate change, many leading states have adopted the aim of creating a “participatory” grid. In this new model, electricity is priced based on time of consumption and carbon content, and consumers are encouraged to adjust their behavior and adopt new technologies to maintain affordable electricity. Although a more participatory grid is an important component of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, it also raises a new problem of clean energy justice: utilities and consumer advocates claim that such policies unjustly benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, given the type of consumer best able to participate in the …

Technological Innovation, Data Analytics, And Environmental Enforcement, David L. Markell, Robert L. Glicksman, Claire Monteleoni

Scholarly Publications

Technical innovation is ubiquitous in contemporary society and contributes to its extraordinarily dynamic character. Sometimes these innovations have significant effects on the environment or on human health. They may also stimulate efforts to develop second-order technologies to ameliorate those effects. The development of the automobile and its impact on life in the United States and throughout the world is an example. The story of modern environmental regulation more generally includes chapters filled with examples of similar efforts to respond to an enormous array of technological advances.

This Article uses a different lens to consider the role of technological innovation. In …

Takings, Torts, And Background Principles, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

No abstract provided.

Combating Climate Change In The Indus River Basin, Waseem Ahmad Qureshi

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Eating Is Not Political Action, Joshua Galperin, Graham Downey, D. Lee Miller

Articles

Food and environment are cultural stalwarts. Picture the red barn and solitary farmer toiling over fruited plains; or purple mountains majesty reflected in pristine waters. Agriculture and environment are core, distinct, American mythologies that we know are more intertwined than our stories reveal.

To create policy at the interface of such centrally important and overlapping American ideals, there are two options. Passive governance fosters markets in which participants make individual choices that aggregate into inadvertent collective action. In contrast, assertive governance allows the public, mediated through elected officials, to enact intentional, goal oriented policy.

American mythologies of food and environment …

Trust Me, I'M A Pragmatist: A Partially Pragmatic Critique Of Pragmatic Activism, Joshua Galperin

Articles

Pragmatism is a robust philosophy, vernacular hand waiving, a method of judicial and administrative decisionmaking, and, more recently, justification for a certain type of political activism. While philosophical, judicial, and administrative pragmatism have garnered substantial attention and analysis from scholars, we have been much stingier with pragmatic activism — that which, in the spirit of the 21st Century’s 140-character limit, I will call “pragtivism.” This Article is intended as an introduction to pragtivism, a critique of the practice, and a constructive framework for addressing some of my critiques.

To highlight the contours of pragtivism, this Article tells the story of …

Green Home Standards: Information And Incentives, James Smith

Scholarly Works

The “green building” movement began in the United States during the 1990s. In its early stages, reformers focused on minimizing adverse environmental impacts from major public, institutional, and commercial buildings. Private-sector organizations developed voluntary standards to promote green building practices, the most prominent being LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). More recently, widespread interest in residential green building has developed. Several organizations having developed voluntary green home standards. A standard promulgated by the federal government, the Energy Star Certified Home, has achieved substantial market success during the past decade. This article describes and assesses the Energy Star Home and …

Garbage Day: Will Italy Finally Take Out Its Trash In The Land Of Fires?, Jason A. Slaybaugh

Washington International Law Journal

The illegal dumping and burning of waste and toxic waste in southern Italy has caused such immense environmental damage that the disaster is now known as “Italy’s Chernobyl”. In early 2014, the Italian Senate passed the Land of Fires Decree, a sweeping new law aimed at solving a problem that Italy has historically failed to adequately address. Despite the broad grants of power and the new crime created, the lack of political will renders these new tools useless and means little will likely change. Italy can no longer put this fire out by itself. As such, Italy should look to …

The Big Apple's Tiny Problem: A Legal Analysis Of The Microplastic Problem In The N.Y./N.J. Harbor, Sean Dixon, Zachary Lees, Andrea Leshak

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bootlegging, Oysters, And Closed-To-Harvest Waters: Adding Teeth To The Coastal Zone Management Act To More Effectively And Efficiently Restore The Coastal Zone, Clare M. Harmon

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Attaching Domestic Assets To Remedy High Seas Pollution: Rule B And Marine Debris, Jonathan M. Gutoff

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Protection For Future Generations From Climate Change, Ylam Nguyen

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor In Chief Note, Matthew J. Brown, Morgan B. Mcgill

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Conjunctive Use On The Yuba: Lessons From Drought Management In The Yuba Watershed, John Ugai

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.